The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution – by Dr. Nathan Bryan & Janet Zand

Typically we review books, not authors, but here it’s worth mentioning that the authors are an interesting pairing, qualification-wise:

• Dr. Nathan Bryan is a leading expert on nitric oxide, and assistant professor of molecular medicine at the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine of the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.
• Janet Zand is a homeopath, herbalist, and acupuncturist whose qualifications are not widely recognized even by acupuncture organizations.

The result is a book that is neither overly scientific nor overly unscientific.

By this we mean, the authors explain the functioning of nitric oxide (not to be mistaken for nitrous oxide or nitrogen dioxide), and, for that matter, the dysfunctioning of nitric oxide (i.e. what happens when we don’t make enough), and how to fix it by giving our body the things it needs to do it better.

But they explain these things in broad terms, and they mention research without actually citing it, e.g. “a team of researchers found” without saying who, or “a study published in the Journal of Such-and-Such showed…” without saying what study, etc.

Thus, we learn about the decline of nitric oxide production in the body, what causes such (age over 40, and some lifestyle factors), and how to counter it (diet & exercise, but, specific dietary things, especially leafy greens, for example, and amino acid supplements (l-arginine and l-citrulline) that make it easier for the body to produce the enzymes that in turn play their part in the production of nitric oxide.

The benefits (mostly vs CVD and inflammatory diseases) are possibly overstated as much research on this topic has been done on non-human animals and/or has produced mixed results, but there is rarely much that can go wrong with eating more leafy greens, getting in amino acids, and exercising—so for most people the advice remains good regardless.

Bottom line: this is a very interesting book that’s quite light-reading as an introduction to the machinations of nitric oxide in our physiology, and why we might want to promote that. Provided you don’t want more details or need sources, it’s a good book.

Click here to check out The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution, and say NO to disease!