Amino acid Arginine Content in Natural Foods | PRO7fitness.com

Arginine is known in sports, especially in bodybuilding, as a supplement that stimulates the natural production of growth hormone, enhances the effects of creatine, and saturates the blood with nitric oxide.

All three components are important for muscle mass gain and overall athletic performance. While the roles of growth hormone and creatine are more or less understood, nitric oxide contributes to vasodilation, improving the supply of nutrients and oxygen to the muscles.

Everything would be great if it weren’t for scientific research: they do not always confirm the effect of arginine supplementation on the mentioned parameters. This was shown in the material Arginine in Bodybuilding: What It Is, What It Is Needed For, and How Effective It Really Is | Scientific Research.

The reason for this may be the athlete’s training level (the higher it is, the less effect from arginine supplementation), gender, age, and the form of intake (oral or injections).

Scientists also point out that the practice of taking individual amino acids (BCAAs, glutamine, taurine, leucine, arginine) in large doses, which is widely accepted in bodybuilding, should be critically re-evaluated. In particular, because it leads to an imbalance of amino acids: when taking arginine, the concentrations of other amino acids in the blood drop significantly…

We recommend checking out the material What Is Better: Protein or Amino Acids? Reviews from Doctors and Scientists.

In this article, we will provide a list of natural products containing arginine, which are a good (if not the best) alternative to arginine as a type of sports nutrition.

Foods Rich in Arginine

Good sources of arginine are protein-rich foods (106, 119):

• Poultry (chicken, turkey);
• Fish;
• Eggs;
• Meat (pork, beef);
• Nuts and seeds (pumpkin seeds, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts);
• Legumes (lentils, chickpeas);
• Chocolate (more in dark chocolate);
• Cereals (oatmeal, wheat).

Table: Arginine in Food Products

In the table below, we have compiled a list of natural products that have a relatively high arginine content. Information from the USDA National Nutrient Database (100).

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