Nitric oxide or nitrogen monoxide is a chemical compound with chemical formula NO. This gas is an important signaling molecule in the body of mammals, including humans, and is an extremely important intermediate in the chemical industry. It is also an air pollutant produced by cigarette smoke, automobile engines and power plants.
NO is an important messenger molecule involved in many physiological and pathological processes within the mammalian body both beneficial and detrimental. Appropriate levels of NO production are important in protecting an organ such as the liver from ischemic damage. However sustained levels of NO production result in direct tissue toxicity and contribute to the vascular collapse associated with septic shock, whereas chronic expression of NO is associated with various carcinomas and inflammatory conditions including juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and ulcerative colitis.
NO gives more blood to organs when needed. When your arms need more blood supply for movement or for warmth, for example, the brain signals the blood vessels in the arms to release NO. After a big meal, NO sends more blood to your stomach to help you digest the food. It controls blood pressure, giving more blood when you exercise, and reducing the flow of blood when our body is at rest. NO is also responsible for the relaxation of blood vessels in the penis, causing the blood to pool which produces an erection. The anti-impotence drugs Viagra ® and Levitra ® work in much the same way. Nitroglycerin works to help chest pain by releasing NO gas, which dilates the blood vessels in the heart.
Bodybuilders and athletes know that Nitric Oxide is a valuable part of their success because it’s responsible for blood flow, oxygen delivery, glucose uptake, muscle velocity, power output, and muscle growth.
Increasing Nitric Oxide levels can deliver continuous muscle benefits like:
-Faster gains in lean mass -Greater strength -Providing better muscle recovery -Increasing endurance
When you exercise hard, Nitric oxide opens the blood floodgates, allowing blood to surge in. This is the "pump" so coveted by bodybuilders and athletes alike. But exercise-induced pumps are only temporary. They disappear soon after exercise has ended.
But new and effective NO stimulator formulations are changing that. The muscle pump you get from these supplements can help you retain that post-exercise, blood-engorged, rock-hard condition longer than before. Even massive, vein-popping pumps show no sign of diminishing. That's because NO generates a continuous surge of blood that courses through the skeletal muscle throughout the day. So muscles remain engorged and steel-like all day long.
The phrase branched-chain amino acids or BCAA is sometimes used to refer to the amino acids having aliphatic side-chains that are non-linear. These are leucine, isoleucine and valine. The combination of these three essential amino acids makes up approximately 1/3 of skeletal muscle in the human body, and plays an important role in protein synthesis. BCAA’s are currently used clinically to aid in the recovery of burn victims, as well as for supplementation for strength athletes.
amino acid /ami·no ac·id/ (ah-me´no) one of a class of organic compounds containing the amino (NH2) and the carboxyl (COOH) groups; they occur naturally in plant and animal tissue and form the chief constituents of protein.
branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. essential amino acids the nine α-amino acids that cannot be synthesized by humans but must be obtained from the diet. nonessential amino acids the eleven α-amino acids that can be synthesized by humans and are not specifically required in the diet.
Glutamine (abbreviated as Gln or Q) is one of the 20 amino acids encoded by the standard genetic code. Its side chain is an amide formed by replacing the side-chain hydroxyl of glutamic acid with an amine functional group. It can therefore be considered the amide of glutamic acid. Its codons are CAA and CAG. Recent studies have proven its effectiveness in anabolic muscle growth from prolonged consumption.
Glutamine is the most abundant naturally occurring, non-essential amino acid in the human body and one of the few amino acids which directly crosses the blood-brain barrier In the body it is found circulating in the blood as well as stored in the skeletal muscles. It becomes conditionally essential requiring intake from food or supplements in states of illness or injury.
Dietary sources of L-glutamine include beef, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, dairy products, wheat, cabbage, beets, beans, spinach, and parsley. Small amounts of free L-glutamine are also found in vegetable juices and fermented foods, such as miso
Creatine supplements are athletic aids used to increase high-intensity athletic performance. Though researchers have known of the use of creatine as an energy source by skeletal muscles since the beginning of the 20th century, they were popularized as a performance-enhancing supplement in 1992.
Creatine is often taken by athletes as a supplement for those wishing to gain muscle mass (bodybuilding). There are a number of forms but the most common are creatine monohydrate, creatine complexed with a molecule of water, and Creatine ethyl ester (CEE). A number of methods for ingestion exist - as a powder mixed into a drink, or as a capsule or caplet. Once ingested, creatine is highly bioavailable, whether it is ingested as the crystalline monohydrate form, the free form in solution, or even in meat. Creatine salts will become the free form when dissolved in aqueous solution. Conventional wisdom recommends the consumption of creatine with high glycemic index carbohydrates, though research indicates that the use of high GI carbs in combination with protein is also beneficial.
There is scientific evidence that taking creatine supplements can marginally increase athletic performance in high-intensity anaerobic repetitive cycling sprints, but studies in swimmers and runners have been less than promising, most likely because these activities are sustained at a given intensity and thus do not allow for significant intra-exercise synthesis of additional creatine phosphate molecules. Ingesting creatine can increase the level of phosphocreatine in the muscles up to 20%. It must be noted creatine has no significant effect on aerobic endurance, though it will increase power during short sessions of high-intensity aerobic exercise.
Since body mass gains of about 1 kg can occur in a week's time, many studies suggest that the gain is simply due to greater water retention inside the muscle cells. Other studies however, have shown that creatine increases the activity of satellite cells, which make muscle hypertrophy possible. Creatine supplementation appears to increase the number of myonuclei that satellite cells will 'donate' to damaged muscle fibers, which increases the potential for growth of those fibers. This increase in myonuclei probably stems from creatine's ability to increase levels of the myogenic transcription factor MRF4.
In another study, researchers concluded that changes in substrate oxidation may influence the inhibition of fat mass loss associated with creatine after weight training when they discovered that fat mass did not change significantly with creatine but decreased after the placebo trial in a 12-week study on ten active men. The study also showed that 1-RM bench press and total body mass increased after creatine, but not after placebo.[11] The underlying effect of Creatine on body composition if there is indeed one has yet to be determined, as another study with a similar timeframe suggests no effect on body composition, but had less overall emphasis on metabolic effects.
Creatine use is not considered doping and is not banned by the majority of sport-governing bodies. However, in the United States, the NCAA recently ruled that colleges could not provide creatine supplements to their players, though the players are still allowed to obtain and use creatine independently.
Some current studies indicate that short-term creatine supplementation in healthy individuals is safe, although those with renal disease should avoid it due to possible risks of renal dysfunction, and before using it healthy users should bear these possible risks in mind. Small-scale, longer-term studies have been done and seem to demonstrate its safety. There have been reports of muscle cramping with the use of creatine, though a study showed no reports of muscle cramping in subjects taking creatine-containing supplements during various exercise training conditions in trained and untrained endurance athletes. The cause of the reported cramping by some users may be due to dehydration, and extra water intake is vital when supplementing with creatine.
In addition, experiments have shown that creatine supplementation improved the health and lifespan of mice. Whether these beneficial effects would also apply to humans is still uncertain. It also led to a rise in allergic lung reactions in an animal test on mice with pre-existent allergic disease.
Creatine supplementation, in the dosages commonly used, results in urinary concentrations that are 90 times greater than normal. The long term effects of this have not been investigated, but there is possibility for a variety of nephrotoxic, i.e., kidney damaging, events. There is potential for direct toxicity on renal tubules where urine is formed, and for acceleration of kidney stone formation. Creatine has been shown to accelerate the growth of cysts in rats with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). Studies have not yet determined if Creatine supplementation will accelerate the growth of cysts in humans with PKD. PKD is prevalant in approximately 1 in 1000 people and may not be detectable until affected individuals reach their thirties.
Proteins are broken down in the stomach during digestion by enzymes known as proteases into smaller polypeptides to provide amino acids for the organism, including the essential amino acids that the organism cannot biosynthesize itself. Aside from their role in protein synthesis, amino acids are also important nutritional sources of nitrogen.
Proteins, like carbohydrates, contain 4 kilocalories per gram as opposed to lipids which contain 9 kilocalories and alcohols which contain 7 kilocalories. The liver, and to a much lesser extent the kidneys, can convert amino acids used by cells in protein biosynthesis into glucose by a process known as gluconeogenesis. The amino acids leucine and lysine are exceptions.
Dietary sources of protein include meats, eggs, nuts, grains, legumes, and dairy products such as milk and cheese of the 20 amino acids used by humans in protein synthesis, 11 "nonessential" amino acids can be synthesized in sufficient quantities by the adult body, and are not required in the diet (hough there are exceptions for some in special cases. The nine essential amino acids, plus arginine for the young, cannot be created by the body and must come from dietary sources.
Most animal sources and certain vegetable sources have the complete complement of all the essential amino acids in adequate proportions. However, it is not necessary to consume a single food source that contains all the essential amino acids, as long as all the essential amino acids are eventually present in the diet: see complete protein and protein combining.
Different proteins have different levels of biological availability (BA) to the human body. Many methods have been introduced to measure protein utilization and retention rates in humans. They include biological value, net protein utilization, and PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acids Score) which was developed by the FDA as an improvement over the Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) method. These methods examine which proteins are most efficiently used by the body. In general they conclude that animal complete proteins that contain all the essential amino acids such as milk, eggs, and meat are of most value to the body.
Egg whites have been determined to have the standard biological value of 100 (hough some sources may have biological values higher, which means that most of the absorbed nitrogen from egg white protein can be retained and used by the body. The biological value of plant protein sources is usually considerably lower than animal sources. For example, corn has a BA of 70 while peanuts have a relatively low BA of 40.
The body is unable to store excess protein. Protein is digested into amino acids which enter the bloodstream. Excess amino acids are converted to other usable molecules by the liver in a process called deamination. Deamination converts nitrogen from the amino acid into ammonia which is converted by the liver into urea in the urea cycle. Excretion of urea is performed by the kidneys. These organs can normally cope with any extra workload but if kidney disease occurs, a decrease in protein will often be prescribed.
Many researchers think excessive intake of protein forces increased calcium excretion. If there is to be excessive intake of protein, it is thought that a regular intake of calcium would be able to stabilize, or even increase the uptake of calcium by the small intestine, which would be more beneficial in older women.
Specific proteins are often the cause of allergies and allergic reactions to certain foods. This is because the structure of each form of protein is slightly different; some may trigger a response from the immune system while others remain perfectly safe. Many people are allergic to casein, the protein in milk; gluten, the protein in wheat and other grains; the particular proteins found in peanuts; or those in shellfish or other seafoods.
Whey Protein Isolate is more expensive from the Whey concentrate because of its high quality and also contain higher biological value. Isolate contain more protein and less fat and lactose per serving.Whey protein isolate is the highest yield of protein currently available, and it come from milk. Whey protein is the easiest to be absorb into the muscle. Hydrolyzed whey protein isolate can significantly increase glutathione. It can provide protection against prostate cancer.
Whey protein begins as a watery byproduct of cheese manufacturing. In its crude state, whey is about 93% water, 6.5% lactose, 0.9% protein and 0.2% vitamins, minerals, and fat-soluble nutrients. In this form, whey is not of much benefit to athletes, but with gentle low-temperature processing and filtration, this liquid can be stripped of most of its lactose, fat, cholesterol and water to yield concentrated whey powders containing anywhere from 34 to 89% protein. Because whey protein concentrate is produced from a liquid as a byproduct of the cheese manufacturing process, it needs to be processed to turn it into anything useable. This process, the boiling and mixing and removing of the non-essential ingredients, is a complicated, painstaking process that takes the liquid from its original form into the final product.
What is the difference between Whey protein Isolate and Whey Protein Concentrate?
This is a very commonly asked question and also an important one. Many whey powders are made up of either whey protein isolate, concentrate or a mixture of the two and it is important to have an understanding of the two.
The main difference is that whey protein Isolate is processed further in order to remove the fat and lactose. This provides a ‘purer’ protein; in fact over 90% of whey protein isolate is protein (by weight.) This is beneficial as lower levels of fat are a plus for the diets of bodybuilders and when whey is being used for weight loss. Lower lactose levels are also a plus for those who are lactose intolerant and also reduce the chance of a ‘bloated’ feeling that can accompany some protein supplements.
It is not all positive for Whey Protein Isolate however. Because of its higher protein ratio, isolate comes generally at a higher retail price. Biologically, the filtering process isolate undertakes removes some of the alpha lactoglobulins and lactoferrins that are important immune boosters.
Whey Concentrate has lower protein availability, anything from 29% up to 89% in some cases. Concentrate is high in levels of lactose and anyone suffering from lactose intolerance needs to be very cautious. Concentrate however can cost less so can be better depending on what your budget is. Whey Concentrate also is low in levels of cholesterol, which is another advantage in consideration to diets.
