Can L-Arginine Really Help with Circulation Blood Flow?

Can L-Arginine Really Help with Circulation Blood Flow?

Darrell Miller

02/05/11

Date: February 05, 2011 01:43 PM
Author: Darrell Miller (dm@vitanetonline.com)
Subject: Can L-Arginine Really Help with Circulation Blood Flow?

The incorporation of nutrients from our diet to the parts of the human body is taken care of by the network of blood vessels that make up the circulatory system, including the distribution of oxygen. Blood flow in effect largely contributes to the effective utilization of bioactive substances from digested foods. The muscles that line the inner walls of blood vessels are responsible for healthy circulation with the aid of a substance that is catalyzed from L-arginine.

Arteries, capillaries, and veins are the three primary members of the vascular highway that forms the systematic circulation. The arteries from the heart branch out in smaller vascular tubes called capillaries, which are connected to the system of veins leading back to the heart. Blood continuously flows inside this complex loop of tubes and brings nutrition to the tissues at the end of capillaries.

Endothelium and Smooth Muscle Cells

Circulation is a vascular function regulated by the smooth muscle cells within the blood vessel walls that promote streamline flow to avoid turbulence. In a lifetime the flow may result in chaos, depending on the health of blood vessels. A special class of tissues exposed to the blood plasma known as endothelium stimulates the smooth muscle cells that make up most of the systematic circulation to perform its function. However, factors associated with aging interfere with the proper functioning of both the smooth muscle cells and the endothelium.

The human body possesses a gene responsible for the encoding of a group of enzymes that aid healthy blood flow in the circulatory system. This gene identified as Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS), as the name suggests, has something to do with the endothelium and the chemical compound nitric oxide. While chronic expression of nitric oxide in the body may lead to inflammatory diseases, this gas actually serves a focal role in preventing damage to all tissues in the human body resulting from the deprivation of blood supply.

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Nitric Oxide and L-Arginine

How? Nitric oxide is produced at the right amounts by all mammals for use as a signaling agent at the cellular level. In the circulatory system, nitric oxide is known to display vasodilator properties, that is, it brings about the relaxation of smooth muscle cells that line the blood vessel walls. Vasodilation is central to circulation and blood flow inasmuch as the widening of vascular walls leads to the flow of blood. Since nitric oxide must be manufactured at healthy levels, it is regulated by Endothelial NOS.

However, its production depends on the availability of Arginine in the human body. The amino acid L-arginine is not synthesized at sufficient amounts at all times, and thus it must be derived from our diet. No one can really tell what conditions govern the biosynthesis of L-arginine, and for individuals who have poor nutrition, levels of L-arginine are significantly low. This is the reason why medical professionals advocate the use of L-arginine to counter vascular diseases. Supplementation of L-arginine has in fact been associated to healthy circulation.