Affiliation:
1. School of Sport and Health Sciences and
2. Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, St. Luke's Campus, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
Abstract
It has recently been reported that dietary nitrate (NO3−) supplementation, which increases plasma nitrite (NO2−) concentration, a biomarker of nitric oxide (NO) availability, improves exercise efficiency and exercise tolerance in healthy humans. We hypothesized that dietary supplementation with l-arginine, the substrate for NO synthase (NOS), would elicit similar responses. In a double-blind, crossover study, nine healthy men (aged 19–38 yr) consumed 500 ml of a beverage containing 6 g of l-arginine (Arg) or a placebo beverage (PL) and completed a series of “step” moderate- and severe-intensity exercise bouts 1 h after ingestion of the beverage. Plasma NO2− concentration was significantly greater in the Arg than the PL group (331 ± 198 vs. 159 ± 102 nM, P < 0.05) and systolic blood pressure was significantly reduced (123 ± 3 vs. 131 ± 5 mmHg, P < 0.01). The steady-state O2 uptake (V̇o2) during moderate-intensity exercise was reduced by 7% in the Arg group (1.48 ± 0.12 vs. 1.59 ± 0.14 l/min, P < 0.05). During severe-intensity exercise, the V̇o2 slow component amplitude was reduced (0.58 ± 0.23 and 0.76 ± 0.29 l/min in Arg and PL, respectively, P < 0.05) and the time to exhaustion was extended (707 ± 232 and 562 ± 145 s in Arg and PL, respectively, P < 0.05) following consumption of Arg. In conclusion, similar to the effects of increased dietary NO3− intake, elevating NO bioavailability through dietary l-Arg supplementation reduced the O2 cost of moderate-intensity exercise and blunted the V̇o2 slow component and extended the time to exhaustion during severe-intensity exercise.
Publisher
American Physiological Society
Subject
Physiology (medical),Physiology
Cited by
103 articles.
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