Doctor Lou Ignarro wrote a book called “NO more heart disease” which I read several years ago. To be honest I was already a little familiar with nitric oxide but the book just sort of cemented everything together!
Nitric oxide (NO) is an antioxidant that is naturally created by blood vessels throughout the body. It is one of the key reasons that blood vessels are able to dilate and improve blood flow. It is also a potent antioxidant that can actually revive other antioxidants that have already been used up (such as vitamin C).
NO is a very popular supplement in fitness as well because of the vasodilation properties it promotes. Increased blood flow to and from muscles can greatly improve work capacity and increase endurance. For this reason the precursors for it are present in a lot of pre-workout powders under the names L-citrulline or L-arginine or even L-orthanine.
As a side note the L stands for “left handed” and refers to the structure of the folded protein which constitutes the molecule itself. Bizarrely there are “left” and “right” handed proteins even though they are somehow mirror images of each other, but our body can only break down the “L” proteins.
Lots of foods contain NO as well such as beets, leafy greens, meat, pomegranates, citrus fruits and more. Notice how all of these sources (except meat if your vegan / vegetarian) are very healthy foods in general.
So one tip I give to my nutrition clients is to drink beet juice before they do something active!
In Dr. Ignarro’s book, which is based off of his Nobel-prize-winning research into nitric oxide by the way, he explains that his ultimate goal is to eliminate heart disease completely with the help of NO.
After all, hypertension aka “the silent killer” is due in part to constricted blood vessels which is the opposite of what NO does. Also, when atherosclerosis takes place and lesions appear on artery walls, the production of NO is impaired which can lead to constrictions and blockages.
Nitric oxide also increases blood flow to the brain along with the rest of the body so it can quite literally make you smarter and more alert. At the same time it helps circulation body wide and so has implications with sleep, recovery from exercise, restless leg syndrome and other circulation problems. More nutrients are able to flow around the body.
Personally I use a powdered NO supplement that I mix with water or juice, and I can totally feel the difference. I also consume it in foods. There is so far no way you can take too much nitric oxide.
This potent antioxidant dilates the bronchioles as well, improving absorption of oxygen into the bloodstream and aiding the elimination of carbon dioxide, further fueling exercise and removing lactic acid (which is transported via carbon dioxide from cells). This means it has potential to help with asthma and breathing problems.
Funny enough Dr. Ignarro is often called the “father of viagra” because his research developed into this drug which of course increases blood flow to the genitals along with the rest of the body. Viagra was even used by cyclists for a time as a performance enhancing drug do to all of these reasons.
Do you have any more uses for nitric oxide or other information or questions? Drop them in the comments below.