3 Factors That Can Cause Nitric Oxide to Decline

Nitric Oxide levels decline for three main reasons: aging, diet, and too little physical activity. Each one interrupts a different step in how your body produces this molecule, which signals blood vessels to relax and supports healthy circulation. 

As you move about your day-to-day, you probably aren’t thinking about your Nitric Oxide levels, but you should be. Nitric Oxide (a.k.a. the “miracle molecule”) works as a signaling molecule, telling your blood vessels to relax and dilate. These dilated arteries allow for efficient blood flow throughout your body. Ultimately, efficient blood flow supports heart health, circulation and healthy blood pressure levels. Three factors drive most of that decline: aging, diet, and physical activity. 

Why does Nitric Oxide decline with age? 

Nitric Oxide production falls steadily with age, and the decline begins earlier in men than in women. By the time we reach 40, studies have shown that we only produce about half or less of the Nitric Oxide we did at age 20. And it continues to decline as we age. There’s also a difference when it comes to gender: by 40, men produce about 50% of the N-O they did in their teens and twenties. And women only produce about 35% of what they did in their twenties at age 50. 

How does diet affect Nitric Oxide levels? 

Your body makes Nitric Oxide partly from dietary nitrate, so a diet low in nitrate-rich vegetables limits how much it can produce. Dietary nitrate becomes Nitric Oxide in two steps: nitrate-reducing bacteria in your mouth first convert it to nitrite, and your body then converts that nitrite to Nitric Oxide further downstream. If we don’t consume enough high-nitrate vegetables, then we can become nitric oxide deficient and our nitric oxide production can begin to decline. 

Additionally, people who use antiseptic mouthwash can sharply reduce the bacteria in the mouth that are responsible for reducing dietary nitrate into nitrite and Nitric Oxide.  As a result, even though these individuals may eat sufficient amounts of high nitrate vegetables, they may become nitric oxide deficient because they don’t have the right bacteria necessary for metabolizing dietary nitrate. 

Does a lack of exercise lower Nitric Oxide? 

Yes. Regular physical activity is one of the main signals that prompts your body to produce Nitric Oxide, and inactivity removes that signal. When we don’t exercise, we lose that important signal that tells our body to make more N-O. The enzyme that makes N-O in response to exercise becomes dysfunctional. This usually leads to N-O insufficiency. As with aging, the limiting step is a reduced ability to convert the amino acid L-arginine into Nitric Oxide. 

It’s not too late to begin supporting your body’s ability to produce nitric oxide. 

Alongside a diet richer in high-nitrate vegetables and regular activity, Humann SuperBeets® Heart Chews help support Nitric Oxide production through the enzymatic (eNOS) pathway — the same route that aging and inactivity affect — using a clinically researched grape seed extract.