[Effects of Arginine] Real Benefits of Arginine, Known as a Workout Booster

Dec 03, 2023KimSunhyo

[Effects of Arginine] Real Benefits of Arginine,

Known as a Workout Booster

Arginine

Isn’t Arginine Only for Athletes? Understanding Arginine Properly

This content is health information about ingredients and not directly related to a specific product.

Effects of Arginine

1. Improves athletic performance
2. Improves muscle mass and burns fat
3. Reduces blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol

Hello, I am Jinny, a pharmacist.

Do you like exercising? Recently, as the number of people exercising has increased, not only fitness but also various forms of exercise are being loved, and interest in workout boosters taken before and after exercise is also increasing.

Today, I would like to introduce you to ‘arginine (L-arginine)’, one of the most well-known boosters. Arginine is a type of amino acid that makes up protein, and is known to help transport, store, and excrete nitrogen necessary for muscle energy metabolism. Therefore, it is an ingredient especially loved by people who enjoy strength training.

Did you know that arginine is also related to diet and vascular health? Let's take a look at why arginine can be enjoyed not only by passionate gym-goers but also by ordinary people through research.

1. Improves Athletic Performance

Arginine is an excellent workout booster, but it has weaknesses as well. The intake efficiency is lower than that of other essential amino acids. Therefore, I would like to introduce L-aspartic acid, an ingredient that can create synergy with arginine. L-aspartic acid is an ingredient involved in the synthesis of arginine in the body, and is already well known among athletes as the LA-LA (L-arginine & L-aspartate) booster combination.

In 2005, a paper was published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine studying the effect on exercise performance when consuming L-arginine, the bioactive form of arginine, and L-aspartic acid together.

“In conclusion, taking L-arginine and L-aspartic acid together for a long period of time while exercising in a cycle of submaximal exercise (exercise at a lower intensity than maximal, exercise at a slow pace that allows gradual adaptation to exercise intensity) Fat oxidation increases, blood lactate levels, oxygen consumption, and associated heart rate and respiration decrease. This means it helps improve submaximal capacity and exercise endurance.”

Reference : Martin Burtscher, Fritz Brunner, Martin Faulhaber, Barbara Hotter and Rudolf Likar (2005). THE PROLONGED INTAKE OF L-ARGININE-L-ASPARTATE REDUCES BLOOD LACTATE ACCUMULATION AND OXYGEN CONSUMPTION DURING SUBMAXIMAL EXERCISE. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine 4, 314-322.

2. Improves Muscle Mass and Burn Fat

Are you dieting solely for the purpose of losing weight? If you only focus on decreasing the number on the scale without checking your body fat and muscle mass, you may end up with a constitution that causes you to gain weight easily while trying to lose weight. Basically, muscles play a role in consuming energy, and if muscle mass decreases while dieting, the basal metabolic rate decreases.

Therefore, arginine will definitely be an attractive ingredient for those on a diet. The effectiveness of arginine in burning fat and improving muscle mass has already been revealed through many research results, and in 2010, Springer comprehensively reviewed existing papers related to arginine and reported as follows.

“Recent studies have shown that L-arginine supplementation promotes mitochondrial biogenesis and the development of brown adipocyte tissue, (omitted). Therefore, L-arginine is cost-effective in reducing fat mass, increasing muscle mass, and improving metabolism. “It is a good ingredient and a safe ingredient.”

Reference : McKnight JR, Satterfield MC, Jobgen WS, Smith SB, Spencer TE, Meininger CJ, McNeal CJ, Wu G. Beneficial effects of L-arginine on reducing obesity: potential mechanisms and important implications for human health. Amino Acids. 2010 Jul;39(2):349-57.

3. Reduces Blood Sugar, Triglycerides and Cholesterol

If you have received a health checkup, you have probably heard at least once that “a certain level is high, so take care of it.” Especially, as people enter the middle-aged age group, levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol increase, making them a subject of caution. This is because they act as risk factors for various metabolic diseases.

In 2017, a research paper was published in F1000Research examining the effects of daily L-arginine supplementation on blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol in healthy adults.

“In the group that took L-arginine every day for 45 days, FBS (fasting blood sugar), triglycerides, LDL (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), and other cholesterol levels decreased significantly, and HDL (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) levels increased.”

Reference : Pahlavani, N., Jafari, M., Sadeghi, O., Rezaei, M., Rasad, H., Rahdar, H. A., & Entezari, M. H. (2014). L-arginine supplementation and risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in healthy men: a double-blind randomized clinical trial. F1000Research, 3, 306.

Today we learned about arginine, which is especially loved by exercise enthusiasts. As mentioned above, arginine is an ingredient worth trying even for ordinary people who do not enjoy vigorous exercise. However, excessive intake may cause symptoms such as diarrhea or low blood pressure, so it is not recommended to take ultra-high doses of more than 6,000 mg from the beginning. Since the intake efficiency is lower than other amino acids, it is recommended to use ingredients that can create synergy, such as L-aspartic acid.

I hope you have a healthy day both physically and mentally. This was Jinny.

Back