L-Arginine amino acid supplementation warning

[ghostdust]

I started taking 500mg of L-Arginine a day for 4 days. I was interested in its supposed benefits, but have been watching my sugar closely due to the last part of this description: "The amino acid arginine has several roles in the body, such as assisting in wound healing, helping remove excess ammonia from the body, stimulating immune function, and promoting secretion of several hormones, including glucagon, insulin, and growth hormone." More here.

I noticed I progressively seemed to be less sensitive to my insulin and have had to increase my dosage. It has been two days since I last took it, and I am still having much higher than normal blood sugar readings. It may be coincidental, but my blood sugar fluctuations are rarely this dramatic unless I'm sick (I'm not).

[duck]

You could always stop using it and see if the effect reverses itself.

What purported benefits are you trying to get out L-Arginine? Bodybuilders used to pop the stuff like candy back in the day...

[Shalyndria]

"The amino acid arginine has several roles in the body, such as assisting in wound healing, helping remove excess ammonia from the body, stimulating immune function, and promoting secretion of several hormones, including glucagon, insulin, and growth hormone."

Well, sounds to me like this is no good if you're a Type 1. And even for a Type 2 it doesn't seem beneficial. There is little or no chance of stimulating secretion of insulin for Type 1's, as our Beta cells are blown to begin with. Growth hormone itself stimulates the action of glucagon, so it's no wonder you've had to increase your insulin amounts if your liver is releasing excessive amounts of glycogen in response.

I'd really suggest that you don't take this vitamin; there's got to be a better way of reaping whatever benefits you were interested in.

Shy

[regged]

Does L-arginine supposedly have any use for diabetic patients? Personally, I haven't heard of any (obviously that doesn't rule it out ). I've heard of L-arginine being used for body building, too, along with suggestions for a bunch of other things... just not diabetes, as far as I can recall.

[Jim Fetter]

One Diabetic Doctor Finds Hope
I had been doing all the things that are in National guidelines, getting most the patients' HbA1c into 7.0 or less and feeling proud. It was not enough. We sent 1/3 of the patients, 240 people in one year, off to visit the cardiologists in 1993 for various studies and treatments. I was so ashamed.
I turned to the studies from Stanford in the 1970's using vitamins and aspirin and worried less about the HbA1c. With this we cut the cardiology referral rate in half. Somehow the world thought this was good and I began on the talk circuit along with Victor Dzau, then Chief of the Division of Cardiology.
"I'm working on something really good that will help those with diabetes too" he said. I went to search for what he had published and found 30 papers on arginine and the reversal of hardening of the arteries -in rats.
"What is the arginine dose in humans," I asked at the going away party for him as he left to become the Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Harvard. "I don't know" he replied, "Ask John Cooke. He is doing all the work in humans". So we began to work with John Cooke.
So now I'm very proud of what we do. I still work to get the HbA1c to 7.0, but since starting my patients on a six gram arginine supplementation program, we send only about one patient every two years (under age 65) to the cardiologists, instead of the 240 I was sending year after year. I consider myself to still be good friends with the heart, kidney and nerve specialists, even if I don't speak with them as often.
Dr. Joe Pendergrast, M.D., The Diabetes Doctor

• Arginine improves blood circulation, improves exercise capability and facilitates vasodilation in angina patients (3)
• Arginine helps to prevent atherosclerosis and reduces the severity of existing atherosclerosis (4).
• Arginine inhibits the adhesion of monocytes to the endothelium (an underlying event in the course of atherosclerosis) (5).
• Arginine improves blood circulation (by stimulating the production of nitric oxide, an endogenous neurotransmitter that helps to prevent vasoconstriction and which initiates vasodilation by relaxing the smooth muscle cells of the blood vessels) (6).
• Arginine helps to prevent free radicals-induced damage to the lining of blood vessels (by enhancing the production of nitric oxide in blood vessels) (8)
• Arginine significantly increases stroke volume and cardiac output (without effect on heartbeat rate) in congestive heart failure patients. It also increases vasodilation (leading to increased blood circulation) in congestive heart failure patients (9).
• Arginine reverses consequences of coronary heart disease (10).
• Arginine lowers blood pressure in some hypertension patients (by facilitating the body's production of nitric oxide (NO) and by inhibiting the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)) (11).
• Arginine reverses adverse effects of high blood pressure (12).
• Arginine decreases high blood pressure (13).
• Arginine reduces pulmonary blood pressure and improves blood circulation in pulmonary hypertension patients (14).
• Arginine increases walking distance in intermittent claudication patients (15).
• Arginine restores normal endothelial function in hypercholesterolemia (16).
• Arginine improves walking distance in peripheral vascular disease (17).
• Arginine improves outcome after bypass surgery (18).
• Arginine reduces blood clots and strokes (19)
• Arginine helps prevent restenosis after angioplasty and bypass (20).
• Arginine may give protection against size of heart attack (21).
• Arginine improves heart failure (22)
• Arginine improves peripheral vascular disease (23).
Digestive System
• Arginine deficiency can cause constipation.
• Arginine supplementation may decrease the incidence of gallstones.
• Arginine reduces intestinal permeability (due to arginine’s role in the production of nitric oxide) (24).
• Arginine alleviates many cases of ulcerative colitis (by promoting the healing of the ulcers that occur in the colon of ulcerative colitis patients) (25).
• Arginine may improve irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (26).
• Arginine reduces ulcers (27).
• Arginine helps prevent post surgical damage after intestinal manipulation (28).
• Arginine improves outcome in sepis (29).
Excretory System
• Arginine alleviates the pain and discomfort associated with interstitial cystitis (30).
• Arginine significantly improves the function of the kidneys and helps to prevent age-related degradation of the kidneys (31).
Immune System
• Arginine helps to prevent bacterial & viral diseases in persons with suppressed immune systems (32).
• Arginine blocks the formation of some forms of cancer (arginine inhibits the cellular replication of 24 different types of cancer in animals) (33).
• Arginine boosts the ability of the immune system to fight breast cancer (34).
• Arginine lowers tumor protein synthesis and tumor growth rate in liver cancer patients (35).
• Arginine inhibits the further growth of some types of sarcomas (36).
• One of the means by which arginine counteracts cancer is by reducing the activity of ornithine decarboxylase, an enzyme that is associated with some types of cancer. * Caution: Arginine is also speculated to exacerbate some types of cancer, however this is not well proven.
• Arginine improves outcome of cancer treatment (37).
• Arginine (in non-excessive quantities) stimulates numerous aspects of the immune system (38):
• Arginine stimulates the production of helper T-cells (39).
• Arginine stimulates the activity of lymphocytes and also stimulates their production by the thymus gland (40).
• Arginine increases the activity (cytotoxicity) of NK lymphocytes. (41).
• Arginine stimulates the production of T-lymphocytes within the thymus and makes them more active and effective (42).
• Arginine increases the size of the thymus, stimulates the production of lymphocytes by the thymus and restores the production of thymic hormones to youthful levels (43).
• Arginine helps to counteract inflammation (44).
• Arginine accelerates the ability of the immune system to recover from surgery (45).
• Arginine improves sickle cell disease (46).
Metabolism
• Alkalosis can occur as a result of arginine deficiency (47).
• Arginine exerts antioxidant effects that scavenge superoxide free radicals (48).
• Arginine lowers total serum cholesterol levels (49).
• Arginine lowers serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (50).
• Arginine inibits the process of cross-linking (51).
• Arginine reduces insulin resistance and improves blood sugar disposal in diabetes mellitus type 2 patients (52).
• Arginine reduces insulin resistance (53)
• Arginine improves diabetes and reverses damage caused by diabetes (54).
• Arginine may prevent diabetes (55).
• Arginine increases oxygen uptake in the lungs in persons with hypoxia (due to its role in the production of nitric oxide, which in turn improves blood circulation via vasodilation) (56):
• Arginine increases oxygen uptake in the lungs in persons with altitude sickness (due to its role in the production of nitric oxide, which in turn improves blood circulation via vasodilation) (57).
• Arginine improves asthma (58).
• Arginine helps to detoxify the liver and alleviates cirrhosis. Liver malfunction can occur as a result of arginine deficiency (59).
• Arginine lowers elevated serum triglyceride levels (60).
• Arginine alleviates obesity and facilitates weight loss (by stimulating the release of human growth hormone (HGH) from the pituitary gland) (61).
Musculoskeletal System
• Arginine facilitates the healing of fractures (62).
• Arginine facilitates muscle growth (by inhibiting muscle loss) and is required for the transport of the nitrogen used in muscle metabolism (63).
• Muscle weakness can occur as a result of arginine deficiency (64).
• Arginine may prevent and alleviate osteoporosis (by stimulating the release of human growth hormone (HGH) which is an important mediator of bone formation and bone turnover; it also stimulates nitric oxide synthesis which is a potent inhibitor of osteoclasts that cause the resorption of bone) (65).
• Arginine causes the relaxation of smooth muscle (by functioning as a precursor for nitric oxide production) (66).
• Arginine improves muscle performance (67).
• Arginine improves glucose uptake into muscle cells (68).
Nervous System
• Arginine may be useful for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (due to its ability to repair damaged axons by increasing polyamines levels) (69).
• Arginine is essential for the regeneration of damaged axons of neurons (its role appears to be as an agent for degrading proteins that have been damaged through axon injury) (70).
• Arginine facilitates the potentiation of long-term memory (by stimulating the production of nitric oxide (NO) - a neurotransmitter responsible for the potentiation (storage) of long-term memory (71).
• Arginine improves memory and cognitive functions (72).
• Arginine improves pituitary responsiveness and modulates hormonal control (73)
• Arginine is essential for and accelerates the healing of wounds (by stimulating the release of human growth hormone (HGH), stimulating the production of collagen and by stimulating the proliferation of fibroblasts) (84):
• Arginine accelerates the healing of burns (85).
• Arginine dramatically accelerates the healing of wounds in people who have undergone surgery (86).
• Arginine decreases post operative infection and length of hospital stay (87).
• Arginine improves scleroderma (88).
Safety
• Arginine has been shown to be safe in the above studies as well as thousands of others (89).
• Arginine has been used safely in humans for the past 30 years. Thousands of professional athletes, as well as non-athletes, have used arginine supplements with no adverse side effects.

[Sparticus]

There has always been a silly ritual in medicine, which requires anything and everything, no matter how beneficial, to be forbidden to diabetics if it may elevate their blood sugar -- provided that it is a natural supplement rather than a prescriptioon drug. Thus, diabetics are required by physicians all the time to take drugs which elevate blood sugar enormously, such as steroids, but then they are forbidden to take supplements, such as niacin or niacinamide, which elevate blood sugar slightly. The explanation for this different response is obvious: doctors hate patient self-empowerment, which takes diabetics out of their control, so they don't want patients taking anything which does not require a doctor visit, money being paid to the medical profession, and a prescription. It's a wonder that they don't forbid patients to eat, which is the largest singlel cause of blood sugar increase.

So we see this again with arginine, which has such a tiny effect in elevating blood sugar and growth hormone levels (which can promote the development of complications) that it is hardly worth mentioning. But the benefits it can provide far outweigh any costs. The particular benefit of arginine to diabetics is that in diabetes, the capacity of the vasculature to release nitric oxide, which keeps the vessels flexible and free-flowing, is greatly inhibited, and nitrous oxide greatly increases the availability of nitrous oxide in the body, effectively transforming stiff, inflexible, poorly perfused diabetic blood vessels into much more normal, healthy vasculature. It is no coincidence that 60% of diabetic males are impotent, and that the process of erection requires the blood vessels to dilate under the influence of nitric oxide, which drugs like Viagra help provide.

[MCS]

I take 5000mg of L-Arginine everyday. Yes at first it did elevate my BG, but that soon resolved itself.

Benefits for me
: No pain in my extremidies
: ED gone
: Blood Pressure lowered
: Wound healing, like I was 5 yrs old again

There are others if I thought about it long enough. L-Arginine dialates your periphial blood vessels allowing blood flow. High BG stops periphial blood flow.

I have also opened a capsule added a small amount of water to form a paste and applied it directly to a wound, dressed it and the healing was quicker than with an antibiotic cream.

My thinking is, blood flow is the key to every process in my body.

[Ted_Hutchinson]

I take 5000mg of L-Arginine everyday. Yes at first it did elevate my BG, but that soon resolved itself.

Could you be a bit more specific please.
One dose daily before food.?
or some with or before every meal?
Have you a cheap source of L-Arginine?
Are there any things you have to watch for when buying it?

I think diabetics using Niacin also have elevated BG for a period while their body is adjusting to the new regime.

[MCS]

I take it 10 capsules of 500mg. 3 in the morning, 3 at lunch, 4 at dinner.

A bottle of 500 caps cost around $30 at the Vitamine Shoppe.

Some of the protien drinks come with 5000 mg L-Arginine a serving.

I have also purchased L-Arginine at Wal-Mart, same price but comes in smaller bottles. I haven't had trouble with either one.

[DeusXM]

The explanation for this different response is obvious: doctors hate patient self-empowerment, which takes diabetics out of their control, so they don't want patients taking anything which does not require a doctor visit, money being paid to the medical profession, and a prescription.

Ah yes, the old cynical hypocrisy. Doctors and medication are bad because money is involved, yet apparently buying magic pixie dust doesn't involve money and so is fine.

Seriously, the amount of times I've heard people whine about pharmaceutical companies or doctors or insurers on the basis that they recommend some sort of medication that requires paying for yet somehow completely fail to understand that a company manufacturing supplements is doing EXACTLY the same thing simply beggars believe.

I'm going to come out and say it - unless you have something drastically wrong with part of how your body works or you have a poor diet, there's no need for supplements. The human body is the end by-product of 500 million years' worth of evolution and as a result has developed in such a way that unless something really goes wrong, it's able to get the key elements it needs from simply existing.

Diabetes doesn't prevent the production of argenine in any way and given that it's present in all dairy, meat, and wheat products there's no reason why anyone in the Western world would suffer from a shortage of argenine.

I don't doubt that as a useful amino acid, argenine is vital and healthy but I really don't understand why you'd spend $30 extra on something you're probably not short of and can get from, well, eating normally.

The particular benefit of arginine to diabetics is that in diabetes, the capacity of the vasculature to release nitric oxide, which keeps the vessels flexible and free-flowing, is greatly inhibited, and nitrous oxide greatly increases the availability of nitrous oxide in the body, effectively transforming stiff, inflexible, poorly perfused diabetic blood vessels into much more normal, healthy vasculature. It is no coincidence that 60% of diabetic males are impotent, and that the process of erection requires the blood vessels to dilate under the influence of nitric oxide, which drugs like Viagra help provide.

The crazy thing is that simply managing your BG effectively also pretty much does these things. The vast majority of patients with diabetes probably don't have sub 6.5% A1Cs, so it's very hard to then declare that their vascular problems are entirely down to a lack of readily available argenine and are in no way the fault of poor BG management. I'm not being funny but that copy-and-paste story from a doctor who apparently thinks a 7% A1c is something to celebrate shows just how little understanding there is out there about the importance of properly managing diabetes.

Ultimate test - get me a sample of people with diabetes who've got normal A1Cs (ie. 6.5% and below) and then have one lot as a control group and the other as an argenine one. That'd be a fairer test - in other words, let's hold 'natural' remedies to the same standard we hold 'artificial' ones, instead of just switching off the critical thinking the moment someone says something is 'natural'.

[Uelrindru]

Really though at $30 a pop for 500 pills, it's a worth a try to see if it helps you. I didn't see a lot of negatives on that list and I haven't done my research yet, firing up google in a sec, but I sure as **** see a long list of eye popping issues with all the other drugs I take. Why not try it and see if it works for you, then you can toss it or love it depending on your results.

[Uelrindru]

Google was fired up and the results are
Other potential side effects include low blood pressure and changes in numerous chemicals and electrolytes in the blood. Examples include high potassium, high chloride, low sodium, low phosphate, high blood urea nitrogen, and high creatinine levels. People with liver or kidney diseases may be especially sensitive to these complications and should avoid using arginine except under medical supervision. After injections of arginine, low back pain, flushing, headache, numbness, restless legs, venous irritation, and death of surrounding tissues have been reported.
from the mayo clinic website, backed up from several other sites. Seems a silly risk for some small benefit with that new information. Of course it didn't give me percentages of side effects, something I WISH was more readily acceptable.

[Great Survivor]

Ah yes, the old cynical hypocrisy. Doctors and medication are bad because money is involved, yet apparently buying magic pixie dust doesn't involve money and so is fine.

Seriously, the amount of times I've heard people whine about pharmaceutical companies or doctors or insurers on the basis that they recommend some sort of medication that requires paying for yet somehow completely fail to understand that a company manufacturing supplements is doing EXACTLY the same thing simply beggars believe.

I'm going to come out and say it - unless you have something drastically wrong with part of how your body works or you have a poor diet, there's no need for supplements. The human body is the end by-product of 500 million years' worth of evolution and as a result has developed in such a way that unless something really goes wrong, it's able to get the key elements it needs from simply existing.

Diabetes doesn't prevent the production of argenine in any way and given that it's present in all dairy, meat, and wheat products there's no reason why anyone in the Western world would suffer from a shortage of argenine.

I don't doubt that as a useful amino acid, argenine is vital and healthy but I really don't understand why you'd spend $30 extra on something you're probably not short of and can get from, well, eating normally.



The crazy thing is that simply managing your BG effectively also pretty much does these things. The vast majority of patients with diabetes probably don't have sub 6.5% A1Cs, so it's very hard to then declare that their vascular problems are entirely down to a lack of readily available argenine and are in no way the fault of poor BG management. I'm not being funny but that copy-and-paste story from a doctor who apparently thinks a 7% A1c is something to celebrate shows just how little understanding there is out there about the importance of properly managing diabetes.

Ultimate test - get me a sample of people with diabetes who've got normal A1Cs (ie. 6.5% and below) and then have one lot as a control group and the other as an argenine one. That'd be a fairer test - in other words, let's hold 'natural' remedies to the same standard we hold 'artificial' ones, instead of just switching off the critical thinking the moment someone says something is 'natural'.

You have completely ignored the evidence that this doctor is providing to us about the high incidence of cardiovascular problems with patients with tight blood sugar control (A1C 7.0). Your suggestion that because the aim is not A1C of 6.5 or below, that may be the reason for complications. This is absolutely ludicrous & the worst example of this 'Blood Sugar Control' obsession that promotes false security in Type 1 diabetics whereby they're advised that just getting your BG to that of what a normal person's BG is & you won't have any problems. That is a seriously flawed & dangerous! The fact is many, many well controlled diabetics still get diabetic complications. Is that loud & clear to everyone? Well controlled diabetics still unfortunately develop complications! This is a fact. As this doctor advised, focusing just on BG is not enough.

As far as I am aware you are NOT a doctor & in no position to make any dogmatic assertions about what diabetics should do or shouldn't do.

Oh & one more thing, your statement that unless something is not working in your body, one shouldn't be taking any supplements. Well here's something sobering for you to consider - you are just such a person as your body does not produce it's own insulin! You have a something vitally wrong with the way your body works & no matter how well you keep your BG levels to 'normal', it doesn't change this sad fact.

Wake up! Your cynical bias against any attempt to come up with innovative thinking & solutions to this terrible disease is truly a danger to others as well as yourself.