Nitric Oxide Side Effects and Benefits
Nitric Oxide Side Effects – Are They Worth It?
One of the most popular pre workout supplements today is Nitric Oxide. You can find many variations of it, but bottom line, this is used to relax the blood vessels, sending massive amount of blood into your muscles. It’s one of the best ways to deliver oxygen and nutrients into your muscles and more of these mean bigger, more pumped up muscles and increased strength and stamina. However, there are nitric oxide side effects you need to be aware of before you take it.
Nitric oxide (NO) is a naturally occurring gas in the human body that basically controls the expansion of blood vessels and the overall flow of blood within the body. It knows to supply more when needed and less when you are resting. So we all have nitric oxide in our bodies – why would we need more of it and is it safe? Are there nitric oxide side effects we need to consider?
Nitric oxide is not only used in bodybuilding, but also as a vasodilator for erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra and in heart patient medications such as Nitroglycerin. In each instance, it opens up the blood vessels in order to solve a particular problem. It’s no surprise that someone noticed that it was great for bodybuilding as well.
But do the nitric oxide side effects outweigh any benefits you might get from it? Is it a relatively safe supplement to boost your workout efforts? Let’s take a look at that.
Nitric Oxide Side Effects
All of the nitric oxide bodybuilding supplements on the market have their own formulations and they all contain different ingredients. We’ll examine only the ingredients which affect your nitric oxide levels. Just be aware that a lot of the NO supplements on the market cram a bunch of other ingredients in which could adversely affect you with nitic oxide side effects.
L-Arginine (AAKG – Arginine Alpha Ketogluterate) is the active ingredient that when introduced into the body turns into nitric oxide gas. L-Arginine is an amino acid and it’s the main ingredient that helps with getting more blood to the muscles and attaining that incredible pumped up feeling that we strive for when busting our butts in the gym.
Though considered very safe to take, different people have individual reactions to nitric oxide. The most common nitric oxide side effects are:
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Fluctuations in Blood Pressure
- Feeling Lightheaded
- Feeling Dizzy
- Headaches
One of the most common nitric oxide side effects is that some people get very jittery and need to eat in order to calm their stomach down. It really depends on how sensitive you are to such supplements.
If your NO supplement also contains caffeine, you may also experience these side effects:
- Jittery feeling
- Sleeplessness
If you are predisposed to heart conditions, nitric oxide side effects can be particularly dangerous. Some of these nitric oxide side effects are:
- Severe Dips in Blood Pressure
- Arrhythmia (Irregular Heart Beat)
- Hypertension
- Hypoglycemia
We do not recommend that anyone with heart problems even consider taking nitric oxide supplements. In fact, anyone who considers taking any OTC product or supplement needs to consult their doctor before making a decision.
How to Avoid the Side Effects of Nitric Oxide
For those who are healthy but are still suffering from side effects after using nitric oxide, here are some tips to help you.
Drink Water. Taking nitric oxide supplements can cause dehydration so be sure to drink tons of water before, during and after each workout. This will help you to avoid getting headaches. In fact, most users of NO products say that staying hydrated helps to eliminate headaches and some of the other nitric oxide side effects.
A bonus in drinking water to alleviate your nitric oxide side effects is that water is an awesome “pre workout supplement” all in itself. Your muscles consist of over 70% water and they thrive on the stuff. Feed your muscles more water and watch your results go through the roof. Be sure to use bottled or filtered water.
Stick to the recommended dosage. Never take more of any nitric oxide supplement that is recommended on the label. In fact, we recommend you start out with less and see how you react to it. If you don’t have any adverse reaction, you may try to increase your dosage until you get to the recommended amount. Taking more than is recommended may cause serious or fatal side effects.
Since NO actually expands the blood vessels, you need to be very careful when taking it – especially if you want to do a heavy workout while doing so. If you do use nitric oxide supplements, try to choose one that releases nitric oxide over the course of several hours instead of just one quick burst of it. The products that supply the one quick burst seem to be more dangerous because this is all happening very suddenly. Also, you will notice that your muscle pump deflates very quickly following your workout.
Xtreme NO is a great example of a Nitric Oxide supplement that provides for a steady, perpetual release into the body, which should cut down significantly on nitric oxide side effects, such as a sudden drop in blood pressure. Also with this steady release formula, you will notice that you maintain your muscle pump for hours after you finish your workouts.
Eat before taking. If it makes your stomach feel funny or it makes you jittery, try eating something before you take it. That way it will coat your stomach and you may not have the same sensitivity to it.
Nitric Oxide Benefits
For those in tip top physical condition, nitric oxide side effects seem to not be as much of an issue. In fact, many report phenomenal gains using these supplements. Some of the most common benefits of using nitric oxide supplements are:
- Muscle Gains
- Increased Strength
- Increased Stamina
- Quicker Post Workout Recovery
- Increased Load Capacity
As you know, blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body. When you increase blood flow to your muscles, you get more oxygen and nutrients and this will give you much better muscle gains. More oxygen and nutrients equals bigger muscles. This is exactly why NO supplements have become increasing popular over the past year or so.
Conclusion
We feel that we had an obligation to post some of the nitric oxide side effects. Even though we consider Nitric Oxide supplements to be safe, there are always risks anytime you introduce something new to your body. That’s why we strongly urge you to consult your doctor first.
As we mentioned above, if you do decided to add an NO supplement to your training, check out Xtreme NO first. We highly recommend it because it doesn’t flood your system with NO in a short period like the other NO supplements do. You can check out our full review of it here: Xtreme NO
In addition to supplying a slow steady release of NO, Xtreme NO also contains another important ingredient – Di-Potassium Phosphate. This is great for enhancing your performance because it helps to improve your endurance and allows for much quicker recovery in between exercises and after your workout. It’s 100% natural. Di-Potassium Phosphate is one of Xtreme NO’s secrets to great bodybuilding success.
What we like about Xtreme NO is that it’s main focus is maximizing the results you’re going to get with increased nitric oxide.
Order XTREME NO Here
Choosing Xtreme NO may help you to achieve the results you are looking for without the normal side effects.

Generally I don’t read post on blogs, but I would like to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do so! Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thanks, very great post.
I have heard a lot about Nitric Oxide through online communities, but when I tried it I had really bad headaches. I’m going to try upping the water intake and see if that helps, thanks!