If you’re taking l-citrulline supplements, you may be asking yourself, “can I take l-citrulline every day?” If so, read below to find out more.
Along with l-arginine, l-citrulline is an amino acid that serves various functions and provides certain health benefits. While the body makes it on its own, you can increase your levels by eating certain foods or taking dietary supplements.
Among its many functions, citrulline plays an important role in the body’s urea cycle, which removes ammonia from the body. In addition, it can also help relax and widen blood vessels, resulting in better circulation throughout the body.
How Citrulline Works
One of the most important effects of l-citrulline in the body is its ability to increase vasodilation (widening blood vessels). Once you consume citrulline, it converts into arginine and then into nitric oxide, a molecule that causes vasodilation.
As a result, the smooth muscle cells that constrict blood vessels relax and widen, leading to better blood flow. Furthermore, citrulline may also prevent the breakdown of certain amino acids that can help with muscle building.
Citrulline Supplements
When looking for citrulline supplements, you may run across two different types: l-citrulline and citrulline malate. While l-citrulline is simply citrulline by itself, citrulline malate is a combination of the amino acid and malate.
Both types of supplements produce similar effects; however, it’s more common to use citrulline malate as sports supplements. Still, it’s hard to say which health effects in the latter are due to the citrulline or due to the malate in the formula.
Taking Citrulline Daily
Current research suggests that you can take between 3 to 6 grams of l-citrulline or 8 grams of citrulline malate per day. How much you use will depend on the specific reason you’re using the supplement.
For example, you should take between 3 and 6 grams of l-citrulline per day if you want to improve blood pressure. In contrast, you should take 8 grams of citrulline malate per day if you’re using it for weight training performance.
Fortunately, there is some preliminary information regarding the safety of citrulline supplements at higher doses. According to one study, there were no reported side effects even when participants took 15 grams of l-citrulline.
Even so, the higher citrulline doses didn’t increase arginine as much as expected, so there may be a point of diminishing returns. Based on the findings, taking a dose greater than 10 grams is unnecessary.
The Outlook
Taking citrulline supplements may help individuals looking to promote their blood pressure or weight training performance. HeartBeet Complete provides 800 mg of l-citrulline per serving along with l-arginine, beetroot powder, turmeric, CoQ10, and more.
Try HeartBeet Complete if you want to get your l-citrulline boost along with additional benefits to your health.
