In recent years, nitric oxide took the center stage in cell signalling, immunology and cardiovascular health. Far from being only a product of the NO synthases, it can come up through our food in unexpected ways.
When vegetables rich in nitrate are consumed, it will eventually make its way in our saliva, were bacteria will transform can transform it in nitrite and in nitric oxide it through a NO3- reductase complex. When NO enter our stomach, it triggers the production of a thicker layer of mucus. The beneficial effects of nitric oxide along the digestive tract do not even stop at the stomach. In the intestines, it can work as a mild oxidant in concert with acidity to control the levels of possibly pathogenic bacteria. This underlines a problem for us, hygienic North Americans: mouthwash products kill the nitrate reducing bacteria of the mouth. Halitosis or stomach ulcers... we are left with a difficult choice.
The food/NO connection can also present itself in funnier ways. Watermelon contains high levels of citrulline, the precursor for the biosynthesis of arginine. The aminoacid supply the NO synthesis pathway, allowing its levels to climb up in the blood. And higher levels of NO in the blood means... vasodilatation... While sildenafil affects the degradation of NO, watermelon by inhibiting PDE5 (cGMP specific phosphodiesterase type 5), watermelon could thus, in theory, mimics its effects on NO vascular concentration. On the downside, to observe the same influence on... localized blood flow, you would need 4 litres of watermelon. A single slice before going to bed would do little more than quench your thirst.
When vegetables rich in nitrate are consumed, it will eventually make its way in our saliva, were bacteria will transform can transform it in nitrite and in nitric oxide it through a NO3- reductase complex. When NO enter our stomach, it triggers the production of a thicker layer of mucus. The beneficial effects of nitric oxide along the digestive tract do not even stop at the stomach. In the intestines, it can work as a mild oxidant in concert with acidity to control the levels of possibly pathogenic bacteria. This underlines a problem for us, hygienic North Americans: mouthwash products kill the nitrate reducing bacteria of the mouth. Halitosis or stomach ulcers... we are left with a difficult choice.
The food/NO connection can also present itself in funnier ways. Watermelon contains high levels of citrulline, the precursor for the biosynthesis of arginine. The aminoacid supply the NO synthesis pathway, allowing its levels to climb up in the blood. And higher levels of NO in the blood means... vasodilatation... While sildenafil affects the degradation of NO, watermelon by inhibiting PDE5 (cGMP specific phosphodiesterase type 5), watermelon could thus, in theory, mimics its effects on NO vascular concentration. On the downside, to observe the same influence on... localized blood flow, you would need 4 litres of watermelon. A single slice before going to bed would do little more than quench your thirst.
For further reading :
Petersson J et al, Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol., 2007, 292,G718
Collins JK et al, Nutrition. 2007, 23(3), 261-6
Petersson J et al, Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol., 2007, 292,G718
Collins JK et al, Nutrition. 2007, 23(3), 261-6
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