The last 5 years there has been an absolute craze in the bodybuilding supplement industry over Nitric Oxide (NO) supplements. Many bodybuilders have not looked at the research and just listened to what other bodybuilders or supplement companies have said. The supplement companies promise increased muscle growth, pumps, vascularity, and even sexual benefits. However, NO supplements may really be the biggest supplement scam to ever hit the bodybuilding industry.

What are NO (Nitric Oxide) supplements?

NO supplements contain some form of arginine, an amino acid. There are many different forms of arginine compounds in the NO supplements today, promising to be better than the other. The goal of NO supplements are to have the arginine break down into NO (Nitric Oxide) into the blood. Arginine can break down into the bloodstream by enzymatic action, into citruline and Nitric Oxide. NO is a vasodilator and is thought to play a role in muscle building. There is some research showing NO levels increase post workout, leading some bodybuilders to believe it is crucial to protein synthesis. Many have theorized that because NO supplements increase blood flow due to NO in the blood, that increased blood flow from NO leads to better muscle growth. NO in the blood is also the same mechanism by which viagra works too.

NO (Nitric Oxide) studies

There is not one single legitimate scientific study showing arginine supplements taken orally directly increase NO levels in the blood by a significant level. Yes, that is right you have all have been duped by the supplement companies and bodybuilding “gurus” for years now!

Now I did mention earlier, arginine does convert to NO so, why doesn’t arginine supplements increase NO in the blood? Arginine indeed does increase NO levels in the blood, but only when taken intravaneously. Why? Because if you took the doses orally that required a big increase in NO, you would be a vomiting mess. Arginine causes extreme nausea at high doses, that is why all the studies at high doses were done intravaneously. Unfortunately, the upper limit for oral doses, doesn’t seem to increase NO levels much.