I got censored by the new Big Brother.
This time it’s not Big Pharma or our government that’s trying to muzzle me. I’ve been censored by Google.
Google blocked my emails about a natural and safe energizing protein. They told me that they were censoring me because I’m not allowed to talk about the amino acid arginine.
They say it’s a “steroid.” To quote the person enforcing Google’s censor, “To us, it’s a steroid, because we have it listed as a steroid.”
My response: “Huh?”
His response, “To us it’s a steroid, because we have it listed as a steroid.” As if the emphasis on “us” and “listed” explained his reasoning.
Don’t bother them with the fact that arginine is not a steroid, has no relationship to steroids, and is not even a fat – which steroids are.
If they did their homework at all, they would have known better.
But, I’m going to keep talking about arginine. History has shown that censorship doesn’t work, especially when the censor is completely ignorant of the topic that they’re censoring.
And the truth will always win, so I’m writing to you about arginine again because it’s helpful, useful, not dangerous, and it’s sure as hell not a steroid.
Plus, I have some new evidence for you that arginine can keep you young by lengthening your telomeres.
Today I’m going to show you how to use arginine to boost your body’s supply of nitric oxide, and why that’s important for your telomeres. You’ll also discover how arginine can improve other aspects of your health through stronger muscles, and the best form of arginine to take.
Muscle loss with aging is something I measure every day in my wellness center.
Sarcopenia is age-related loss of muscle mass. I’ve helped thousands of patients prevent this, and gain muscle mass with age to stay independent and active. It’s a focus of anti-aging medicine because healthy muscles boost your resting metabolism, make you more vigorous and keep you trim.
With Arginine, the most powerful of the alpha-amino acids, you can prevent muscle loss and restore lost muscle. That’s because muscles use Arginine as raw material to make nitric oxide.
About 2-3 hours after working out, your muscle cells activate growth factors via nitric oxide. These activate stem cells to grow into new muscle cells. After 24 hours the stem cells start to develop. If you increase your nitric oxide production in this period you’ll get stronger faster.
One study showed that 3 grams of Arginine dramatically boosted muscle mass and strength in just 8 weeks. It also reduced body fat.1
But boosting nitric oxide with arginine also helps maintain telomeres. Recently, I read a study from Circulation Research that examined the effect of nitric oxide on telomere length. They found boosting nitric oxide helped maintain telomeres and reduced the number of the cells that died prematurely.2
This can give your body a huge boost when it comes to preventing sarcopenia. The reason is that people with sarcopenia have shorter telomeres than those who don’t suffer from this muscle-shrinking condition.3
Nitric oxide helps tell your telomeres to create younger cells again—not the old ones most adults are stuck with. This keeps your muscles young and strong, and helps you look, feel and move like a younger person.
To maintain healthy muscles and longer telomeres, you can take arginine in a capsule form. Take a 700 mg capsule each day for prevention.
To fix a specific problem that has already occurred, you’ll get the most from arginine if you take it in powder form. To build lost muscle and maintain the length and youth of your telomeres, start with a loading dose of 5 grams daily for two weeks. Then take 2.5 grams daily for maintenance. Never exceed 10 grams a day.
Because arginine is an amino acid, proteins compete with its absorption. For this reason, you will absorb more of it if you take it between meals. Simply take a teaspoon of powder and mix it with water.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
1. Angeli, G., et al, “Investigation of the effects of oral supplementation of arginine in the increase of muscular strength and mass,” Rev. Bras. Med. Esporte. 2007;(13)2:112e-115e
2.Vasa M, et. al. “Nitric Oxide Activates Telomerase and Delays Endothelial Cell Senescense.” Circulation Research. 2000; 540-542.
3.Marzetti E, et. al. “Shorter telomeres in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from older persons with sarcopenia: results from an exploratory study.” Front Aging Neurosci. 2014;6:233.