NOW Foods Sports Nutrition, L-Arginine Powder, Nitric Oxide Precursor, Amino Acids, 2.2-Pound

If you want the good effects of L Arginine look no further than this NOW brand powder product . First few days i used this i was so turned off by its rotten egg taste and smell that i gave up the powdered form for capsules. But i found the problem with capsules is, even though you may take it with water, by the time the capsule dissolves all the water had been already absorbed. So to facilitate arginine absorption you need to drink water continuously, that's my feeling. NOW Arginine tablets and Twin lab arginine capsules failed for me. The twin lab ones even gave me diarhhea at less than 2G doses. The effects of capsule arginine will kick in only after 2-3 hours, but with this powdered form you can feel a rise in Nitric Oxide, increased blood flow all over and that good feeling in the crotch within 30 minutes and no more stomach upsets.To overpower the putrid smell and taste, i place about 5 g of this arginine powder on my tongue and quickly sip it in with water followed by half a teaspoon of sugar spread over my tongue and mouth (you can even spit out the sugar after a few seconds) or instead of water i use the really sweet minute maid grape/cranberry juice.I take 5G right before i begin my morning exercise on empty stomach and it keeps me pumped for the whole 2 hours. I also take around 5G with each of the two meals i have per day and it seems to work for me, helping me with mood, pump and mr happy. Arginine effects are dosage dependent, so taking 5G gives more effect than a 2G dose.EDIT: Arginine in bigger doses will cause some kind of breathing difficulty, if you are not working out. Initially i found 5G doses to be great as it kept my blood pumping throughout the day. Make sure to do some taxing workout in the immediate period after a dosage to avoid any breathing difficulty. I have stopped taking this stuff as once the initial bleh feeling and taste gets copied into my memory its tough to forget it.In addition to that i have found something even better . Swanson vitamins passion line of herbal supplements especially the safer ones. I have been using Catuaba bark, Avena Sativa, Longjax eurycoma longifolia, Maca and Thyroid support (coleus forskohlii) all of these twice a day and its been good, but with insomnia in the absence of strenuous exercise.

So I have had this container of Arginine for a few weeks. And was looking forward to using it daily. Until I tasted it. Let me back up and say my previous experience with L-Arginine was a few years back when I worked at GNC they had a great Arginine powder in their Pro Performance line. And it was flavored and easy to take. When I saw this, I looked over the fact that it was unflavored. But I expected it to be 'not flavored'. My gosh was I surprised! So after some research, this is pure alkaline. The taste of this will be unbearable for most people. Trying to drink this straight in water or even in some sort of juice will be impossible for almost everyone.But there is hope! After some research, turns out that Citric Acid will be your saving grace here. I used what I have in the pic. Here is the recipe I used:10oz water2 level scoops L-Arginine powder1 to 2 tablespoons Citric Acid2 healthy squirts of lemon juice from a plastic lemonMix Arginine until it is totally dissolved. My water turned back to totally clear.Mix in almost all of the citric acid. Water will turn cloudy at first. After about 30 seconds of mixing, water will turn back to totally clear again. At this point, the Arginine should be neutralized.For good measure, I add in just a dash more citric acid and then the lemon juice and mix a little more.There is almost no discernable taste at all even after adding in the lemon. If you need to have it flavored, you could use a drink mix powder of some sort to help it out. I drank about half of it plain and then mixed in some orange juice. Just kind of tasted like watered-down orange juice, and considering where it came from, i was good with that!I should add that this method will work best at home when you are not looking to slam it back minutes before a workout at the gym. I have not determined the best method for this scenario yet.I was tempted to take off a star in support of 'truth in labeling' with this stuff. There should be some sort of mention how to neutralize the bitterness or that most people can not choke this stuff down.

I believe this stuff really works. I take it because L-Arginine has heart and blood flow benefits. Of the few supplements I take, I believe this is the only one that I notice a real difference. I have found that I have less pulled muscle fatigue and heal days faster when I do. Increased blood flow during lovemaking is a wonderful side effect that has taken years off. lol This is the cheapest way to get 5000 mg without taking a lot of capsules. The only downside is the vile taste. Nothing I have tried can make this stuff taste good. My best method is to mix 2 teaspoons with 8 oz. water. Mix and let stand a few minutes until it is completely clear. It seems that its bad flavor is less when completely dissolved. I then have a shot of strong mouthwash ready to swish immediately after chugging the mixture while holding my breath. Don't breath until after swishing the mouthwash. There is no vile taste with this method. I have been using this for over a year.