Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Do Nitric Oxide Supplements Work? An Evidence-Based Review

Episode Date: January 12, 2018

Nitric oxide supplements hit the bodybuilding scene about a decade ago, and they hit the ground running.The first one to make waves was called “NO2.” It became an overnight bestseller, and was quickly followed by a pile of “me too” products, which only served to further ratchet up the nitric oxide hype.People were saying it’s the next creatine. A natural and safe alternative to steroids, even.It could help you gain muscle and strength faster, we were told, as well as significantly improve blood flow, which would give you bulging biceps and, uh, other bulgy things. 😉How true is all of this, though?Do nitric oxide supplements really work, or are they just a waste of money, like most bodybuilding supplements?Well, you’re going to find out in this episode.We’re going to look at what nitric oxide is, what these supplements are comprised of, what science has to say about their effectiveness, and more.Let’s get started. 4:09 - What is nitric oxide? 4:45 - What is a nitric oxide supplement? 5:25 - What are the benefits of nitric oxide supplements?8:20 - What do nitric oxide supplements do? 9:02 - What are the best nitric oxide supplements? Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

research does show that raising nitric oxide levels in the body does widen blood vessels and improve blood flow and that this in turn can improve exercise performance and may also raise protein synthesis rates. If you want to know what nitric oxide supplements are, how they work, and if they can help you gain muscle and strength faster, then you want to listen to this podcast. Now, nitric oxide supplements hit the bodybuilding scene about a decade ago, and they hit it hard. They hit the ground running. The first one that I remember, I think this was the first one really to make waves in the space was called NO2. And if memory

serves, it became an overnight bestseller. And then it was quickly followed by a bunch of MeToo products, which only further served to ratchet up the nitric oxide hype. At that time, people were saying that NO supplements were the next creatine. And some people are even saying that they were a natural and safe alternative to steroids. By increasing our body's nitric oxide production, we were told that we would gain muscle and strength faster. And we would also significantly improve blood flow in our bodies, which would give us bulging biceps and other bulgy things as well. Now, fast forward to today, and NO supplements are still very popular. They're not as popular as they were, but they are still regularly topping bestselling charts. So how true are all of these claims? Do nitric oxide supplements work, or are they just a waste of money like most bodybuilding supplements?

And we are going to get to the bottom of all that and more in this podcast. We're going to look at what nitric oxide is, what these supplements are comprised of, and what science has to say about their effectiveness and safety. Now, before we dive into this episode, I have to shill for something to pay the bills, right? No, I'm just kidding. I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and really believe in. So instead, I am going to just quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my 100% natural joint supplement Fortify. Now, Fortify helps keep your joints healthy, functional, and pain-free by reducing joint inflammation and preventing cartilage loss. Its ingredients are scientifically proven to alleviate joint pain, inflammation, and swelling, and to help keep your cartilage healthy, strong, and intact. This is why Fortify has over 200 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average,

which I might add is fairly impressive for a joint supplement and another 90 plus reviews on my website also with a four and a half star average. So if you want healthy, functional, and pain-free joints that can withstand the demands of your active lifestyle, then you want to head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Fortify today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout and you will save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back, period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans. So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.legionathletics.com now, place your order,

and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot. Alrighty, that is enough shameless plugging for now, at least. Let's get to the show. Okay, so let's start at the top here. What is nitric oxide? Now, nitric oxide is a rather simple molecule that is made up of one nitrogen atom attached to one oxygen atom. It's gaseous, of course, and its primary role in the body is to help cells communicate with one another. Now, all of that is kind of just mundane fact at this point, but if you go back a little bit, it was once a pretty big discovery, like Nobel prize-winning big, because previously

nobody knew that cells could actually produce gases and then float them to one another. All right, so now what is a nitric oxide supplement? Now, despite the name, nitric oxide supplements actually don't contain nitric oxide. Instead, they contain natural ingredients that increase the production of nitric oxide in the body, or at least that's the goal. As you will see, some work better than others. So for example, one of the substances most often found in these types of supplements is the amino acid L-arginine, which is a good source of nitrogen and thus can influence nitric oxide production. Because obviously nitrogen is needed

to create nitric oxide, being one half of it. So the more nitrogen that's available in your body, the more NO it can produce. Now in terms of benefits, most of these types of supplements are sold as muscle builders, and it makes for a powerful hook. And I would say it's not wholly unreasonable because research does show that raising nitric oxide levels in the body does widen blood vessels and improve blood flow, and that this in turn can improve exercise performance and may also raise protein synthesis rates. Furthermore, studies show that these supplements can also increase the production of growth hormone in response to exercise, which is music to many gym goers ears. Anything that positively influences anabolic hormones

gets people hot and bothered. But in this case, the hoopla is unwarranted because studies show that growth hormone actually doesn't stimulate skeletal muscle growth like testosterone, for example, and also doesn't increase strength. And that's especially true when we're talking about natural fluctuations of GH or fluctuations of GH within the range of what is naturally achievable, as opposed to, of course, injecting large amounts of synthetic hormones. We can find clear evidence of this in a study that was conducted by researchers at McMaster University. And what the scientists did is they had young resistance trained men lift weights five days per week for 12 weeks while following a standard bodybuilding diet, high

protein with post-workout nutrition and so forth. And what the researchers found is that exercise did spike certain hormones like testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1, but the spikes were relatively small, at least in the overall scheme of things, and their magnitude had absolutely no effect on muscle and strength gains. So in other words, hormones didn't change as much as expected in response to exercise. And even the guys that experienced larger or even the largest hormonal increases made in some cases less gains than those that experienced smaller responses or more about the same. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about

it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at Muscle for Life, and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness. So back on target here, nitric oxide supplements, that's kind of a summary of what they can't do for you, but what can they do? Well, as I mentioned earlier, they definitely do widen blood vessels and they definitely do improve blood flow and they definitely can improve your blood vessel health. And this is why many people report experiencing bigger and better pumps in the gym when they take nitric oxide supplements, you know, more blood flow equals bigger pumps.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, there is evidence that these types of supplements can improve exercise performance, which then of course can translate into greater gains over time. If you actually use that increased capacity for performance to push yourself harder in your workouts and progress faster than you would otherwise. Now, what are the best nitric oxide supplements? So far, I've mentioned just one. I've mentioned L-arginine. And I've also mentioned that it's the most popular one on the market, and it has been very popular for quite some time now. But it's actually not the best. In fact, research shows that it is rather unreliable. It works well in some people and it works not at all in others. And that helps explain why one person will swear by these types of supplements, will

swear by their nitric oxide or their NO supplement, while another will experience absolutely no effects or no benefits whatsoever. And this is the case with any and all natural supplements, of course. Some people do not respond at all to creatine, for example, but this is a phenomenon that you see a lot with NO supplements. Some people, it can be very hit and miss. Now, there are other options, and the best is another amino acid called L-citrulline. L-citrulline is converted into arginine in the kidneys and studies show that it results in longer and larger elevations of plasma arginine levels, so arginine levels in your blood, than supplementing with arginine itself, which is pretty interesting. Studies also show that L-citrulline elevates plasma levels of

another amino acid, which is called ornithine, which can reduce exercise-induced fatigue. And this is why L-citrulline is getting more and more popular these days and why you will find it in many pre-workout supplements, including mine, which is called Pulse, which contains eight grams of L-citrulline per serving, which is the maximum clinically effective dose. So the bottom line here is if you have a budget for non-essential supplements, then I do think that a good nitric oxide supplement is worth considering. And especially if you want to do everything you can to get the most from your training. The reality is that NO supplements like L-citrulline are not going to supercharge your strength or muscle building, but studies do clearly show that raising plasma nitric oxide levels can absolutely improve your workout performance and also your blood vessel health. And let's face it,

big pumps are kind of cool too. Hey there, it is Mike again. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and don't mind doing me a favor and want to help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't

like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, So please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode. And I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously, though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe

in. So instead, I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my 100% natural joint supplement Fortify. Now Fortify helps keep your joints healthy, functional, and pain-free by reducing joint inflammation and preventing cartilage loss. And its ingredients are scientifically proven to alleviate joint pain, inflammation, and swelling, and to help keep your cartilage healthy, strong, and intact. All of this is why Fortify has over 200 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average, which I might add is fairly impressive for a joint supplement, and another 90 plus reviews

on my website, also with a four and a half star average. So if you want healthy, functional, and pain-free joints that can withstand the demands of your active lifestyle, then you want to head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Fortify today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout and you will save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back, period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans.

So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.legionathletics.com now, place your order and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot.