Just Say NO To The First Red Flag Of Aging
When you think of all the essential health factors that become compromised with age, nitric oxide (NO) production isn’t likely to be one of them—in fact, the vital importance of this naturally occurring gaseous molecule was only really pinpointed in the last 20 years.1 But while it may not be common knowledge, NO has nevertheless emerged as a critical lynchpin in the daily function of everything from your vascular system to your central nervous system and your immune system.
So what exactly does NO do? First described as “endothelium derived relaxing factor” (EDRF) in 1980, NO is produced by your endothelium—that is, the thin layer of cells that lines the inside of your blood vessels—where it diffuses into the vascular smooth muscle cells and widens blood vessels for free-flowing circulation.2 This, in turn, maintains healthy blood pressure as well as oxygen and nutrient flow to various parts of the body, making NO one of the most critical cell signaling factors in your lifelong effort to stay healthy.
For example, some of the earliest research revealed that serum and urinary nitrates are increased by immunostimulation, and that NO is an important cytotoxin, tasked with helping regulate immune responses.3-4 Soon after, it was discovered that NO is formed from the amino acid L-arginine in the central nervous system, where it also acts as a neurotransmitter.5-6 Unfortunately, however, this conversion is not only a complex one, but it’s also easily threatened by advancing age.
Analysis continues to show that your body loses its ability to properly generate NO through the L-arginine pathway with age, making it one of the earliest events in the chain reaction of declining health—especially where your cardiovascular system is concerned.7-14
Blood pressure imbalances are one of the first red flags of compromised heart health, being directly linked to aging as well as impaired NO production and declines in endothelial function.15-16 This paves the way to an even wider spectrum of vascular concerns, such as poor circulation, sexual dissatisfaction, and age-related cognitive issues, all of which can be traced back to interrupted NO signaling—making your maintenance of NO a primary task if you want to live out your golden years with health, vigor, and vitality on your side.
This key consideration was the driving force behind the introduction of Neo40® Daily—a brand new formula designed to address both age-related impairments in NO production and the limitations of L-arginine supplementation as a conventional solution. The result is a safe, effective, and clinically supported product designed specifically for the 40-plus crowd, with double-blind, placebo-controlled trials revealing significant boosts in NO production—as well as improvements in triglyceride levels—after just 30 days of use.17
Neo40® Daily is available now from Complementary Prescriptions™, along with Nitric Oxide Saliva Test strips for measuring nitrite and nitrate levels, which offer you a novel, easy, and noninvasive method to assess your total body NO availability.
References:
1. Ignarro LJ, Buga GM, Wood KS, Byrns RE, Chaudhuri G. Endothelium-derived relaxing factor produced and released from artery and vein is nitric oxide. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1987;84:9265-9.
2. Furchgott RF, Zawadzki JV. The obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle by acetycholine. Nature 1980;288:373-6.
3. Tannenbaum SR, Fett D, Young VR, Land PD, Bruce WR. Nitrite and nitrate are formed by endogenous synthesis in the human intestine. Science 1978;200:1487-8.
4. Stuehr DJ, Marletta MA. Mammalian nitrate biosynthesis: mouse macrophages produce nitrite and nitrate in response to Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1985;82:7738-42.
5. Hibbs JB, Jr., Taintor RR, Vavrin Z. Macrophage cytotoxicity: role for L-arginine deiminase and imino nitrogen oxidation to nitrite. Science 1987;235:473-6.
6. Knowles RG, Palacios M, Palmer RMJ, Moncada S. Formation of nitric oxide from L-arginine in the central nervous system: A transduction mechanism for stimulation of the soluble guanylate cyclase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1989;86:5159-62
7. Lakatta EG, Yin FC. Myocardial aging: functional alterations and related cellular mechanisms. The American journal of physiology 1982;242:H927-41.
8. Kannel WB, Gordon T, Schwartz MJ. Systolic versus diastolic blood pressure and risk of coronary heart disease. The Framingham study. The American journal of cardiology 1971;27:335-46.
9. Ross R. Atherosclerosis--an inflammatory disease. The New England journal of medicine 1999;340:115-26.
10. van der Loo B, Labugger R, Skepper JN, et al. Enhanced peroxynitrite formation is associated with vascular aging. J Exp Med 2000;192:1731-44.
11. Pie JE, Baek SY, Kim HP, et al. Age-related decline of inducible nitric oxide synthase gene expression in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. Molecules and cells 2002;13:399-406.
12. Zhou XJ, Vaziri ND, Zhang J, Wang HW, Wang XQ. Association of renal injury with nitric oxide deficiency in aged SHR: prevention by hypertension control with AT1 blockade. Kidney international 2002;62:914-21.
13. Berkowitz DE, White R, Li D, et al. Arginase reciprocally regulates nitric oxide synthase activity and contributes to endothelial dysfunction in aging blood vessels. Circulation 2003;108:2000-6.
14. Taddei S, Virdis A, Ghiadoni L, et al. Age-related reduction of NO availability and oxidative stress in humans. Hypertension 2001;38:274-9.
15. Vita JA, Treasure CB, Nabel EG, et al. Coronary vasomotor response to acetylcholine relates to risk factors for coronary artery disease. Circulation 1990;81:491-7.
16. Gerhard M, Roddy MA, Creager SJ, Creager MA. Aging progressively impairs endothelium-dependent vasodilation in forearm resistance vessels of humans. Hypertension 1996;27:849-53.
17. Zand J, Lanza F, Garg HK, Bryan NS. All-natural nitrite and nitrate containing dietary supplement promotes nitric oxide production and reduces triglycerides in humans. Nutr Res 2011;31:262-9.