What is Nitric Oxide?

When you think of nitric oxide, what do you think of?

Do you think of the dentist’s office? We’d hate to tell you but that’s actually nitrous oxide.

Nitric oxide is something different, and although you may like getting laughing gas when you’re at the dentist, we think you’ll like upping your nitric oxide levels too once you learn a bit more about it.

In this article, we’ll talk about what nitric oxide is, the benefits of it, and how to increase your NO levels.

What Is Nitric Oxide

Nitric oxide is a complicated chemical compound.

Actually, the compound is not that complicated at all. It’s just one molecule of nitrogen and one molecule of oxygen.

That’s why it’s also known as nitrogen monoxide or NO. What makes NO complicated is the good and bad effects it has on the world.

For example, nitric oxide is a free radical, meaning it’s missing an electron in its outermost ring.

Free radicals are oftentimes highly reactive (they work quickly) and short-lived (they don’t last long.) Nitric oxide is also a common pollutant found in our upper atmosphere which causes certain cair-related problems. But NO IS far from all bad.

In fact, in some cases,it’s all good.

For example, in human bodies, nitric oxide is incredibly important. It’s what’s known as a vasodilator which means NO  loosens the inner muscles which help restrict vein blood flow.

This gives your entire body better access to blood.

The more blood your muscles have access to, the more oxygen they have. The more oxygen they have, the more work they can do before feeling tired.

And the more work they can do before feeling tired, the more you can get out of your workouts.

But pumping out a few extra reps per workout isn’t where the benefits of nitric oxide end.

4 Benefits Of Nitric Oxide

So what are the main benefits of nitric oxide? In this article, we’ll talk about five major benefits of having this NO molecule in your system.

The benefits of nitric oxide include:

• It may help decrease muscle soreness
• It may help lower blood pressure
• It may help boost exercise performance
• It may help with erectile dysfunction

Let’s talk about these benefits in detail.

1. It may help decrease muscle soreness

As your muscles run out of oxygen, they begin sending signals to the brain that they’re tired. This results in feelings of discomfort and soreness.

These feelings will linger to one degree or another until your muscles have sufficiently recovered and have replenished their nutritional stores. There’s evidence that NO can help reduce this soreness and discomfort by giving you muscles more access to blood and the cellular nutrition it contains.

2. It may help lower blood pressure

Since your inner muscles are loosened due to the NO in your system, you may notice a slight dip in your average blood pressure.

In people with high regular to high blood pressure, this is either a net-neutral to net-positive effect, especially if you’re working out and getting that blood pumping. BUT do not try to treat blood pressure issues with a nitric oxide supplement. If you have blood pressure issues, always consult with your doctor first.

3. It may help boost exercise performance

Since your body is getting more oxygen than you would otherwise, you may notice that you can do a lot more physically for a lot longer with increased NO levels.

Also, if you are looking for growing larger muscles and doing hypertrophy training, increasing your NO levels can help shuttle more blood into the muscle being trained. This helps get a much better pump and can increase your results.

Imagine the compounding effects of getting as much as 1-2% more out of every, single workout.

In a year, the difference can be pretty drastic! 

4. It may help with erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction is oftentimes not the blood issue that comes immediately to most men’s minds, but it definitely qualifies.

Sometimes erectile dysfunction is a blood flow issue and not some other sort of deep-seated hormone, or other medical issue.

Therefore, in some situations, by simply increase NO levels in the blood and improving overall blood flow... it’s quite possible an erectile dysfunction problem could improve.

5 Ways To Increase Nitric Oxide

Your body naturally produces nitrogen, but there are steps you can take to increase your nitrogen levels.

You can increase your nitrogen levels by:

• Boosting your antioxidant intake
• Moving
• Eating nitrogen-rich foods
• Taking a nitric oxide supplement

Now, let’s talk about these in detail.

1) Boosting Your Antioxidant Intake

We mentioned how nitric oxide is a type of free radical. That means it works quickly, but it burns out quickly as well. It’s a “use it or lose it” chemical compound and you might not be using all of it in time.

Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals like NO, helping them last longer letting you get the full effect of the NO you already have.

If you’re looking to boost your antioxidant intake, consider 1st Phorm’sOpti-Greens 50 or ourOpti-Reds 50. Both are packed with antioxidants.

2) Moving

Exercise will help get your body to start releasing its stores of nitric oxide.

So if you’re wanting to get more NO into your system, simply start moving.

This will make your body start sending signals to your brain that it needs more oxygen and blood and your brain will respond accordingly.

3) Eating Nitrogen-rich Foods

There are plenty of foods out there that are rich in nitrates.

It’s simple math. The more nitrogen you consume, the more oxygen will bond with nitrogen. The more those molecules bond, the more NO you’ll have in your diet.

Nitrogen-rich foods include:

• Celery
• Chervil
• Beetroot
• Arugula
• Cress
• Lettuce
• Spinach

Basically, we’re giving you another good reason to have a salad for lunch.

4) Taking A Nitric Oxide Supplement

This seems obvious, but there are plenty of NO supplements on the market.

Like any other supplement, they’re designed to help your body’s natural production or your diet’s normal levels of a given substance.

In this case, nitric oxide supplements will help boost your NO levels.

When looking for a NO-boosting supplement look for something that has agmatine, alpha GPC, L-Citrullineand other beneficial ingredients in the right amount to help boost your NO levels the most.

Try Supplementing Your Current Nitric Oxide Production

Aside from or greens and reds products, we at 1st Phorm also carry three popular pump products.

One of them is Alphasurge DRV, which is stimulant free and can be taken anytime of the day. 

Another one is Project-1, which is a full-body pre-workout that will help you during intese weight lifting sessions.

The third and final product is Conquest HD, which will help with NO and free testosterone levels. 

Your lifestyle, goals of increasing Nitric Oxide levels, and health goals will determine which would be the right product(s) for you and when you would take them. 

All can help improve blood and oxygen flow as well as nutrient delivery to your muscles, allowing you to do more work for longer.

Combine these with our Opti-Greens 50 and Opti-Reds 50 to maximize your workouts day after day.

If you have any questions about the different products or how best to use them, give us a call at 1 800 409 9732 and talk to a real human (not a call center) anytime from Monday thru Friday, 6am to 10pm.