Arginine, Part 3

The Arginine Solution: The First Guide to America's New Cardio-Enhancing Supplement
by Robert Fried, Ph.D., Woodson C. Merrell, M.D., James Thornton

(Page 3 of 3)

Arginine-derived nitric oxide, or ADNO, is a multifaceted molecular marvel, one made all the more amazing by the fact that researchers only so recently discovered that it even exists inside human tissues.

Consider just a sample of the many jobs ADNO has now been shown to perform inside the human body:

• It relaxes arteries, thereby helping to maintain normal blood pressure, which would otherwise skyrocket when ADNO is in short supply.
  
  
• It helps keep open the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart, preventing angina pain.
  
  
• It's a potent free-radical scavenger that helps to both lower serum cholesterol and prevent the “bad” LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and becoming even worse.
  
  
• It's a powerful anticoagulant, or blood thinner, that helps prevent blood platelets from clumping together into the clots that can cause heart attack and stroke.
  
  
• It enhances blood flow to the penis, helping to boost erections.
  
  
• It serves as a critical “bullet” by different immune-system cells that use it to kill foreign bacteria and viruses and even shrink or destroy some cancerous tumors.
  
  
• It's used by the brain to encode long-term memory and ensure blood flow to brain cells.
  
  
• It functions as a “messenger molecule” that allows nerve cells in the body and the brain to communicate with each other.
  
  
• It may reduce pregnancy-related hypertension, a potentially life-threatening condition for mother and child.
  
  
• It may help regulate insulin secretion by the pancreas, thereby reducing the risk of diabetes.
  
  
• It helps control the lung airways, allowing you to breathe easier and avoid common lung disorders.
  
  
• It relaxes “hypertonic” sphincter muscles, preventing and healing hemorrhoids and anal fissures.
  
  
• It stimulates the body into releasing the all-important human growth hormone (HGH), a key to longevity as well as improvement in body composition by boosting lean muscle mass and bone density while decreasing fat tissue.

Given such powerful and manifold effects, it is perhaps not surprising that ADNO has also been theoretically linked to some medical disorders. We detail these in the book's final chapter and strongly encourage you, if you suffer from one of these maladies, to discuss arginine supplements with your doctor before initiating self-treatment.

For the vast majority of men and women, however, the use of supplemental ADNO as a nutraceutical self-treatment is safe, devoid of side effects, and often startlingly effective in pre venting, controlling, and overcoming common causes for ill health.

If you're looking for ways to counter problems already incurred, we invite you to read on to see how the Arginine Solution can play a role in a speedy return toward health. If you are now healthy but ever open to new strategies to preserve the robust status quo, we invite you, as well, to weigh the consider able evidence in support of ADNO.

An ounce of prevention, so they say, is worth a pound of cure. We wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, if not exactly with the dosage level prescribed. As you will see in coming pages, when it comes to the Arginine Solution, you don't need nearly an ounce-a modest three to six grams of daily prevention is usually plenty for most adults.

Chances are you're already taking in at least this much, if not more, from your diet. Statistics show that most adults obtain over five grams each day from dietary sources including meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, cereals, nuts, potatoes, and many other foods. Later in this book, you will see how researchers have safely administered thirty to fifty grams or more of arginine intravenously to patients with certain medical conditions-without triggering any major side effects.

Our recommendation, to be sure, is much, much more conservative. Indeed, our “Arginine Solution”-three to six grams taken by mouth in three divided doses per day-represents the average adult's normal intake. At this level, supplemental arginine appears reasonable and is usually safe-and not because the amount is too small to have much of an effect. Quite the contrary: As you will see throughout this book and in the extensive bibliography of scientific literature that follows, a multitude of studies offer compelling evidence that a few grams of prevention can be worth a ton of cure.

Arginine costs relatively little. Given such a modest price and all the benefits it can provide to a variety of your bodily systems, medical economists calculating cost-to-benefit ratios would be hard pressed to find a better health-care bargain avail able anywhere today.

The manufacturer and distributor of any arginine product are responsible for determining that it is pure and safe to consume when taken as directed. The authors have no control over its production, packaging, and distribution. We can assume no responsibility for the accuracy of claims made by any manufacturer, distributor, or retail merchant regarding purity and safety.

© 1999 by Robert Fried, Ph.D., Woodson C. Merrell, M.D., and James Thornton

About the Author

ROBERT FRIED, PH.D., is the director of the Stress and Biofeedback Clinic at the Albert Ellis Institute, New York City. He is also a senior professor of biopsychology at Hunter College, CUNY.

WOODSON C. MERRELL, M.D., is an assistant clinical professor at Columbia University Medical School, an executive director of Beth Israel-St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospitals' new Center of Integrative Medicine, and a board member of New York State's Office of Professional Medical Conduct. He also maintains a private practice in Manhattan.

JAMES THORNTON has contributed to The Physician and Sports Medicine and Men's Journal. He received a 1998 National Magazine Award for his health writing, and his articles have been published in magazines and newspapers around the world.