The Benefits of Nitric Oxide

Exercising and keeping physically fit is essential for good health, and nitric oxide supplementation can make a critical difference in stamina and muscle-building. While long known for these qualities, researchers are discovering even more nitric oxide benefits. Supplements do not contain nitric oxide per se, but the compounds within them aid the body in producing nitric oxide.

Via a simple saliva test, it’s possible to show patients how their nitric oxide levels change in real-time during workouts.

Nitric Oxide

Found throughout the body, nitric oxide molecules perform a variety of critical functions. These include:

Widening of blood vessels, or vasodilation
Boosting the immune system
Regulating the life and death of cells
Transporting nutrients

The increased blood flow provided by nitric oxide sends additional oxygen and nutrients to muscles during exercise. This allows for more energy production, promoting training and athletic performance.

Enhanced Performance

Various studies have shown the nitric oxide supplementation improves performance in runners, swimmers, and cyclists. Exercise tolerance increases in most athletes after supplementation, which is one reason why many elite and everyday athletes are nitric oxide devotees.

Less Muscle Soreness

Along with enhanced performance comes less muscle soreness post-exercise, thanks to nitric oxide. The most intense muscle soreness may not appear until 24 to 72 hours after a strenuous workout. Nitric oxide supplementation may reduce such delayed-onset muscle soreness by as much as 40 percent. The type of exercise and the supplement dosage may affect the ability of nitric oxide to decrease soreness.

Nitric Oxide and Erectile Dysfunction

Because of its positive effects on the cardiovascular system, nitric oxide supplementation can help alleviate erectile dysfunction. The penis requires nitric oxide for muscle relaxation. Once the internal penile muscles relax, chambers become engorged with blood and erection results. While not as effective as prescription ED medications, nitric oxide is safe with few, if any, side effects.

Nitric Oxide and Skin Health

Nitric oxide supplementation provides advantages beyond cardiovascular health and exercise. For those suffering from inflammatory acne may find that slow-release nitric oxide particles not only kill Proprionobacterium acnes, the acne-causing bacteria, but inhibit subsequent inflammation.

Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is known as “the silent killer,” because most people cannot tell their blood pressure is high, or may not realize headaches or other warning signals are blood pressure-related. Over time, untreated hypertension can lead to heart attack, stroke or kidney disorders.

Nitrate, found in dark, leafy greens, converts to nitric oxide in the body, which helps lower blood pressure. Taking supplements provides a similar effect.

Nitric Oxide Side Effects and Contraindications

When taken at the proper dosage, nitric oxide seldom produces side effects. Excess consumption of nitric oxide supplements may cause diarrhea or nausea. Some people may find the supplements turning their urine and feces a dark red shade, but this is not harmful.

Those with low blood pressure, or hypotension, should consult their doctor before beginning nitric oxide supplementation. Suspect hypotension if prone to dizziness or fainting for no apparent reason.

Nitric Oxide Supplementation

With so many benefits and so few risks, nitric oxide supplementation is an ideal way to boost your exercise and performance levels. For more information, contact AgeRejuvenation today at 888-865-8370 to schedule a free consultation.

New Study on Antibiotics

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study that provides evidence that the use of antibiotics is associated with an increased risk of getting breast cancer. The conclusion: the more antibiotics the women in the study had the higher the risk of breast cancer. The women who had more than 25 prescriptions over a seventeen-year period had more than twice the risk of breast cancer than the women who had not taken any. Even the women that had 1 to 25 prescriptions of antibiotics over that time had a one and a half times risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer than those that hadn’t had any antibiotics. The authors found an increased risk in all areas that they studied. What the take away from this? Well first understand that all drugs are toxic and can damage health and should only be taken after considering the risk to benefit ratio. Couple the risk of antibiotic use with our nutrient poor diets (leading to our weakened immune systems), overuse of poor quality medications, vaccines, and immunosuppressive drugs for autoimmune diseases, then it’s no wonder there’s been an explosion in sickness and cancer rates over the last 15 years. But we don’t have to continue down that road. If you get sick all the time, or when you get sick it takes a whole week to get better, and if you are overly dependent on drugs such as antibiotics just to feel “normal” then that should trigger an alarm. Being in excellent health is not just about how one feels at the moment, it is how resistant the immune system is to microbes and that reflects cancer resistance. Remember antibiotics don’t just kill the bacteria causing the sickness; it kills the beneficial bacteria too (probiotics) that contribute to a healthy digestive system so they need to be replaced through the diet or supplementation. Swap the antibiotics for a diet rich with nutrients complimented by pharmaceutical grade supplements that support your immune system and you will rarely get sick again and when you do you will be back on your feet before you know it.

Astaxanthin

Astaxanthin is one of the most potent and powerful antioxidants available to us and may have significant health benefits. It is a member of the carotenoid family and is a deep red colored phytonutrient synthesized by microalgae. Some of the benefits of this antioxidant include protection against age related macular degeneration, inflammatory conditions, UV protection, wrinkle prevention, and better brain health. If one’s diet is full of vegetables they are probably getting the necessary carotenoids in sufficient amounts, astaxanthin on the other hand, can be more difficult to get in therapeutic amounts. Small amounts of astaxanthin are found naturally in salmon, shrimp, lobster, and crab. But to reap the therapeutic benefits it needs to be supplemented. One particularly good source to get it from would be Krill Oil or a high quality Fish Oil supplement. Almost every health professional will say that we all need to take a fish oil supplement. There is a debate between krill oil and fish oil and currently the research heavily backs fish oil. But there are some things to consider first. A high quality fish oil supplement also has a lot of the above benefits but what makes krill oil stand out is the antioxidant content and that the omega 3’s are in the form of phospholipids which may increase the absorption rate into the important tissues that need it the most. With that said there are, in fact, some high quality fish oil supplements with astaxanthin. While the marketing tactics of krill oil are compelling, and there may be some truth to it, based on the scientific research I would recommend looking for a high quality fish oil with astaxanthin or you can find a separate astaxanthin supplement to reap the benefits of this powerful antioxidant.

Do Not Eat Foods With This Sign

Some of the foods people consume may very well have undertaken “food irradiation”. Wait. What? Don’t worry; foods exposed to irradiation don’t become radioactive. But in some cases subtle chemical changes may occur. The levels used start at 1 KiloGray which is equivalent to over 16 million chest x-rays; one may start to question its safety. Exposing food to radiation is used primarily to eliminate microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, and insects that might be present in the food. But obviously there are safer alternatives to do this than blasting it with irradiation. The United States has some of the more lenient regulations on irradiation compared to other countries. U.S. supermarkets may contain irradiated foods like fresh meat and poultry, many spices, fresh produce, wheat and wheat powder, and white potatoes. There is a sign that irradiated foods are required to show on packaging and that is the picture on this blog. It is called the ‘radura’ symbol. Doesn’t look too scary does it? It’s important to note that processed foods and restaurants are not required to disclose the use of irradiated food, so when eating out or eating processed junk, be aware that to know if the food has been irradiated. Currently the FDA supports the use of cobalt-60 culled from nuclear reactors on all domestically produced conventional food and has done since 1963. They say it is an important food safety tool in fighting foodborne illness and that the levels they are exposed to isn’t enough to make food radioactive. But the research is showing food irradiation is definitely not as safe as the FDA makes it out to be. And it seems the FDA has turned a blind eye to decades worth of alarming research on the topic. 2-ACB’s are radiolytic derivatives of triglycerides found exclusively in irradiated food and they are produced in correlation with the fat content of the food and its dose of absorbed radiation. This compound has shown in animals to promote tumor growth and colon cancer. They also found this compound is capable of crossing the intestinal barrier which then entered the bloodstream and was stored in the fat tissue of the animal. This is an important reason to detox. Another study found that cats fed with a diet of irradiated foods developed severe neurological dysfunction, including movement disorders, vision loss, and paralysis. In 2000, a study in Food Irradiation concluded “an increase in concentration of a mutagen in food by irradiation will increase the incidence of cancer. It will take four to six decades to demonstrate a statistically significant increase in cancer due to mutagens introduced into food by irradiation. When food irradiation is finally prohibited, several decades worth of people with increased cancer incidence will be in the pipeline.” So what can we do to avoid these foods? Look for the Radura symbol, or foods labeled with “treated with radiation” or “treated by irradiation”. Locally grown and organic foods are also unlikely to have been treated as such. Our Metabolic Rejuvenation Kit is one of the most comprehensive detox programs available and can help cleanse the body of stored toxins.