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What is Citrulline?

What is Citrulline?

Jul 19th 2019

What is Citrulline

Citrulline, derived from the Latin word for watermelon, citrullus, is a necessary component to create arginine.

Arginine is a precursor to Nitric Oxide (NO).

Nitric Oxide provides pump, relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow and circulation. These benefits can help with nutrient delivery to the muscles, building muscles and improving results.

Citrulline and the Athlete

Citrulline’s role in NO production is important on its own, but even more so for athletes.

This is because when NO relaxes and widens the blood vessels, blood flow is increased. If you are supplementing with other amino acids during this increased blood flow, you’re increasing the rate of delivery of nutrients to muscle.

You’re essentially feeding your muscles while you work out.

More nutrients to the muscle means improved results.

With that said, you might be asking yourself, why not just take Arginine and skip the conversion of citrulline to arginine.

That’s a great question our researchers can answer.

Why Not Take Arginine Instead of Citrulline?

While citrulline converts to arginine, where it converts is key. When arginine is taken directly, it is broken down in the liver leaving little to be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract.

The gastrointestinal tract is where the magic happens.

As such, when you take citrulline, it bypasses the liver and converts to arginine in the gastrointestinal tract so your body can absorb more.

More arginine can help create more nitric oxide.

Therefore, citrulline and arginine work synergistically to help improve your results.

Citrulline + Arginine = Improved Results

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