Hey pump the breaks for just a minute!!!
I want to explain how nitric oxide works in the body; when it comes down to blood flow, brain activity and overall muscle performance and cellular performance.
Okay you don't have to just go load up on a nitric oxide product, it's not always necessary.
Now they have a place but I want to explain how veggies and how food actually affects nitric oxide and how you can get the biggest benefit.
But first I have to explain what nitric oxide really is:
So many people that I talk to just think that NO2 is capsule that you take to get good pumps in the gym; that's not the case, not at all.
So how it works?
Inside your arteries you have something called the endothelial layer and you have endothelial cells they produce nitric oxide.
Yes the cells in your arteries already naturally produce nitric oxide!!!!
It's the job of that nitric oxide to do a couple things but for the sake of this article it's mainly talk about vasodilatation.
It’s the ability to penetrate through the smooth muscle tissue and thereby allow the opening of the arteries and more blood flow so you can get more nutrients and more oxygen to the cell and better your performance.
Now there's something important that we have to know though nitric oxide production is ultimately created by the immune system see it's made up of macrophages which are a specific type of white blood cell.
A lot of people don't realize this, the NO2 system in our body is actually part of our immune system it plays a role in killing off bacteria and killing on viruses and keeping the endothelial layer of the arteries healthy.
Most of us always forget that the arteries are living and they have cells in there and that controls how big or how small the arteries get. And that in return controls our oxygen and overall nutrient delivery.
Now let's me explain how this pertains to performance for a second I want you to imagine training at high altitude.
We all know that's difficult right, But why?
It's really tough because you're not getting much oxygen; now think about training at sea level it's a lot easier because you're getting plenty of oxygen well the same thing happens inside your body.
When you have enough NO2 you are going to enough of O2 in your body. Since nitric oxide increases blood flow and that increases oxygen delivery.
But it actually increases oxygen uptake within the cell and this is where I get totally jazzed on the science.
It has to do with something known as a Cytochrome C Oxidase, this cytochrome blocks what's known as the respiratory chain.
The respiratory chain is really a fancy way of describing, what happens when your body actually up takes oxygen and delivers it to a cell and utilizes it.
Well here's the thing that Cytochrome C Oxidase stands in front of a cell and it blocks a percentage of the oxygen from being delivered also thereby blocking the delivery of some nutrients.
Boosting nitric oxide is extraordinarily good at preventing cardiovascular disease, as it relaxes arterial walls, dilates the vessels, and improves the flow of blood.
NO improves brain functioning and reduces cognitive decline, due to the fact that it greatly enhances blood flow to the brain and functions as a secondary neurotransmitter between nerve cells.
Boosting nitric oxide levels can greatly improve the effectiveness of your workouts, due to the fact that your muscles will receive more oxygen and nutrients when your veins are dilated and circulation is enhanced. For the same reason, NO also shortens recovery time.
So where does nitric oxide come in?
Well nitric oxide comes in and it's powerful and it pushes it out of the way it pushes that cytochrome that's blocking the cell out of the way therefore making it so that the respiratory chain can be completed.
And you can then get more oxygen to the cell which means more nutrients to the cell and this means a better muscle pump and better recovery after your workout and better blood flow to the brain so you feel better as well.
So that being said let's talk about some science, let's talk about a little bit of research that proves that nitric oxide plays a huge role in our efficiency with workouts and in our efficiency in everyday life.
This study was published by the University of Exeter:
They conducted a study and what they looked at was those that consumed beet juice which is high in something called nitrate which converts the nitric oxide.
I'll explain this conversion part momentarily, now what they looked at were eight test subjects consumed 500 millilitres of beet juice for six days prior to a very intense indoor cycling workout. Then they measured these same subjects with a placebo. (Which was a blackcurrant in this case)
What they found out was that those who consumed the beets showed 49% increase in nitrate levels which is the precursor to nitric oxide, but a 19% increase in oxygen uptake to the cell. This means the workout ultimately got 19% easier.
Then they also found that they lasted 16% longer in their workouts probably because the cells weren't getting tired and they were able to get more oxygen.
How the nitrate converts into nitric oxide?
Let me to explain, when you have nitrates coming from veggies coming from beets in this case hits your tongue they turn into nitrites when saliva combines with them
Then you swallow the nitrite containing saliva and that reacts in your stomach and the acids there to converts into nitric oxide thereby we are now increasing nutrient delivery and oxygen through that conversion process pretty crazy right.
That being said let's get to what you can do to start making yourself feel better and to get more brain boosting muscle building blood flow delivery power.
Let's talk about ways to increase Nitrous oxide naturally:
BEETS:
Beets I don't need to spend a lot of time on it, you’ve seen case study above that’s pretty straight forward they help in creation of more nitric oxide.
Beetroot is loaded with nitrates. There are plenty of studies that confirm this food as a vasodilator, which lowers blood pressure. Also, beets are an excellent source of antioxidants and contain betalains, which are anti-inflammatory
CITRUS FRUITS:
What about vitamin C in citrus?
Well here's the thing vitamin C protects the immune system and if you were paying attention you know that I said that the actual nitric oxide production is really a product of the immune system so vitamin C protects that process it protects the macrophages therefore letting them do their job much better.
Oranges, lemons, and grapefruit contain high amounts of vitamin C, which has been shown to protect your precious nitric oxide molecules from free radical damage. Vitamin C from any source raises levels of nitric oxide synthesis, the enzyme that converts L-arginine into nitric oxide. Vitamin C is also a co-factor in reducing dietary nitrite to nitric oxide.
Watermelon is loaded with the amino acid, L-citrulline, which gets converted into L-arginine and ultimately nitric oxide. So many people reach for L-arginine supplements, but the body does not absorb it well. L-citrulline is easy absorbed.
CARDIO:
Okay this next tip is going to be one that you all probably going to hate me for do your cardio and don't skip it even if you're trying to build muscle it doesn't matter it has to do with blood flow.
You’ll see the actual benefit that you get from more blood flow more oxygen more nutrient delivery that is created by doing cardio don't overthink it.
Cardio is good for blood delivery and there are studies to back that up I'm not going to go into detail on that but essentially it showed that those that do just 10 or 15 minutes of gentle cardio end up keeping their blood flow levels elevated well into their 70’s and 80’s.
Where-as those who were sedentary 25 to 30 percent drop in their overall
blood flow. That's powerful 25 percent less oxygen, 25 percent less protein, 25
percent less healthy fats, 25 percent less ability to get in shape so I know that that's serious.
I know you have to make an adjustment but don't skip it.
CONCLUSION
• NO2 is a potent vasodilator that relaxes the arteries.
• NO2 keeps the endothelium in shape by curbing inflammation and oxidative stress.
• Boosting nitric oxide is extraordinarily good at preventing cardiovascular disease.
• NO2 improves brain functioning and reduces cognitive decline.
• Boosting nitric oxide levels can greatly improve the effectiveness of your workouts.
• Consume foods high in nitrate which converts to nitric oxide.
• Don’t Skip cardio it’s just the icing on the cake
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