Arachidonic Acid Fact Sheet, FAQs & Product List

Arachidonic acid information, FAQ and product listing page. This page contains information and frequently asked questions about arachidonic acid as well as a complete list of products containing arachidonic acid.

What is arachidonic acid and what does it do?

Arachidonic acid is an essential acid considered to be a part of the Omega-6 group. It’s stored in the cell membranes and responsible for sending signals of adaptive changes in the case of muscle damage or other types of stimuli. William Llewellyn, a performance-enhancing scientist, is responsible for patenting and developing the arachidonic acid supplementation protocols that is used for stimulating muscle growth.

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What are the benefits of taking arachidonic acid?

Arachidonic acid is the primary building block for the synthesis of dienolic prostaglandins, which includes both PGE2 and PGF2. These are prostaglandins that are tightly involved with the protein synthesis and muscle hypertrophy, two things that occur after exercise.

Arachidonic acid is also involved with amplified IGF-1 (Insulin-Like Growth Factor) signaling, the enhancement of satellite cell activation and proliferation, increased regeneration of your body’s muscle cells, increased formation of Nitric Oxide, as well as enhanced androgen receptor synthesis.

Additional benefits that arachidonic acid provides include the long-term improvements of vascularity, this is through stimulation of angiogenesis (blood vessel regeneration) in the muscles in your body that are trained. Arachidonic acid also improves body composition by partitioning the negative nutrients found in our body through inhibition of stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1.

In addition to all of the above, arachidonic acid inhibits resistin.

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Who can benefit from taking arachidonic acid?

Those that are weight training or would consider themselves as an amateur (or professional, for that matter) athlete may benefit from supplementing with arachidonic acid. As you exercise, your arachidonic acid levels usually decrease as does the production of anabolic prostaglandins.

Arachidonic acid is most commonly supplemented by individuals that play a sport on a daily basis, bodybuilders, frequent gym attendees, and other individuals that participate in activities where short, rapid bursts of performance are constantly required. If you are an athlete with a reduced level of arachidonic acid, you’ll probably experience “training stagnation,” which means you will see a decline in your muscle’s ability to stimulate muscle growth.

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How much arachidonic acid should I take?

It depends on the individual on what the purpose of taking arachidonic is. Common dosages of the supplement can vary around 75mg to 250mg per day for long-term usage, anywhere to 500mg and a 1000mg daily for a rapid, short-term effect.

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Does arachidonic acid have any side effects?

Some people can experience an increased amount of muscle soreness, as well as sore joints, insomnia, or headaches. However, most do not experience any side effects.

Individuals that are not physically active should not supplement arachidonic acid. Neither should individuals that are pregnant or have a history of a variety of disease and conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer, prostate enlargement, or any inflammatory disease.

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ARACHIDONIC ACID PRODUCTS ON SALE NOW:

The full product listing for supplements that contain Arachidonic Acid will be posted soon!

Sources used:
Nelson GJ, Schmidt PC, Bartolini G, Kelley DS, Phinney SD, Kyle D, Silbermann S, Schaefer FJ. The effect of dietary arachidonic acid on plasma lipoprotein distributions, apoproteins, blood lipid levels, and tissue fatty acid composition in humans. Lipids. 1997 Apr; 32940: 427-33.
Bondesen BA, Mills ST, Pavlath GK. The COX-2 pathway regulates growth of atrophied muscle via multiple mechanisms. Am J Physiol Cell Physiology 2006 Jun; 290(6): C1651-9. Epub 2006 Feb 8.
Dietary effects of arachidonic-rich fungal oil and fish oil on murine hepatic and hippocampal gene expression. Berger A, Mutch DM, Bruce German J, Roberts MA. Lipids Health Dis. 2002 Oct 21;1(1):2.
Specific effect of arachidonic acid on inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA expression in human osteoblastic cells. Priante G, Musacchio E, Pagnin E, Calò LA, Baggio B. Clin Sci (Lond). 2005 Aug;109(2):177-82.
Andersson, A., A. Sjodin, A. Hedman, R. Olsson, and B. Vessby. Fatty acid profile of skeletal muscle phospholipids in trained and untrained young men. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 279:E744-751, 2000.
Borkman M, Storlien LH, Pan DA, Jenkins AB, Chrisholm DJ, Campbell LV. The relationship between insulin sensitivity and the fatty acid composition of skeletal muscle phospholipids. N Engl J Med. 1993 Jan 28;328(4):238-44
Tamura K, Sakuri T, Kogo H. Relationship between prostaglandin E2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in angiogenesis in human vascular endothelial cells. Vascul Pharmacol. 2006 Jun; 44 (6) : 411-6. Epub 2006 May 2.
Chevillotte E, Rieusset J, Roques M, Desage M, Vidal H. The regulation of uncoupling protein-2 gene expression by omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in human skeletal muscle cells involves multiple pathways, including the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta. J Biol Chem. 2001 Apr 6;276(14):10853-60. Epub 2001 Jan 12.
U.S. Patent # 6,841,573. Use of arachidonic acid as a method of increasing skeletal muscle.
Trappe TA, Fluckery JD, White F, Lambert CP, Evans WJ. Skeletal muscle PGF (2) (alpha) and PGE (2) in response to eccentric resistance: influence of ibuprofen acetaminophen. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2001 Oct; 86 (10): 5067-70.
Haugen F, Zahid N, Dalen KT, Hollung K, Nebb HI, Drevon CA. Resistin expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes is reduced by arachidonic acid. J Lipid Res. 2005 Jan; 46 (1): 143-53. Epub 2004 Oct 16.
Wilborn, C, M Roberts, C Kerksick, M Iosia, L Taylor, B Campbell, T Harvey, R Wilson, M. Greenwood, D Willoughby and R Kreider. Changes in whole blood and clinical safety markers over 50 days of concomitant arachidonic acid supplementation and resistance training. Exercise & Sport Nutrition Laboratory, Center for Exercise, Nutrition & Preventive Health Research, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798-7313.
Effects of exercise on parameters of blood coagulation, platelet function and the prostaglandin system. Sinzinger H, Virgolini I. Sports Med, 1988 Oct;6(4):238-45. Review.
Kelley DS, Taylor PC. Nelson GJ, Schmidt PC, Makey BF, Kyle D. Effects of dietary arachidonic acid on human immune response. Lipids. 1997 Apr; 32(4): 449-56.

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