How One Amino Acid Touches Two Aging Pathways

L-arginine is usually treated as a simple nitric-oxide precursor, a molecule with a narrow vascular role. But across multiple lines of research, it keeps appearing in places it shouldn’t: improving cerebral blood flow in older adults, shifting cognitive performance, and, most unexpectedly, altering how amyloid-β proteins aggregate in the brain. This episode unpacks why these effects are so unusual, and how they connect to the long-standing arginine paradox: the biochemical mismatch between how much arginine the body already has and how much it still seems to respond to.

The goal: reveal how one seemingly ordinary amino acid can influence two entirely different biological domains (vascular regulation and protein-folding dynamics) and clarify what is supported in humans, what remains strictly preclinical, and how diet or supplementation can realistically support the pathways where arginine does matter.

00:00 Introduction to Unexpected Research Findings

00:49 The Multifaceted Role of L-Arginine

02:09 The Arginine Paradox and Protein Misfolding

03:25 New Research on Arginine and Amyloid Beta

07:05 Practical Applications and Dietary Recommendations

09:23 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

PMID: 28179487

PMID: 10759111

PMID: 35498050