With the liberalization of sexual knowledge and sexual concepts, many people supplement arginine to increase the hardness of erections or use drugs to enhance the experience of sexual intercourse.
However, can arginine, which is advertised as hard and erect, be compatible with male ehancement drugs?
Understanding Male Dysfunction
First, let’s understand the specific definition of male sexual dysfunction: it refers to the inability to achieve or maintain penile erection, which leads to the inability to achieve satisfactory sexual performance, including sexual desire disorder, ejaculation abnormality, and penile erectile dysfunction.
Common male sexual dysfunctions include erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, and unsatisfactory sexual function. A few are low libido or sexual impulse, which is usually related to age, psychological factors or drug treatment.
Sexual Desire Disorder
Sexual desire disorder refers to decreased sexual desire and sexual impulse, lack of desire for sexual behavior or sexual fantasies, usually related to psychological factors.
For example: loss of interest in the partner, past negative sexual experience (erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation or sexual pain), relationship breakdown, illness, trauma, medication, fatigue from life, etc.
Abnormal Ejaculation
Abnormal ejaculation covers a wide range, including inability to ejaculate, delayed ejaculation, retrograde ejaculation, weak ejaculation, and premature ejaculation.
Premature ejaculation is defined as the phenomenon that men ejaculate continuously or repeatedly within one minute (primary) or three minutes (secondary) after brief vaginal penetration, without personal will but under slight stimulation.
Erectile Dysfunction
If a man cannot achieve an erection or maintain a firm penis until the end of sexual intercourse, this condition is commonly known as impotence.
Erectile dysfunction is usually related to physiological, psychological, social and environmental factors.
Common causes include: cardiovascular factors, neurological factors, structural problems (penile curvature), endocrine abnormalities, drug factors, mental factors, etc.
What Is Arginine?
Amino acids in nature are in the L form. L-Arginine is an essential amino acid for human body conditions. The daily arginine requirement is 117mg/kg/day. For growing children and adolescents, arginine is an essential nutrient.
Arginine is also the precursor of nitric oxide (NO) in the body. Supplementing arginine can enable vascular endothelial cells to produce enough nitric oxide to help dilate blood vessels.
In daily diet, arginine is mostly found in red meat and nuts, which makes it difficult to provide daily needs. Therefore, it is recommended to supplement it through health food in moderation.
Arginine is absorbed from the small intestine through a specific channel (sodium ion channel protein transport), so it is recommended to avoid food and use it on an empty stomach.
The Working Principle of Arginine and Male Enhancement Pill
The working principle and strengthening effect of commercially available aphrodisiac health products vary greatly depending on their ingredients.
For the erection hardness that many men care about, choosing arginine or pharmaceutical-grade aphrodisiac PDE5 inhibitors has more immediate results.
The Working Principle of Arginine
Arginine can release highly active nitric oxide under the action of nitric oxide synthase, but it is very unstable. Usually, once released, it is easily oxidized into NO2 or NO3, and it is very easy to combine with hemoglobin in the blood and lose its function.
When nitric oxide is released, it will activate the enzyme in the body, convert GTP into c-GMP, and finally activate special protein kinase, so that the calcium ion concentration in the cells of the corpus cavernosum of the penis decreases, causing the smooth muscle in the corpus cavernosum to relax, and blood can be quickly infused into the corpus cavernosum to make the penis swell.
The Working Principle of Impotence Drugs
Currently, impotence drugs on the market all inhibit PDE5, an enzyme that decomposes c-GMP in the smooth muscle cells of the inner wall of the corpus cavernosum blood vessels, causing vasoconstriction;
Impotence drugs can accurately inhibit the PDE5 enzyme to relax the corpus cavernosum smooth muscle and dilate the blood vessels, improving erectile function. Currently, there are four PDE5 inhibitors: sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil and avanafil.
5 Major Functions of Arginine
- Improve male erectile dysfunction. Causes of erectile dysfunction include abnormal blood flow, insufficient testosterone, drugs, psychological factors and neurological deficits. Studies have confirmed that taking 5,000mg arginine daily for 6 weeks can help improve sexual function, erectile function index and sperm concentration in patients with erectile dysfunction.
- Hypotensive. Arginine provides the body with the production of nitric oxide, which promotes vasodilation and decreases blood pressure; while the decrease in vascular resistance can reduce the load on the heart’s output and alleviate heart pain.
- Reduce diabetes-related complications. The absorption route of arginine through the gastrointestinal tract can stimulate insulin secretion better and longer than the injection route.
- Eliminate brain fatigue. As we age, the amount of nitric oxide in our body gradually decreases. Arginine can promote the production of nitric oxide, help dilate blood vessels, promote blood circulation, improve physical fatigue caused by poor blood flow, and also eliminate brain fatigue, thereby improving cognitive ability.
- Promote growth hormone secretion. Arginine can stimulate the secretion of growth hormone. Growth hormone acts on the growth plates of bones, causing leg bones to grow and the body to grow taller.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the intake of arginine should be calculated according to body weight, and the requirement for each kilogram is 117 mg of arginine. For an adult weighing 50-80 kg, about 5850-9360 mg is required daily.
If you can take about 2000 mg of arginine from your daily diet, you can take another 3000-6000 mg of arginine through health supplements. The intake should be quantitative and divided into several times, and long-term consumption can better achieve the purpose of conditioning.
Evidence of Using Arginine and Impotence Drugs
Arginine can provide nitric oxide, while PDE5 inhibitors can continue and enhance the vasodilatory effect of nitric oxide. Theoretically, the two have an additive effect.
But is the effect of using the two together really better?
2020 randomized controlled study. Studies confirming the combination of arginine and sildenafil. Supplementing 3 grams of arginine per day and taking 50 mg of sildenafil every two days can significantly improve the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5).
The combined improvement effect is better than that of sildenafil 50 mg alone. There is generally no significant difference in side effects, but the probability of gastrointestinal discomfort is significantly higher when used concomitantly.
2019 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. Studies confirming the combined use of arginine and tadalafil. Diabetic patients taking 5 grams of arginine and 10 mg of tadalafil per day can more significantly improve the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) and blood testosterone concentration. The improvement effect is better than that of arginine alone or tadalafil alone.
Interestingly, the study found that in the combined group, penile ultrasound testing (to assess vascular factors for impotence) data was not significantly different from that of tadalafil alone, and it is speculated that the additional gain effect may be attributed to the increase in testosterone concentration.
Special Attention
Both PDE5 inhibitors and arginine have vasodilation effects. When used together, you need to pay attention to hypotension and headaches.
It is recommended to take a gradual approach to combined use. The initial combined dose of arginine can start from 1.5-2 grams. If there is no headache after 3-4 consecutive days of combined use, the dose can be gradually increased to 2.5-5 grams.
If you are taking high blood pressure, diuretics, beta-blockers, nitroglycerin drugs, be sure to consult a specialist before taking or combining arginine and male enhancement pills.