L-Citrulline

L-citrulline · citrulline malate

An amino acid that raises nitric oxide, promoted for blood flow, exercise and blood pressure.

TipoSupplement / dietary

Il voto risponde a: What does the human evidence support for: Nitric oxide & blood flow?

Grado

Limitata

Il voto misura la qualità dell'evidenza, non è un consiglio ad assumere o acquistare.

Classe: Amino acid
Uso principale: Nitric oxide & blood flow
Forza evidenza: medium
Ultima revisione: 2026-07-01

In sintesi

Genuinely raises nitric oxide and has decent evidence for exercise performance and modest blood-pressure effects — but that's sports and cardiometabolic, not proven longevity.

Cosa dice l'evidenza

L-citrulline is converted to arginine and boosts nitric-oxide production more effectively than arginine itself. Human trials support small improvements in exercise performance, muscle blood flow and recovery, and modest reductions in blood pressure. These are real, mechanistically coherent effects on cardiovascular and exercise outcomes — not longevity endpoints. Grade C: solid for its niche, not a healthspan claim, and often over-marketed in pre-workout products.

Studi chiave

[1]
L-citrulline and exercise performance (meta-analysis) · meta-analysis
Small but real performance/recovery benefits.
Apri su PubMed ↗
[2]
L-citrulline and blood pressure · RCT
Modest reductions, larger in hypertensive subjects.
Apri su PubMed ↗
[3]
Citrulline, arginine and nitric oxide (review) · review
Why citrulline beats arginine for raising NO.
Apri su PubMed ↗

Vedi tutti gli studi su PubMed ↗

Meccanismo

Bypasses intestinal breakdown that limits oral arginine, raising plasma arginine and nitric-oxide synthesis, which promotes vasodilation and blood flow.

Sicurezza

Well tolerated with few side effects even at higher doses. Caution if combined with blood-pressure or erectile-dysfunction medication (additive vasodilation).

Contesto dosaggio

Exercise studies use ~6–8 g citrulline malate pre-workout; blood-pressure studies use ~3–6 g/day of L-citrulline. Doses on many pre-workout labels are too low to matter.

Esempi di applicazione

Taken ~6–8 g pre-workout, or ~3–6 g/day for blood-pressure support.
Check pre-workout labels — many under-dose it.
Caution alongside blood-pressure or ED medication (additive effect).

Nota dal campo

L-citrulline actually does what it says on the nitric-oxide front — the catch is that the honest claim is 'better pumps and slightly lower blood pressure', not longevity. Grade C, and check the dose on your pre-workout.

Come assegniamo i gradi → Metodo