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  • Original Article
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Body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity

The effect of l-arginine supplementation on body composition and performance in male athletes: a double-blinded randomized clinical trial

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 544–548 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 02 August 2017

Abstract

Background/Objective:

Athletes used a lot of dietary supplements to achieve the more muscle mass and improve their athletic performance. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of l-arginine supplementation on sport performance and body composition in male soccer players.

Subjects/Methods:

This double-blinded, randomized and placebo-controlled trial was conducted on 56 male soccer players, with age range of 16–35, who referred to sport clubs in Isfahan, Iran. Subjects were randomly assigned to either l-arginine or placebo groups. Athletes received daily either 2 g per day l-arginine supplement or the same amount of placebo (maltodextrin) for 45 days. Sport performance and also body mass index (BMI), body fat mass (BFM) and lean body mass (LBM) were measured at the beginning and end of the study. Also, 3-day dietary records were collected at three different time points (before, in the middle of, and at the end of the study).

Results:

The mean age of subjects was 20.85±4.29 years. Sport performance (VO2 max) significantly increased in l-arginine supplementation group (4.12±6.07) compared with placebo group (1.23±3.36) (P=0.03). This increase remained significant even after adjustment of baseline values, physical activity and usual dietary intake of subjects throughout the study. No significant effect of l-arginine supplementation was found on weight, BMI, BFM and LBM.

Conclusions:

l-arginine supplementation (2 g per day) could increase the sport performance in male athletes, but had no effect on anthropometric measurements, including BMI, BFM and LBM. So, further studies are needed to shed light our findings.

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Acknowledgements

This paper was adapted from MSc dissertation, which was supported by School of Nutrition & Food Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (code: 392435). So, we thank the authorities of this university for their cooperation. Also, we appreciate the athletes who participated in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Security Research Center and Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    N Pahlavani & M H Entezari

  2. Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Mashad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    N Pahlavani

  3. Department of Operating Room Technology, School of Paramedicine, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran

    M Nasiri

  4. Department of Nutrition, School of Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran

    A Miri

  5. Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    M Rezaie

  6. Department of Nutrition, School of Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    M Bagheri-Bidakhavidi

  7. Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    O Sadeghi

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  1. N Pahlavani
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Correspondence to O Sadeghi.

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Pahlavani, N., Entezari, M., Nasiri, M. et al. The effect of l-arginine supplementation on body composition and performance in male athletes: a double-blinded randomized clinical trial. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 544–548 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.266

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