Health Discourse with Sakshi & Sushant- Episode 5

Genefitletics

Exercise has a vital role to play in fine tuning our physiology & overall health. A moderate exercise with 60-75 minutes per day , 3-5 days a week is important for various biological processes including regulating satiety level, cardiovascular disease, stress response & more. However, an important aspect is exercise performance. Right nutrition choices play a key role in improving skeletal muscle performance. However, in the name of nutrition, there are a number of supplements such as L-Arginine, Creatinine, Beta-alanine & more being sold. However, do we really require supplements? If yes, how much, which supplement? What is the molecular /biological mechanism that makes sure the supplement confers the intended benefit? Can’t such food molecules come from foods? How those molecules are synthesised. On the back of these pertinent questions, most fitness service providers miss the relevance of the most important gas produced inside our body every millisecond- Nitric Oxide. NO is a key molecule for various biological processes including metabolic health, cardiovascular health, sexual health, brain health & more. Without NO, you lose the cardiovascular benefits of exercise. NO is said to improve exercise performance, improve delivery of Oxygen & nutrients to working tissue & more. There are two pathways which stimulates nitric oxide production -Nitric Oxide Synthase(NOS): Endothelial cells line every blood vessel & via NOS facilitates production of NO. NOS converts L-Arginine in presence of oxygen into L-Citrulline & NO. NO is oxidised into nitrate which is stored in skeletal muscle where it gets converted into NO when required & elevates vasodilation effects, thereby improving exercise performance. Consider this, most of these fitness companies would ask you to take L-arginine supplement which is the starting point of disaster. L-Arginine is a semi essential amino acid which our body itself produces. Excess L-Arginine production can lead to overexpression of Arginase Enzyme which competes with NOS for L-Arginine & therefore it is diverted & not put to use for NO production. Instead, it leads to production of superoxide which triggers oxidative stress. Besides, inflammation due to gut microbial dysbiosis can trigger endothelial cell dysfunction & reduces the ability to produce NO. However as we age, ability of our endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide reduces & therefore the second pathway becomes more important -Oral microbiome: Microbes in our mouth that synthesise nitrate in various green vegetables into nitrite which mixes with stomach acid. A portion of nitrite is stored in various tissues including skeleton muscle where it is converted into NO. Rather than just subscribing to supplements, you should understand your biology & functions your oral microbiome perform. Wrong oral hygiene practices such as Mouthwashes can imbalance your oral microbiome & impacts NO producing, thereby directly influencing your exercise performance.

Today we discuss the role of oral microbiome & gut microbiome in improving exercise performance.

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