Nitrosigine® is commonly found in sports nutritional supplements. The most common area to find the ingredient is in the performance category of pre-workout nutritional supplements.  Since Nitrosigine® is a non-stim ingredient, these can be a stimulant-based pre-workout or a stim-free pre-workout/pump powder

It is no surprise to see Nitrosigine® gain popularity in the pre-workout category with 30 different clinical studies that studied the safety and effectiveness of the ingredient.

Nitric oxide is synthesized from the amino acid L-arginine by a family of enzymes. Based on that information one would think that ingesting oral Arginine would directly raise nitric oxide levels, and thus improve blood flow and improve memory. In theory this is true, however orally ingested L-arginine has poor bioavailability.

Oral bioavailability of L-arginine is about 70%, and the maximum plasma concentration reached after oral ingestion of L-arginine is considerably lower than after intravenous infusion, due to the delay in absorption from the intestinal tract.

Two ways to improve the likelihood of L-arginine would be to increase the dosage and/or increase bioavailability. Increasing the dosage seems to be the simplest solution, but it also has adverse effects. Research has shown that doses of >9g in healthy adults lead to adverse side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Increasing bioavailability of L-arginine would, in theory, allow more Arginine to work “for you” and increase nitric oxide levels, thus improving blood flow and enhancing focus and energy. Nutrition21 found a way to increase the bioavailability of L-arginine through the complex bonding of L-arginine and Silicon. The results: improved blood flow and improved memory and focus through the increase nitric oxide levels.

Nitrosigine® has been shown to increase blood arginine levels in as quickly as 30 minutes and lasting up to 6 hours. It does this primarily through arginase inhibition, an enzyme that breaks down Arginine.

Nitrosigine® has been clinically proven to increase nitric oxide levels over other blood flow promoting compounds. In an in vitro study, Nitrosigine® at 1.5g dosage beat out Agmatine Sulfate (1g), L-arginine (1.5g), arginine AKG (4g), Citrulline Malate (3g) and pure Citrulline (3g). When compared against a placebo, studies showed that after only four days of use Nitrosigine® improved muscle pump, with exercise, in the upper leg by 2.3 times.

A recent study compared Nitrosigine® against the popular Citrulline Malate. The study used 1.5g Nitrosigine® against 8g Citrulline Malate. The results indicated that this small amount of Nitrosigine® resulted in the same degree of improvement as over 5 times as much Citrulline Malate in vasodilation, blood flow and nitric oxide levels as measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD).

In addition to the blood flow benefit that Nitrosigine® provides, there are cognitive benefits as well. A double-blinded placebo-controlled crossover study with young healthy adults ages 18-28 resulted in Nitrosigine® enhancing working memory and cognitive function.

The study analyzed repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS). RBANS, for short, analyzes immediate memory, visuospatial, -constructional, language, attention, and delayed memory. The results concluded that Nitrosigine® improved RBANS scores by 11% compared to the placebo group. Nitrosigine® also improved immediate memory scores by 27%.

Having increased blood flow and improved cognition makes Nutrition21’s Nitrosigine® a fantastic ingredient for any pre-workout supplement.