The Arginine Solution: The First Guide to America's New Cardio-Enhancing Supplement [Hardcover]

Robert Fried (Author), Woodson C. Merrell (Author), James Thornton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

This easy-to-understand guide reveals how this readily available supplement works, what the optimum dosage is, and what results to expect.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Arginine is an amino acid that is present in food and, when broken down by the body, produces nitric oxide. Biofeedback expert Fried and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons internist Merrell discuss how arginine, taken as a daily supplement, can work to prevent or reduce cardiovascular disease and enhance healing. Chapters explain how arginine helps the circulatory system, lowers blood pressure, prevents atherosclerosis, enhances sexuality, and strengthens the immune system. Pertinent, extensive medical references (almost 40 pages) are included. Readers are warned to consult their physicians, and cautions are issued for contraindications. A thought-provoking book that will be a good addition to alternative health collections.AJanet M. Schneider, James A. Haley Veterans Hosp., Tampa, FL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Robert Fried, Ph.D., is the director of the Stress and Biofeedback Clinic at the Albert Ellis Institute, New York City. He is also a senior professor of biopsychology at Hunter College, CUNY.

Woodson C. Merrell, M.D., is an assistant clinical professor at Columbia University School, an executive director of Beth-Israel-St.Luke's-Roosevelt Hospitals' new center of Integrative Medicine, and a board member of New York State's Office of Professional Medical Conduct. He also maintains a private practice in Manhattan.

James Thornton has contributed to The Physician and Sports Medicine and Men's Journal. He received a 1998 National Magazine Award for his health writing, and his articles have been published in magazines and newspapers around the world.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446523909
• ISBN-13: 978-0446523905
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.9 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, excellent, but totally ignorant of Vitamin C, June 27, 2004

By 

Dave Yost (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Arginine Solution: The First Guide to America's New Cardio-Enhancing Supplement (Hardcover)

This book is fascinating, loaded with important information. But they stay single-mindedly focused on arginine and nitric oxide, no doubt wary of diluting their message with other important facts. Here's one: Chronic vascular disease is the long-term result of damaged collagen from too little Vitamin C, leading to artery lesions patched up by Lipoprotein(a) with LDL cholesterol heaped on top. Did you know that acute scurvy leads to the same result, only much quicker? The root cause of heart disease was strongly proven by a landmark guinea pig study in 1992 by Matthias Rath at the Linus Pauling Institute, replicated in a genetically-mutated mouse study in 2000 at U North Carolina. And to reverse it, you take adequate Vitamin C, lysine, and proline. Sure, it appears that extra arginine is helpful for the 100% of us who have accumulated vascular disease from a life of ignorance and malnutrition, but what if we were to totally clear our arteries? How much extra arginine would we need then? No answer -- and the question is not even asked because they don't even mention Rath & Pauling, appalling in a 21st century book on heart disease.

If you're serious about reversing heart (artery) disease, read Matthias Rath's excellent Why Aminals Don't Get Heart Attacks, but People Do. Short answer: they manufacture Vitamin C in their liver, and we don't. (Except for other high-order primates, and notably guinea pigs, which don't either.) We have to take 5-10 grams per day to make up for our limitation, and a whole lot more when we're sick or poisoned.

63 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Info on Arginine Badly Compromised by Errors, August 25, 2001

By 

Joel M. Kauffman (Berwyn, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Arginine Solution: The First Guide to America's New Cardio-Enhancing Supplement (Mass Market Paperback)

“The Arginine Solution” is very well-written, easy to read, and could save many lives, as well as improving the quality of many lives. The authors make a solid case for the use of L-arginine as a safe supplement that lowers blood pressure and prevents atherosclerosis, and cite good peer-reviewed articles in medical journals profusely. I now use L-arginine myself. So why the 2-star rating? The authors have been taken in by what is called the biggest fraud in the history of medicine, the diet-heart fraud. Other books available make it quite clear that eating saturated fat and cholesterol do not cause atheroslerosis, and that high serum cholesterol (below 400 mg/dL) does not cause atherosclerosis or heart attacks. For example, there is Robert J. Moore, “Heart Attack”, 1989; Russell L. Smith, “The Cholesterol Conspiracy”, 1991; Kilmer S. McCully and Martha McCully, “The Heart Revolution. The Extraordinary Discovery that Finally Laid the Cholesterol Myth to Rest and Put Good Food Back on the Table”, 2000; Uffe Ravnskov, “The Cholesterol Myths. Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease”, 2000; and Charles T. McGee, “Health Frauds: Uncovering the Biggest Health Scam in History”, 2001. Because of the total confusion over cholesterol and saturated fat, the usefulness of this book is seriously compromised. The authors even went so far as to compare L-arginine to lovastatin, calling the latter “the gold standard” for lowering cholesterol levels (p92). The truth is that in both of the reports on the two placebo-controlled clinical studies published so far, the total death rate of patients on lovastatin was higher than for patients on placebo. A further problem is the continual admonishments to “see your doctor”, “ask your doctor” as though more than 1 physician in 100 would have the slightest inkling of the benefits of L-arginine. If you are to depend on your “doctor’s” endorsement of L-arginine, you will be very disappointed. Most of you will have to make your own decisions. The physiological diagrams photoreduced for this paperback edition are unreadable, even with a magnifying glass, because they are too small and lack resolution (see p80). The authors also caution men not to use L-arginine in conjunction with sildenafil (Viagra), but provide no experimental evidence whatsoever for their opinion, along with the usual “ask your doctor” about the combination, as though most MDs would know. My personal experience is that the maximum allowable dose of sildenafil, 100 mg, is effective for me, with the side-effects of abdominal pain, blurred vision, and headache; while 50 mg of sildenafil taken with 1 g of L-arginine is even more effective, and has no side-effects.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone should read this book!, March 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Arginine Solution: The First Guide to America's New Cardio-Enhancing Supplement (Hardcover)

Several people recommended this book to me. I was skeptical, because I normally don't read health books, but once I started reading, I was really intrigued. I thought I knew a lot about taking care of my body, but I had never heard of the amino acid arginine. The authors explained its purpose in the body using really easy terms and examples. Now, I can't imagine NOT taking an arginine supplement. The authors included a list of recommended companies to get arginine from, but I didn't feel like they were "selling" any one of them. I called a few, and the one I chose, Real Health, sent me their product VasoRect. I've been taking it for a little over a week and feel great-more energy. I wasn't particularly concerned about the erectile aspects of arginine because I didn't think I had a problem, but since taking VasoRect, I have realized that my performance HAD deteriorated--it's good to be back! I also like the fact that the authors were straight about the benefits AND the potential risks. They were careful to times when arginine shouldn't be taken, though those times seemed to be few. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is concerned about any aspect of their health--women and men. The authors should be commended for their great service to medicine.