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How to Make L-Arginine Taste Better
L-arginine is an amino acid that contributes to muscle growth. Body builders often use it in powder form to supplement their training regimen. Although l-arginine is part of the family of amino acids, the substance is actually alkaline in nature 1. As a result, l-arginine powder has an extremely bitter and unpleasant taste, which is difficult to mask. To make it taste better, you need to neutralize the alkalinity of the l-arginine with an acid, such as lemon juice.
Add a serving of l-arginine powder to a drinking glass. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for dosing.
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Pour enough grape juice into the glass to dissolve the powder. The grape juice should change color indicating the alkaline content of the powder. The grape juice will also add flavor.
Add drops of lemon juice to the grape juice using an eyedropper. Add a dropper full at a time and swirl. When the juice changes back to its original purple, you have effectively neutralized the l-arginine.
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Dilute the juice with water or more grape juice, if desired. The mixture will have a strong lemon flavor, but will not be sour. Diluting will make it less intense.
Tips
If you don’t like grape juice or want to avoid the sugar, dissolve the l-arginine powder in water or the non-alkaline beverage of your choice and add the lemon juice “blind.” The juice will still neutralize the alkalinity but you will not have the color change to indicate that you have added enough.
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References
- The Biology Project: Basic Amino Acids
- Virtual Chembook Elmhurst College: Neutralization Acids and Bases
- Barassi A, Corsi romanelli MM, Pezzilli R, et al. Levels of l-arginine and l-citrulline in patients with erectile dysfunction of different etiology. Andrology. 2017;5(2):256-261. doi:10.1111/andr.12293
- Kobori Y, Suzuki K, Iwahata T, et al. Improvement of seminal quality and sexual function of men with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia syndrome following supplementation with L-arginine and Pycnogenol®. Arch Ital Urol Androl. 2015;87(3):190-3. doi:10.4081/aiua.2015.3.190
- Schulman SP, Becker LC, Kass DA, et al. L-arginine therapy in acute myocardial infarction: the Vascular Interaction With Age in Myocardial Infarction (VINTAGE MI) randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2006;295(1):58-64. doi:10.1001/jama.295.1.58
- Au yeung SL, Lin SL, Lam HS, Schooling CM. Effect of l-arginine, asymmetric dimethylarginine, and symmetric dimethylarginine on ischemic heart disease risk: A Mendelian randomization study. Am Heart J. 2016;182:54-61. doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2016.07.021
- Alexander JW, Supp DM. Role of Arginine and Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Wound Healing and Infection. Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2014;3(11):682–690. doi:10.1089/wound.2013.0469
- Jonker R, Engelen MP, Deutz NE. Role of specific dietary amino acids in clinical conditions. Br J Nutr. 2012;108 Suppl 2:S139-48. doi:10.1017/S0007114512002358
- Natural Standard. Natural Standard Herb & Supplement Guide - E-Book An Evidence-Based Reference. St Louis: Elsevier Health Sciences; 2016.
Writer Bio
Max Whitmore is a personal trainer with more than three years experience in individual and group fitness. Whitmore has a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of Cincinnati, fitness certifications and dietetics training from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Whitmore has written for several online publishers.