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Home » Health Articles » Why Arginine Is A Nonessential Amino Acid You Cant Do Without

Why Arginine Is A Non-Essential Amino Acid You Can't Do Without

The subject of a great deal of intense research by conventional medicine, nutritional therapists and sports scientists for at least fifty years, arginine is now regarded as one of the most important and potentially beneficial amino acids. Technically it's known as one of the "non-essential" amino acids, but the term in this sense means only that it can be manufactured within the body and therefore need not necessarily be obtained from the daily diet.

"Non-essential" does not in any way imply that these amino acids are unimportant. Put simply, you need the full range of both essential and non-essential amino acids to form the countless proteins from which your body is largely made. Increasingly, however, there's evidence that individual amino acids may have more specific functions, with increasing interest in the possibility of using supplementation with single amino acids to tackle particular conditions.

Arginine, for example, has been credited with helping the body to generate crucially important hormones, particularly human growth hormone; with improving sexual health and function; increasing muscle mass whilst reducing body fat; reducing cholesterol; stimulating the immune system and enhancing immune system responses.

But perhaps the most important potential benefit of arginine is its effect upon the health of the cardiovascular system. There is some research evidence that doses of 6g or more daily may help reduce low density lipids (LDL), the so-called "bad cholesterol", and that arginine may also significantly improve circulation.

Arginine is also an important precursor of nitric oxide, an important transmitter of neural nerve impulses, and a compound known to help maintain circulation in the tiny blood vessels of the brain, protecting against debilitating and possibly fatal strokes. For the immune system, arginine acts as a stimulant for the thymus gland, helping to generate the immune cells vital for tackling infection.

There is also good research to suggest that arginine may have a "protein sparing" effect, making available the maximum amount of protein for muscle growth. This has been found very useful in the treatment of those, for example the elderly, who have suffered from muscle wasting and weakness. But when coupled with arginine's apparent potential as a fat burner, and its stimulation of the production of human growth hormone; its obvious potential as an athletic performance supplement, particularly for strength and power athletes and body builders, has of course been the cause of great excitement in these communities. Arginine is also an important precursor for the body's manufacture of creatine, known as the "natural steroid" for its muscle and strength building potentiality.

The US Food and Nutrition Board has not prescribed a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for arginine, probably adhering to the traditional view that a diet adequate in protein will almost by definition provide sufficient amino acids. It is certainly true that outright deficiencies of arginine are rarely if ever seen in individuals whose diet contains enough protein, which means most of us in the affluent West. And it is also true that requirements for arginine and other individual amino acids vary widely between individuals, making the establishment of a meaningful RDA even more difficult than usual. However, good sources of arginine in the diet include dairy products and meat, particularly beef, pork, chicken and turkey. Wheatgerm, grains, nuts, seafood and even chocolate may also help boost arginine intake. An increase in the consumption of any of these, particularly the animal proteins, will also of course increase the intake of arginine, and a diet including normal quantities of these foods will usually prevent deficiencies.

It will not necessarily, however, be enough to provide the major therapeutic benefits of arginine, for which most practitioners agree free-form supplementation is required in quantities of at least several grams a day, preferably taken on an empty stomach. Although it is nomally held that the maximum benefits of arginine are obtained when it is taken in isolation, an exception is in seeking to boost the immune system, when it seems that taking arginine together with lysine, another amino acid, may greatly enhance its effects.

As with other amino acids, supplementation with arginine is generally very safe and no ill effects, other than perhaps relatively minor gastric upsets, should be observed even at many times the recommended therapeutic doses. But important exceptions to this are pregnant women and new mothers, people suffering from herpes and similar infections, and sufferers from liver or kidney disease. If arginine is taken at all by these groups, it should only be with medical advice.

In any event, supplementation with single amino acids always carries the risk of creating biochemical imbalances within the body and should not be undertaken indefinitely without qualified supervision. Body builders and strength and power athletes may, for example, find it beneficial to use arginine during the "bulk up" phase of the training cycle, thereafter reverting to a more balanced program of supplementation.

Another word of caution is that as well as its benefits, the nitric oxide produced by arginine is also a free radical with potentially harmful ageing and degenerative effects on the body's cells. This oxidative action does not remove the possible benefits of taking arginine, but it does mean that any supplement program should be combined with a good range of anti-oxidants, including coenzyme Q10 and lipoic acid. And for best results, these should always be taken with comprehensive multi-vitamin and multi-mineral supplements.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

How to Make This Year Your Best Year Ever

Every year I've been in business for myself online has been better than the previous one. Recently, I decided to create an "Apprentice" program (Yes, even before Trump) and I was extremely pleased that we had nearly 100% of my Apprentices get an online venture up and running.

I've gone back and thought about their projects and how they developed and I came to a striking conclusion that will be worth a lot of money to you this year if you heed it. There was one key aspect that got them off their butts and making money and it came down to one thing...

...A Deadline!

As simple as that sounds, once a firm deadline was established that's when the rubber met the road and all obstacles melted away like snow flakes in a frying pan. I'll give you a perfect example for one Apprentice we were going back and forth a bit tidying up some finishing touches on the project and trying to get it out the door. Many times people can try to make everything too perfect and it never gets out making money so we said we are launching this project at the LIVE Apprentice Summit. That was it and that was final.

The date of the Summit was getting closer and closer and I could see this Apprentice start to sweat a bit. But I made him make the commitment to this deadline publicly during our group call and he couldn't back out now.

Fast forward to the day of his launch he had multiple obstacles that would normally have put the project on hold get swept away but not now. With the firm deadline in place and the opportunity for him to be embarrassed our fine Apprentice finished his project. We hit the 'send' button and he made a tidy sum from a tiny list over the weekend. And this was just the start because his project has made well into the five figures already. And why did it get finished?

The deadline once again.

What's your deadline for your first project or your next project?

Is it something that's in your head? Not a good idea. It's pretty easy to keep moving that forward or letting other things take precedence.

Who knows about your deadline and who's going to hold you to it? In some cases it's not a good idea to share your deadline or goal with another person, especially if they're the kind of negative energy vampire a lot of well-meaning friends and family are. But if you've got a group of colleagues all with the same thinking use them. This works especially well if you don't want to look like an "idiot" in front of them and they are people you really respect.

I'll tell you what works for me and maybe it'll work for you too.

For me, I work best when I absolutely "have to" perform.

For instance my first product on Internet marketing might never have been made (or at least it would have taken much longer) if I didn't sell it before it was done. In 2000 when I first started marketing online a lot of people wanted to know exactly what I did and how I started making money so fast.

Well, I got my first opportunity to share my story in Atlanta at an Internet seminar. I was extremely nervous and my heart was beating out of my chest to go talk in front of 100 strangers. I gave my presentation and then I sold this product (yet to be created).

I told people it would be delivered in a few weeks so they knew it was a prepublication offer. I walked away with 10 orders at $200 bucks. All well and good except I couldn't charge anyone until the manual was done. Even though it was only $2,000 (less what I had to pay the promoter)

I knew that at least people wanted this information and I could keep selling it once I finished it. I probably had a week or two of 3 o'clock in the morning work sessions but I completed it and charged the cards. I was under pressure to get the manual done because these people paid me (though I didn't charge them) and I owed them the material.

Since then I've updated my course material and it's been worth well into the six figures just because "I had to do it".

How can you set something like this up for yourself? If you can stand the pressure - you can decide to put on a tele- seminar. This is one of my favorite ways of creating product by a deadline. You can do either a one-time tele- seminar or series of tele-seminars and you get paid to produce the product. How great is that? It doesn't matter if you have 1 person or 1000 people on the call because this is forcing you to create product and perform.

Once you've set your deadline for anything you'll "magically" see certain resources fall into place. Trust me, it's a bit eerie but when it occurs every time you set a firm deadline you know there's something to it. Just the act of making the decision sets these events into motion for you. It's also because what you focus on becomes your reality. Your perception has changed. Your internal "radar" is now attuned to resources, allies, etc that can help you get your project completed.

Now I leave you with one more secret...Set "mini deadlines".

When you're looking at the whole task of setting up an Internet business (or anything really) it's easy to get overwhelmed. But if you break everything up into small tasks with their own deadlines you'll be at your destination before you know it. I promise it'll work for you. In fact, that's one of the reasons I really like Franklin planner systems (now Franklin Covey). I've been using them since 1998 and that's when I first started making some significant changes in my life.

Actually the founder of Franklin, Hyrum Smith has a great book called "The 10 Essential Laws of Time and Life Management" - this should be required reading for you!

Even though I hate ad slogans (since they don't work) this one should become your mantra for the year - "Just Do It".

As cliché and overused as it is - that's all it comes down to. Whether you're willing to roll the dice and put yourself out there a little. I promise whatever the worst case scenario you're thinking, it is far from the reality.

And if you need someone to send your deadline list to - go ahead and email it to me. I'll keep it confidential and we'll celebrate together when you reach your destination.

Copyright 2006 SurefireMarketing.com