Stimol is a proprietary compound whose scientific name is citrulline malate. It has been clinically proven to drastically increase aerobic energy production during exercise and reduce fatigue.
Citrulline malate is made up of the nonessential amino acid citrulline and malate, or malic acid, which is an organic acid. Citrulline is found in small amounts in various fruits, including watermelon. The body can also synthesize citrulline from another amino acid, arginine. Malate is found in tart-tasting fruits, especially apples.
Citrulline's primary role in the body is to transform ammonia, a toxic by-product of protein breakdown, into urea, which is released in the urine. Malate plays a role in aerobic energy production.
Stimol was first used as a supplement in Europe in the 1980s. Studies have shown that it is an effective treatment for fatigue, cerebral aging, and ammonia poisoning. More recently, research has demonstrated that Stimol drastically increases aerobic energy production during exercise—by an amazing 34% in one study.
There are four main actions of Stimol in the body:
INCREASED AEROBIC ENERGY
A study published in the British Journal of Medicine found that daily supplementation with Stimol's active ingredient resulted in a 34% increase in aerobic energy production during exercise. Increasing the aerobic contribution to energy needs during exercise is important because unlike anaerobic metabolism, aerobic metabolism is very efficient and produces no fatigue-causing by-products, so the more energy your muscles can produce aerobically, the longer they can keep working before fatigue sets in.
ENHANCED MUSCLE PERFORMANCE
During high-intensity exercise, one of the main causes of muscle fatigue is muscular acidosis, or loss of pH balance in the muscle tissue. Muscular acidosis results from anaerobic metabolism in the muscles, which produces acidic by-products. Aerobic metabolism does not produce these by-products and does not cause acidosis.
For this reason, the more energy your muscles produce aerobically at any given exercise intensity, and the less they produce anaerobically, the longer they can continue working at that intensity. In the British Journal of Medicine Study mentioned above, subjects taking a citrulline malate supplement were able to sustain a higher intensity of exercise at a constant muscle pH level. In other words, their muscle performance improved, thanks to a boost in aerobic metabolism.
BETTER CLEARANCE OF METABOLIC BY-PRODUCTS
Two by-products of high-intensity anaerobic energy production are ammonia, which is a by-product of protein breakdown, and hydrogen protons, which are produced with lactate and cause fatigue by making the muscles too acidic to function optimally. Stimol has been shown to effectively clear ammonia and lactate away from the muscles and restore normal muscle pH balance during post-exercise recovery.
FASTER MUSCLE RECOVERY FROM EXERCISE
Studies have also demonstrated that Stimol increases the rate of phosphocreatine replenishment in the muscles after maximum-intensity muscle work. Phosphocreatine is the most important fuel source for maximum-intensity muscle contractions, so the faster you can replenish this fuel source after a heavy set of weightlifting or a high-intensity cardio interval, the more total sets or intervals you can do before you're exhausted. Phosphocreatine is restored through aerobic metabolism, so it appears that Stimol accelerates phosphocreatine replenishment by enhancing aerobic metabolism.
HOW STIMOL WORKS
Scientists are still learning about how Stimol works. What they do know is that malate plays an important and limiting role in aerobic metabolism. Malate contributes to a part of aerobic metabolism that is known as the TCA cycle. The TCA cycle is a very complex process that uses oxygen to transform pyruvate molecules into ATP molecules, which provide the energy for muscle contractions. Although malate participates in only one step of this process, it is considered a rate limiter because when more malate is made available, the potential rate of aerobic metabolism increases. This appears to be why Stimol supplementation increases aerobic output.
During very intense exercise, muscle energy comes primarily from anaerobic breakdown of phosphocreatine. The supply of phosphocreatine in the muscles is very small—enough to last roughly 15 seconds at maximum intensity. After maximum-intensity exercise, the TCA cycle mentioned above helps replenish phosphocreatine stores. By enabling the TCA cycle to proceed more rapidly, Stimol supplementation allows for faster recovery after maximum-intensity muscle work.
Citrulline, meanwhile, specializes in removing ammonia from the body. It helps transform ammonia into urea in the liver. Urea then passes through the kidneys to the bladder, where it is excreted in the urine. Due to its important role in ammonia detoxification, citrulline is most abundant in the liver.
During very high-intensity and very prolonged exercise, high levels of ammonia are produced due to high levels of muscle protein breakdown. The accumulation of ammonia may contribute to muscle fatigue. Animal studies have shown that citrulline supplementation enhances the body's ability to “buffer” ammonia produced during exercise.
Another by-product of muscle work is lactate. Excess lactate is also cleared away from the muscles in the urea cycle. Studies have shown that when higher levels of citrulline are available in the blood during exercise, blood lactate levels are lower. While lactate is not a direct cause of muscle fatigue, blood lactate levels are closely linked to the events that cause muscle fatigue due to muscular acidosis.
BENEFITS OF STIMOL SUPPLEMENTATION
Anyone can benefit from Stimol supplementation. Men and women who exercise will experience the greatest benefits. Stimol will increase your aerobic energy during workouts and help you recover faster between weightlifting sets and high-intensity cardio intervals. This will enable you to work harder, longer, and consequently get more our your workouts. Over time you will gain more muscle, lose more fat, and build a higher level of cardiovascular fitness. And if you're a competitive athlete, you'll see your sports performance improve.
Stimol has also been shown to benefit men and women suffering from general fatigue not due to illness. If you feel that you are tired more often than you should be, and there's no obvious explanation (such as lack of adequate sleep), Stimol may help you.
There are no known negative health effects associated with Stimol (citrulline malate) supplementation. A daily Stimol dosage of 3,000 mg has been proven effective and safe in studies.
To learn more about Stimol, visit www.stimolusa.com
