Arginine facts

• Arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid
• Arginine functions as a building block of all proteins
• Arginine increases fat metabolism and builds more muscles

While arginine is not an essential amino acid most of the time (essential amino acids are required in the diet as the body cannot manufacture them), there are certain special circumstances which makes it conditionally essential, which means arginine becomes an essential amino acid under special conditions and these are: (a) babies and small toddlers are not equipped with the ability to make their own arginine so they need to get it in their diet, (b) certain people with diet deficiencies may not get enough of the essential amino acids to enable them to make their own arginine, so they also need to get it in their diet.

Arginine, as an amino acid, is one of the building blocks of all proteins in the body, which not only include muscles, but also all the other proteins required for normal function of the body, some of which are – hormones, haemoglobin, white blood cells. As part of the building blocks of the body, Arginine is used to build muscle, which in turn helps to burn more fat, resulting in more muscle tone and some loss of fat tissue (weight loss).