L-Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid, found in all foods that contain proteins. Animal sources include dairy products, meat, poultry and seafood. Vegetable sources are mainly wheat, flour, buckwheat oatmeal and nuts. In the body, L-Arginine has multiple benefits and functions, of which the most important of which are as a precursor to nitric oxide (NO) and the increased production of growth hormone.
The 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for specific research into nitric oxide and its conversion from arginine. The amino acid L-arginine improves blood flow and oxygen supply to the coronary and peripheral vessels through the release of nitric oxide. When people take L-arginine, nitric oxide levels in the blood increase. Nitric oxide relaxes the walls of the blood vessels, improving circulation throughout the body. L-Arginine also increases nitric oxide levels, which makes the arteries more elastic. This effect can lower blood pressure and oxygen can reach the organs more quickly through the blood, which has an overall positive effect.
L-Arginine combines with oxygen and several enzymes to produce NO, also known as 'endothelium-derived relaxing factor'. Arginine contains four nitrogen atoms per molecule, making it the most abundant nitrogen source in humans and animals. The endothelium (inner lining) of blood vessels uses nitric oxide to signal the surrounding smooth muscle to relax, resulting in vasodilation and increased blood flow (see Figure 1). This results in numerous benefits, including improved exercise performance, faster recovery, more lean body mass, warmer hands and feet, better sleep, increased libido and sexual performance, improved alertness, concentration and memory, and positive effects on the cardiovascular system.
L-Arginine plays an important role in stimulating growth hormone. This puts the body into a more anabolic (building) state, resulting in more lean body mass and more fat burning. In order to deliver a significant amount of L-Arginine to the brain, Recover-Me uses a special form of L-Arginine called L-Arginine L-Pidolate. This specific form crosses the blood-brain barrier more easily to perform its function in the brain rather than just in the rest of the body.
The amino acid (L-Pidolate) L-Pidolic acid (L-Pyroglutamic acid), coupled with L-Arginine in Recover-me is a naturally occurring substance in the brain. It plays an important role as a messenger and can therefore have a positive effect on cognitive ability, memory and learning.
The focus of Recover-Me is to increase L-Arginine levels in the body and brain to increase nitric oxide production and growth hormone levels to slow the ageing process. The available L-arginine in the body comes from the conversion of L-Arginine (L-pidolate) and L-glutamine (which is converted to L-citrulline and later to L-Arginine). L-Arginine L-Pidolate can cross the blood-brain barrier more easily, which explains the higher levels of L-Arginine in the brain.
L-Arginine has significant effects on endocrine function - particularly adrenal and pituitary secretion - in humans and animals. It has long been known that administration of L-Arginine stimulates the release of catecholamines, insulin and glucagon, prolactin and growth hormone (GH). However, little is known about the exact mechanism by which arginine exerts these effects. L-Arginine is the biological precursor of nitric oxide (NO), an endogenous messenger molecule involved in a variety of endothelium-dependent physiological effects in the cardiovascular system. As a precursor of nitric oxide, many of the clinical effects of arginine are thought to be mediated by its effects on endothelium-derived relaxing factor. A vast amount of research has explored the biological roles and properties of nitric oxide, which appears to be critical in maintaining normal blood pressure, myocardial function, inflammatory response, apoptosis and protection against oxidative damage. L-Arginine is also a critical component of vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone). Arginine is a powerful immunomodulator.
