Citrulline malate

Citrulline malate

Citrulline malate is currently one of the most popular pre-workout ingredients worldwide. It has become popular among athletes as research has shown it to be highly effective. Due to this, it has become a common ingredient in many different pre-workout products. Unfortunately, many pre-workout products do not contain enough Citrulline Malate to optimize the beneficial effects of this amino acid. Therefore, people often buy a separate Citrulline Malate supplement in order to consume the desired amount.

Citrulline malate is also known as:
L-Citrulline malate
L-Citrulline DL-malate

There is often confusion regarding l-citrulline and citrulline malate. While their name is similar, there are some differences between these ingredients. In order to understand the main difference, it is important to realize that citrulline malate is an amino-acid compound which consists of l-citrulline and malate. This combination is often used in order to enhance the benefits of both l-citrulline and malate. Therefore, the beneficial effects of citrulline malate may come from L-Citrulline and / or malate. Due to the structure of citrulline malate, the information below is based on research regarding l-citrulline and citrulline malate.

Functions of citrulline malate

Unfortunately, due to European legislation, we cannot describe all the effects and functions of this product. Not even if these have been confirmed by research. Nevertheless, we do our best to provide you with as much relevant information as possible.

Citrulline Malate is primarily used as a pre-workout ingredient/supplement. It is used not only in strength training, but also in a variety of endurance sports. This is not surprising as the effects of citrulline malate have been confirmed by several studies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12 ][13][15].

Who can use citrulline malate ?

This amino acid is very suitable for people which would like to use an effective pre-workout. Due to its beneficial effects, this supplement is suitable for people which do resistance training and/or endurance training.

How should I use citrulline malate? / Dosages

Current research suggests that ~6-9g citrulline malate (2:1 ratio) consumed ~20-40 minutes before a training, is an effective amount as a pre-workout [2][4]. Some people also suggest to consume citrulline malate on rest days due to the benefits. While this may provide some benefits, there is not enough evidence to claim that daily consumption will further increase the effectiveness as a pre-workout.

Stacking / combining

Citrulline malate can be perfectly combined with many other supplements. It is therefore not surprising that it is used in various pre-workout supplements. However, due to the limited amount of citrulline malate in many pre-workout supplements, people often use additional citrulline malate in order to optimize its effects. When used as a pre-workout ingredient, it is often combined with beta-alanine, caffeine and creatine.

Where does citrulline malate come from ?

Citrulline is a naturally occurring amino acid. Our body can produce it in small amounts, and it can also be found in small amounts in our food. However, this supplement also contains another compound called malate. Malate is a part of malic acid, which can extracted from fruits such as apples. The combination of these two compounds creates citrulline malate.

Other information

Citrulline malate vs L-arginine
Some effects of citrulline malate are possible due to the conversion of citrulline into another amino acid called arginine. At first glance, it may seem beneficial to use a arginine supplement instead of citrulline malate. However, the use of an arginine supplement is not as effective or efficient as a citrulline malate supplement [16][18]. This difference occurs since our body uses arginine for a variety of functions. Due to this, not all consumed arginine is used in order to function as a pre-workout [19].

Safety & competitive use

Safety
Several studies found that citrulline malate is safe for use, even when larger amounts than recommended are used [20][21].

Competitive use
Due to the benefits, this supplement is used by many professional athletes. The use of this supplement is allowed, and will not result in problems for professional athletes.

Correct use
A dietary supplement can contribute to a healthy and active lifestyle. However, it should not be a substitute for a healthy lifestyle and a varied diet. The recommended dosage should not be exceeded, since side effects may occur otherwise.

As with any supplement, we advise users to consult a physician before use. In particular if you use medication or have health complaints. This product should not be used by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Furthermore, this product should not be used by persons under 18 years of age and must be kept out of the reach of children. Keep this product in a cool and dry place to maintain the quality.

References

1. Orozco-Gutiérrez, J. J., Castillo-Martínez, L., Orea-Tejeda, A., Vázquez-Díaz, O., Valdespino-Trejo, A., Narváez-David, R., … & Sánchez-Santillán, R. (2010). Effect of L-arginine or L-citrulline oral supplementation on blood pressure and right ventricular function in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction. Cardiology journal, 17(6), 612-618.
2. Pérez-Guisado, J., & Jakeman, P. M. (2010). Citrulline malate enhances athletic anaerobic performance and relieves muscle soreness. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(5), 1215-1222.
3. Suzuki, T., Morita, M., Kobayashi, Y., & Kamimura, A. (2016). Oral L-citrulline supplementation enhances cycling time trial performance in healthy trained men: Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled 2-way crossover study. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 13(1), 1-8.
4. Wax, B., Kavazis, A. N., Weldon, K., & Sperlak, J. (2015). Effects of supplemental citrulline malate ingestion during repeated bouts of lower-body exercise in advanced weightlifters. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 29(3), 786-792.
5. Bailey, S. J., Blackwell, J. R., Lord, T., Vanhatalo, A., Winyard, P. G., & Jones, A. M. (2015). l-Citrulline supplementation improves O2 uptake kinetics and high-intensity exercise performance in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology.
6. Morita, M., Sakurada, M., Watanabe, F., Yamasaki, T., Ezaki, H., Morishita, K., & Miyake, T. (2013). Effects of oral L-citrulline supplementation on lipoprotein oxidation and endothelial dysfunction in humans with vasospastic angina. Immunology, Endocrine & Metabolic Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (Formerly Current Medicinal Chemistry-Immunology, Endocrine and Metabolic Agents), 13(3), 214-220.
7. Ochiai, M., Hayashi, T., Morita, M., Ina, K., Maeda, M., Watanabe, F., & Morishita, K. (2012). Short-term effects of L-citrulline supplementation on arterial stiffness in middle-aged men. International journal of cardiology, 155(2), 257-261.
8. El-Hattab, A. W., Emrick, L. T., Hsu, J. W., Chanprasert, S., Almannai, M., Craigen, W. J., … & Scaglia, F. (2016). Impaired nitric oxide production in children with MELAS syndrome and the effect of arginine and citrulline supplementation. Molecular genetics and metabolism, 117(4), 407-412.
9. Cormio, L., De Siati, M., Lorusso, F., Selvaggio, O., Mirabella, L., Sanguedolce, F., & Carrieri, G. (2011). Oral L-citrulline supplementation improves erection hardness in men with mild erectile dysfunction. Urology, 77(1), 119-122.
10. Komori, K., Tsujimura, A., Takao, T., Matsuoka, Y., Miyagawa, Y., Takada, S., … & Okuyama, A. (2008). Nitric oxide synthesis leads to vascular endothelial growth factor synthesis via the NO/cyclic guanosine 3′, 5′-monophosphate (cGMP) pathway in human corpus cavernosal smooth muscle cells. The journal of sexual medicine, 5(7), 1623-1635.
11. Wong, A., Alvarez-Alvarado, S., Jaime, S. J., Kinsey, A. W., Spicer, M. T., Madzima, T. A., & Figueroa, A. (2016). Combined whole-body vibration training and l-citrulline supplementation improves pressure wave reflection in obese postmenopausal women. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 41(3), 292-297.
12. Alsop, P., & Hauton, D. (2016). Oral nitrate and citrulline decrease blood pressure and increase vascular conductance in young adults: a potential therapy for heart failure. European journal of applied physiology, 116(9), 1651-1661.
13. Kim, I. Y., Schutzler, S. E., Schrader, A., Spencer, H. J., Azhar, G., Deutz, N. E., & Wolfe, R. R. (2015). Acute ingestion of citrulline stimulates nitric oxide synthesis but does not increase blood flow in healthy young and older adults with heart failure. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 309(11), E915-E924.
14. Sureda, A., Córdova, A., Ferrer, M. D., Pérez, G., Tur, J. A., & Pons, A. (2010). L-citrulline-malate influence over branched chain amino acid utilization during exercise. European journal of applied physiology, 110(2), 341-351.
15. Quillon, A., Fromy, B., & Debret, R. (2015). Endothelium microenvironment sensing leading to nitric oxide mediated vasodilation: A review of nervous and biomechanical signals. Nitric Oxide, 45, 20-26.
16. Bahri, S., Zerrouk, N., Aussel, C., Moinard, C., Crenn, P., Curis, E., … & Sfar, S. (2013). Citrulline: from metabolism to therapeutic use. Nutrition, 29(3), 479-484.
17. Jourdan, M., Nair, K. S., Carter, R. E., Schimke, J., Ford, G. C., Marc, J., … & Cynober, L. (2015). Citrulline stimulates muscle protein synthesis in the post-absorptive state in healthy people fed a low-protein diet–A pilot study. Clinical Nutrition, 34(3), 449-456.
18. Figueroa, A., Wong, A., Jaime, S. J., & Gonzales, J. U. (2017). Influence of L-citrulline and watermelon supplementation on vascular function and exercise performance. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 20(1), 92-98.
19. Agarwal, U., Didelija, I. C., Yuan, Y., Wang, X., & Marini, J. C. (2017). Supplemental citrulline is more efficient than arginine in increasing systemic arginine availability in mice. The Journal of nutrition, 147(4), 596-602.
20. Moinard, C., Nicolis, I., Neveux, N., Darquy, S., Benazeth, S., & Cynober, L. (2008). Dose-ranging effects of citrulline administration on plasma amino acids and hormonal patterns in healthy subjects: the Citrudose pharmacokinetic study. British journal of nutrition, 99(4), 855-862.
21. Hwang, P., Morales Marroquín, F. E., Gann, J., Andre, T., McKinley-Barnard, S., Kim, C., … & Willoughby, D. S. (2018). Eight weeks of resistance training in conjunction with glutathione and L-Citrulline supplementation increases lean mass and has no adverse effects on blood clinical safety markers in resistance-trained males. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 15(1), 1-10.

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