Arginine has been shown to reduce cholesterol in animal studies. There are dangers here in drawing conclusions as the mechanisms of cholesterol formation are different in animals and humans.
No they aren't dangerous at all. The key is moderation. (Look it up) You "take" them, (L-Ornithine and L-Arginine) every day. Avocado, cheese, chocolate, cottage cheese, duck, eggs, oatmeal, pork, beef, all contain arginine. Pork and beef contain 5 grams Arginine per lb. Ornithine is found in fish, meat, dairy products and eggs. Unless one is a recent heart patient or schizophrenic, the only side effcts of consequence one has to worry about are nausea, vomiting, and insomnia, when ingesting over 10 grams of L-Ornithine per day. A simple way to avoid this is not to take more than ten grams. The work on Arginine that indicated a possible problem with recent heart attack patients was a poor study. An amino supplement program that is that is lopsidedly loaded in susceptible individuals is ill advised. Excess Arginine causes zinc depletion which in turn may cause low B vitamin absorption. If one takes arginine one should take methionine which in turn requires more b12, folic acid, b6, b1 and zinc. If one takes zinc at more than 30 mgs per day, one must take 1/15 the mgs in copper. Doses of 40 grams arginine per day could be dangerous to people with kidney or liver disease, or who drink as much as RE. Suggested therapuetic doses would be between 3 and 5 grams per day. |
