Benefits of L-Arginine for Fertility

Pulling Down the Moon invites couples who are eager to make nutritional changes that will boost their fertility chances to participate in our comprehensive 12-week Fully Fertile Nutrition Program that combines individual and couple-based nutritional counseling with a support class of fellow travelers on the fertility journey. During this program, we discuss ways of optimizing all nutrient levels, including L-Arginine, to improve the chances of conception and healthy pregnancy.

Benefits of L Arginine for Women

The potential benefits of L arginine for women span several aspects of fertility and pregnancy. As an amino acid, it plays some very important functions for good overall health that can impact fertility, such as accelerating tissue healing and good cardiovascular health and circulation.

Let's dive into the specifics:

1. Enhances Fertility

Several studies cover improvements that L arginine for women may play in improving uterine function. A thin uterine lining (endometrium) can complicate efforts for a natural pregnancy or an IVF pregnancy. Again, blood flow to the uterus can strongly impact how thick or thin the uterine walls will become, which is an indicator of how well implantation might go. Interestingly, the latest studies show that L-arginine may be particularly promising for women whose male partners are also struggling with fertility.⁵

L-arginine is a precursor to nitric oxide, which increases blood flow by increasing the dilation of the arteries. L-arginine treatment has been shown to increase the thickness of the endometrial lining. In 6 of 9 patients with a thin lining who took L-arginine, the endometrial lining increased to greater than 8 mm.

Taking this a step further, L-Arginine also seems to improve pregnancy outcomes. L-arginine deficiency was treated in women in resource-constrained communities who disproportionately suffer from preterm births and miscarriages. Women were given between 4 and 5 grams of L-arginine supplementation and the rate of healthy pregnancy outcomes improved significantly.⁶‌

Research also suggests that L-arginine may be helpful for patients who are poor responders in an IVF cycle. Poor responders are women who respond poorly to ovarian stimulation medication in that they tend to have few eggs to retrieve or IVF cycles are cancelled. In a study of 34 patients who were poor responders going through IVF, treatment with L-arginine resulted in a lower frequency of cancelled cycles and an increase in the number of eggs retrieved. However, later research in patients with tubal infertility showed that L-arginine treatment resulted in fewer good quality embryos and lower pregnancy rates, suggesting that L-arginine may be detrimental for women who are normal responders.

2. Boosts Immune System

Healthy levels of L-Arginine have also been shown to support strong T-cell function as part of an immune system response. Two types of T-cells roam around in your system: the cytotoxic T-cells that attack and destroy infected cells and helper T-cells that sound the alarm and direct the immune system to fight incoming infection. Both are incredibly important, and the latest studies indicate that L-Arginine boosts our T-cells' metabolism, memory, and efficiency to the point where T-cells might even be trained to attack tumors.⁷‌

3. Improves Heart Health

Heart health is one of the primary functions that L-arginine seems to support, and we’ve mentioned it throughout this article. In several studies, patients with high blood pressure experienced a drop in blood pressure when given extra L-arginine. In addition, metabolic processes regulating insulin and glucose seemed to improve as well, meaning that patients with diabetes can also benefit by optimizing their levels of L-arginine. The same study also indicated improvement in kidney function, which is responsible for removing toxins from the body. All of these things are critical to good overall health, not to mention fertility.⁸

4. Supports Healthy Pregnancy

Supplementing with L arginine for women who are pregnant also seems to be connected to a healthier, less complicated pregnancy. Another meta-study comparing the available scientific literature showed that L-arginine supplements cut the rates of pre-eclampsia, a potentially harmful pregnancy complication that can increase hypertension. Findings from these studies also indicated that fetal growth restrictions and complications were reduced with L-arginine supplementation.⁹

5. Increases Libido

At the beginning of the fertility journey, L-arginine can help boost women’s libido. Naturally, this can only help in the baby-making process. A meta-analysis of studies showed that part of the mechanism behind increased female libido with increased L-Arginine intake was due to increased blood flow to the vagina.¹⁰

Benefits of L-Arginine for Men

A wide survey of the available literature on the benefits of L-arginine for men showed several benefits for overall health as well as for men’s fertility. L-arginine has been studied in combination with other supplements like pycnogenol and found to be helpful in increasing sperm concentration (count). In one study, sperm concentration increased after 1-2 months of daily treatment with L-arginine. 4-5 It’s thought to work through increased nitric oxide production improving circulation. Some of the most interesting results in the latest studies include these promising aspects of L-arginine supplementation:

1. Helps with Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction is a tricky problem for men who want to help their partners conceive, but the good news is that L-arginine seems to help. Meta-analyses have shown that enhanced levels of this amino acid can help men overcome mild to moderate erectile dysfunction and that it can also improve sperm quality and quantity.¹¹‌

2. Reduces Blood Pressure

A men-specific study followed a cohort of Iranian men for almost 5 years. The study increased plant-based L-arginine in the study group and the results showed a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and lower rates of hypertension in those men. Interestingly, the animal-based sources of L-arginine seemed not to perform this function as well as the plant-based sources, though they did stay more study was necessary to determine how the two different forms of L-arginine differ in their cardiovascular-health-boosting effectiveness.¹²‌



3. Increases Libido

It seems better blood flow and cardiovascular health have a lot to do with libido for both men and women. In this study, which measured the anti-aging effects of L-arginine, men’s libido was also enhanced by sufficient levels of this amino acid.¹³‌

Risks and Side Effects

While L-arginine is widely considered a safe supplement, considering a turkey breast has far more of this amino acid than most supplements, it’s important to discuss potential side effects and risk factors with your doctor and your fertility nutritionist. While L-arginine can improve cardiovascular health and lower blood pressure, it can have adverse interactions with some blood pressure and diabetes drugs,‌¹⁴‌ as well as other supplements. Arginine can also trigger a herpes outbreak, so L-arginine may not be the right choice if you have herpes. As mentioned above, L-arginine may also be detrimental in women who are not poor responders. Remember to discuss all supplement regimens with your physician.

Overdoing it may also cause the following side effects:

• Gastrointestinal pain
• Boating
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Gout
• Allergic reaction
• Worsening asthma symptoms
• Triggering latent herpes virus
• It may also increase the risk of death if taken shortly after a heart attack.

As with all supplements and major dietary changes, those made to support your fertility journey should be made with an expert fertility nutritionist and your doctor on your side. For nutritional support and a wide range of other holistic fertility services in Chicago, schedule an appointment with our caring team at Pulling Down the Moon today.

References



¹‌McRae, M. P. (2016). Therapeutic Benefits of l-Arginine: An Umbrella Review of Meta-analyses. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 15(3), 184–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcm.2016.06.002

²Gad, M. Z. (2010). Anti-aging effects of l-arginine. Journal of Advanced Research, 1(3), 169–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2010.05.001

³Pahlavani, N., Jafari, M., Sadeghi, O., Rezaei, M., Rasad, H., Rahdar, H. A., & Entezari, M. H. (2017). L-arginine supplementation and risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in healthy men: a double-blind randomized clinical trial. F1000Research, 3, 306. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.5877.2

⁴Chen, Wollman, Chernichovsky, Iaina, Sofer, & Matzkin. (2001). Effect of oral administration of high-dose nitric oxide donor l-arginine in men with organic erectile dysfunction: results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. BJU International, 83(3), 269–273. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.00906.x

⁵So, S., Yamaguchi, W., Murabayashi, N., Miyano, N., Tawara, F., & Kanayama, N. (2020). Beneficial effect of l-arginine in women using assisted reproductive technologies: a small-scale randomized controlled trial. Nutrition Research, 82, 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2020.08.008

⁶Weckman, A. M., McDonald, C. R., Baxter, J.-A. B., Fawzi, W. W., Conroy, A. L., & Kain, K. C. (2019). Perspective: L-arginine and L-citrulline Supplementation in Pregnancy: A Potential Strategy to Improve Birth Outcomes in Low-Resource Settings. Advances in Nutrition, 10(5), 765–777. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz015

⁷‌Kishton, Rigel J., Sukumar, M., & Restifo, Nicholas P. (2016). Arginine Arms T Cells to Thrive and Survive. Cell Metabolism, 24(5), 647–648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2016.10.019

⁸Abukhodair, A. W., Abukhudair, W., & Alqarni, M. S. (2021). The Effects of L-Arginine in Hypertensive Patients: A Literature Review. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.20485

⁹‌Menichini, D., Feliciello, L., Neri, I., & Facchinetti, F. (2023). L-Arginine supplementation in pregnancy: a systematic review of maternal and fetal outcomes. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine: The Official Journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians, 36(1), 2217465. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767058.2023.2217465

¹⁰‌Cieri-Hutcherson, N. E., Jaenecke, A., Bahia, A., Lucas, D., Oluloro, A., Stimmel, L., & Hutcherson, T. C. (2021). Systematic Review of l-Arginine for the Treatment of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder and Related Conditions in Women. Pharmacy, 9(2), 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9020071

¹¹‌Rhim, H. C., Kim, M. S., Park, Y.-J., Choi, W. S., Park, H. K., Kim, H. G., Kim, A., & Paick, S. H. (2019). The Potential Role of Arginine Supplements on Erectile Dysfunction: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 16(2), 223–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.12.002

¹²‌Bahadoran, Z., Mirmiran, P., Tahmasebinejad, Z., & Azizi, F. (2016). Dietary L-arginine intake and the incidence of coronary heart disease: Tehran lipid and glucose study. Nutrition & Metabolism, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12986-016-0084-z

¹³‌Gad, M. Z. (2010). Anti-aging effects of l-arginine. Journal of Advanced Research, 1(3), 169–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2010.05.001

‌¹⁴‌Mayo Clinic. (2017). L-arginine. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-l-arginine/art-20364681