Arginine as a Fatburner: Recent Evidence
Last week Tan, et al. ( Tan. 8 July 2010 ) published the results of a study on the effect of arginine supplementation on porcine adipose tissue and skeletal muscle. The results shed some light on the purported fatloss effects of an amino acid many of you may know exclusively as a nitric oxide (NO) precursor in various preworkout products. The scientists found that ... "Arg supplementation up-regulates expression of lipogenic genes in skeletal muscle . In contrast, the Arg treatment down-regulates expression of lipogenic genes and increases expression of lipolytic genes in white adipose tissue . Such changes in expression of lipid-metabolic genes favor the storage of lipids in skeletalmuscle but the loss of fat from subcutaneous adipose tissue in growing-finishing pigs." Also of interest is the marked increase in oleic acid concentration in skeletal muscle : "Such a physiological effect of Arg is beneficial for humans, because oleic acid stimulates glucose uptake by sk...