Arginine and its metabolites are known to cause plaque not to form on the endothelium, and also to cause disaggregation of platelets. (All good) Its effect on reduction of cholesterol is slight, if at all. As possible roles in reduction of plaque, L-arginine may interfere with cholesterol oxidation, or it may cause cholesterol to form larger globules. Still another mechanism may be that it helps lecithin emulsify LDL. This is just off the wall theory, as the main known activity of L-argine is to expand arteries, and the peripheral vascular system by promoting NOx formation. It is interesting to note that the beneficial effect of chronic usage of soy is now thought to be from its NOx promotion.
All this against a backdrop of some studies showing a deleterious effect on recent heart attack patients from supplementing with arginine. Really sick people should be careful about drastic supplementation. Frankly I would not supplement arginine at all in a heart patient, without adding carnitine to the mix. This is because carnitine, an important "heart" amino comes from lysine, and lysine is antagonistic with arginine. It is also probably necessary to supplement with zinc to one with copper when adding arginine, as zinc is depleted with large doses of arginine, and the mineral is vitally needed to make hundreds of enzymes and along with betaine activate the heart protectors, folic acid, B12 and B6. With excess arginine and depletion of zinc, homocysteine could build up. This could account for the adverse results of sole arginine loading. This means as well that if one takes arginine, methionine and B6 should go hand in hand.
Aminos have to be balanced. |
