NOW FoodsSports Nutrition, L-Arginine Powder, Nitric Oxide Precursor, Amino Acids, 2.2-Pound

SO GOOD. Pumos are out of this world. if you have a low % body fat, this thing will make your veins pop like crazy. it tastes like ass so mix it with juice or bcaas.

Awesome

We tried to return it. My husband has high blood pressure and wanted to try recommended high doses of L-Arginine in an effort to move from high prescription meds. This product is one of a few that offer the dosage level needed.After reading reviews the primary concern of other customers seemed to be the taste. He has a diverse palate and figured that “it couldn’t be that bad!”Long story, short…. It’s that bad!Its horrible flavor cannot to be masked with orange juice, protein powders, lemonade and other drink mixes. There are those that say “suck it up, you’ll be OK!” But he’s not ready to commit long-term to this taste, the after taste and the bad breath hours later.He described the flavor as “the rotting bones of dead things!” As an avid outdoorsman and hunter, I guess he’s witnessed this as a smell.In conclusion, if you can literally stomach the taste and smell, this might be an effective product.I recommend the company spend some time on flavor masking experimentation.

So I have had this container of Arginine for a few weeks. And was looking forward to using it daily. Until I tasted it. Let me back up and say my previous experience with L-Arginine was a few years back when I worked at GNC they had a great Arginine powder in their Pro Performance line. And it was flavored and easy to take. When I saw this, I looked over the fact that it was unflavored. But I expected it to be 'not flavored'. My gosh was I surprised! So after some research, this is pure alkaline. The taste of this will be unbearable for most people. Trying to drink this straight in water or even in some sort of juice will be impossible for almost everyone.But there is hope! After some research, turns out that Citric Acid will be your saving grace here. I used what I have in the pic. Here is the recipe I used:10oz water2 level scoops L-Arginine powder1 to 2 tablespoons Citric Acid2 healthy squirts of lemon juice from a plastic lemonMix Arginine until it is totally dissolved. My water turned back to totally clear.Mix in almost all of the citric acid. Water will turn cloudy at first. After about 30 seconds of mixing, water will turn back to totally clear again. At this point, the Arginine should be neutralized.For good measure, I add in just a dash more citric acid and then the lemon juice and mix a little more.There is almost no discernable taste at all even after adding in the lemon. If you need to have it flavored, you could use a drink mix powder of some sort to help it out. I drank about half of it plain and then mixed in some orange juice. Just kind of tasted like watered-down orange juice, and considering where it came from, i was good with that!I should add that this method will work best at home when you are not looking to slam it back minutes before a workout at the gym. I have not determined the best method for this scenario yet.I was tempted to take off a star in support of 'truth in labeling' with this stuff. There should be some sort of mention how to neutralize the bitterness or that most people can not choke this stuff down.

If you want an easy way to get serious and rapidly-absorbed amounts of this important amino acid into your frame, NOW's product can't be beaten. It's reasonably priced, supposedly pharmeceutical grade, and, in my experience, it works. I've been taking L-arginine for a couple of years and have had good results over time, with over-all improvements in vascularity, energy, recovery, etc., as mentioned elsewhere in these reviews. I also regularly use Optimum Nutrition's creatine monohydrate, BCAAs, and L-Glutamine products, and L-Arginine rounds out the bunch. L-Arginine in capsule form is waste of time and money, in my opinion, because of slow absorption. (I used to open up 5 or 6 caps and dump the contents into water or juice and drink it down - major inconvenience.) A couple of level teaspoons twice a day for me works very well. Both times I take on a empty stomach for better absorption. If I'm going to work out in the early a.m. and need to get jacked, I'll mix it with NO-Explode or with Gaspari's SuperPump 250 (the effect of this one-two combination on your body is intense, believe me). In fact the "buzz" (kind of a prickly feeling) from two teaspoons of L-Arginine alone that creeps up on you in about 20 - 30 minutes is very noticeable.Now for the downside: this product has a HIDEOUS "fishy" taste. Know that no matter what you mix this with, you cannot mask the taste - it's that powerful. (When you mix it with grape or some dark-red colored juice, the liquid turns an evil-looking, metallic green. Seriously.) Mixed with one of the Nitric Oxide supps (see above) the "flavor" is, shall we say, "challenging." I've settled into a routine of mixing it with Minute Maid pomegranate or Welch's grape juice, sometimes with creatine powder if it's in the a.m., and drinking it down without stopping. Then I *IMMEDIATELY* thoroughly brush my teeth because the taste coats your tongue and teeth and gums, and anything you eat or drink thereafter tastes awful. Particularly coffee. And God help you if you try to kiss anyone. That's why I'm giving this product 4 stars instead of 5.Taste issues aside, the benefits of L-Arginine as delivered in this product are, in my opinion, worth the money and the crappy taste. Therefore, I will continue to use this product as part of my overall training regimen.Addendum 09/06/2010 - After I wrote this review, I went back and re-examined how I was taking this supplement. I've stopped mixing it with juice and cut down my intake to once a day. Why? I've done more research on L-Arginine, and it seems glucose can interfere with absorption, and I'm not sure there's any real need for taking more than 2 teaspoons a day.Addendum 12/19/2014 - After a couple of years' hiatus, I'm back to taking this supplement once a day. Still tastes awful, but at my age - 64 (that's me at 63 with my son in my Profile picture) it still does the job.