Arginine Usage

Classified as a semi-essential amino acid, Arginine when used in combination with Lysine might be useful for helping treat anxiety.

Read more about Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Arginine.

Classified as a semi-essential amino acid, Arginine when used in combination with Lysine might be useful for helping to treat the symptom of anxiety often present in panic disorder.

Read more about Panic Disorder and Arginine.

The body uses arginine for many processes, including making nitric oxide (NO), a substance that relaxes blood vessels and also exerts numerous other effects in the body. Based on this, arginine has...

Read more about Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and Arginine.

Small double-blind, placebo-controlled studies suggest that arginine might be helpful for the treatment of several seemingly unrelated conditions that are, in fact, all linked by arginine's effects on nitric oxide: congestive heart failure , intermittent claudication , angina , impotence , and sexual dysfunction in women . ¹

Note: The first three conditions in this list are life-threatening. If you have angina, congestive heart failure, or intermittent claudication, do not attempt to treat yourself with arginine except under physician's supervision.

Arginine has been proposed for use after a heart attack to aid recovery. In one study, arginine did not cause harm and showed potential modest benefit. ² However, in another study, arginine failed to prove helpful for treatment of people who had just suffered a heart attack, and possibly increased post-heart-attack death rate. ³ One preliminary, double-blind study suggests that arginine supplementation might help prevent colds . ⁴ A small, double-blind, placebo-controlled study suggests that use of arginine (700 mg 4 times daily) may support transdermal nitroglycerin therapy for angina. ⁵ Ordinarily, the drug nitroglycerin becomes less effective over time as the body develops a tolerance to it. However, arginine supplements appear to help prevent the development of tolerance.

The results of one controlled (but not blinded) study in women suggest that arginine might help standard fertility therapy for women (specifically, in vitro fertilization) work better. ⁶ However, studies have not found any benefit in male infertility . ^{7 8 9 10 11} Weak evidence suggests that arginine might improve insulin action in people with type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes . ¹² Nutritional mixtures containing arginine have shown promise for enhancing recovery from major surgery , injury, or illness, perhaps by enhancing immunity. ¹³ Highly preliminary evidence suggests that arginine might be worth investigating as a treatment for pulmonary hypertension in people with sickle cell disease . ¹⁴ Conflicting results have been seen in preliminary double-blind studies of arginine for preeclampsia . ¹⁵ Preliminary double-blind studies have failed to find arginine helpful for asthma , ¹⁶ cystic fibrosis, ¹⁷ interstitial cystitis , ¹⁸ kidney failure, ¹⁹ osteoporosis , ²⁰ or Raynaud’s phenomenon . ²¹ One study found that an arginine-rich food bar did not help relax arteries or thin the blood in people with high cholesterol . ²² A study of 133 people with intermittent claudication (pain in the legs caused by atherosclerosis ) failed to find arginine helpful; in fact, arginine was less effective than placebo, suggesting that it actually increasessymptoms to some extent. ²³ Two earlier studies had reported benefit, but they were small and poorly designed and reported. ²⁴ Arginine has been proposed for preventing altitude sickness , but the one reported study found harmful effects (increase in headache) rather than beneficial ones. ²⁵