The body makes nitric oxide in two ways. Cells lining the blood vessels produce nitric oxide from L-arginine, an amino acid found in meat and nuts. This process declines with age, but the body also makes nitric oxide by processing nitrates directly from food.
Nitrates are found in dark, leafy greens and certain root vegetables, like beets. Understanding their importance requires a quick hit of chemistry.
A nitrate is made up of a nitrogen atom bonded to three oxygen atoms (NO3). A nitrite is a nitrogen atom bonded to just two oxygen atoms (NO2). Both are essential to the body’s production of nitric oxide from food. Eating nitrate-rich foods kick-starts a process in which the body converts nitrates to nitrites and, eventually, nitric oxide.
As the L-arginine pathway declines with age, nitrates in the diet can pick up the slack — if we’re eating enough of them.
“Without nitric oxide, every function in the body works less efficiently.”
“By the time we reach 40, we have lost roughly 50 percent of our [endothelial] nitric oxide production,” says Nathan Bryan, PhD, coauthor of The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution. “Without nitric oxide, every function in the body works less efficiently.”
Blood pressure is a case in point. As blood circulates, it presses against vessel walls. In younger bodies, arteries and blood vessels are usually more supple, expanding and contracting with each heartbeat. As arteries stiffen with age, pressure against their walls climbs to keep blood flowing. When blood pressure rises and stays up, it’s called hypertension.
Nearly half of Americans over age 20 have hypertension. It’s a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the United States. Type 2 diabetes, vascular dementia, and chronic kidney disease can also be triggered or exacerbated by hypertension.
“The epidemic of hypertension in our culture has a strong correlation to a deficiency of nitric oxide,” says functional-medicine practitioner Christopher Bump, DC. He attributes that deficiency, in part, to weak digestion.
“I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about nitric oxide as a means of increasing blood flow,” says integrative physician Frank Lipman, MD.
“It’s very important and yet underreported.”
More About Nitrates
Despite their bad reputation, these nitrogen-based compounds are a vital piece of a nutrient jigsaw puzzle. Our bodies need them to make nitric oxide, which plays a major role in how well we age. Learn more at “What You Need to Know About Nitrates,” from which this article was excerpted.
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