L-Arginine 500mg | 100 or 250 Capsules | NOW Foods

L-Arginine 500mg by NOW Foods

This L-arginine from NOW Foods is available in a bottle of 100 or 250 capsules, each containing 500mg of L-arginine in free form. There is little else in it: the capsule, a little magnesium stearate or stearic acid and silicon dioxide. The label assumes 2 capsules at a time, so 1000mg per serving. The bottle with 100 capsules is nice to start with if you want to try L-arginine for a few weeks first; the bottle with 250 capsules is a supply for months.

What L-arginine is

L-arginine is an amino acid, one of the twenty building blocks that make up proteins. The L stands for the left-handed form, the variant that occurs in nature and in your own proteins. Your body can make arginine itself from citrulline, especially in the kidneys. Yet you also get a good deal from your diet. Rich sources are nuts, pumpkin seeds, legumes, meat, fish and dairy. A handful of peanuts easily contains a few hundred milligrams. The addition of free form on the label means that the amino acid is loose, not bound in a protein chain. Your digestion therefore does not have to cut it out of a protein first. In practice that means: you know exactly how much arginine you get per capsule, regardless of what you eat that day. A high-protein meal also provides arginine, but then together with all the other amino acids in varying proportions.

How your body uses arginine

L-arginine is an amino acid that your body uses for the production of nitric oxide (NO), among other things, a small gas molecule. In addition, arginine is a link in the urea cycle, the process by which your liver converts nitrogen waste into urea that you excrete in your urine. And it is a raw material for creatine, which your body builds from arginine, glycine and methionine. In short: arginine appears in three very different processes, from nitric oxide to waste processing. Because your body can make it itself but uses more of it in certain situations, nutritionists call arginine a conditionally essential amino acid.

Taking L-arginine, what to pay attention to

The label advises 2 capsules twice a day if necessary, between meals or before bedtime. Take them with at least 240ml of water or juice. Why between meals? Other amino acids from a high-protein meal use partly the same transport proteins in your intestine. If you take arginine loose, it has that route more to itself. Good to know: arginine is not suitable for everyone. If you use blood pressure reducers, blood thinners or medications for diabetes, consult your doctor first. The same applies to asthma, kidney disease or a planned operation. People with herpes simplex or glaucoma, or who have had a heart attack, are better off leaving this product alone. What many people do not know, by the way: arginine and lysine use partly the same transporters in your body. If you take both, spread them out over the day.

A practical point: the capsule differs per size. The bottle with 100 capsules has a beef gelatin capsule and is therefore not suitable for vegetarians. The bottle with 250 capsules has a plant-based capsule of hypromellose (cellulose). NOW Foods makes this L-arginine in the United States according to GMP guidelines, with a simple composition and 50 or 125 servings per bottle.