An arachidonic acid supplement does the opposite of what most of the supplement world sells you. Everyone sells anti-inflammatories. ArA turns up the inflammatory signal from training, because that signal is part of what tells a muscle to grow. In the book, it’s part of the Muscle Focus entry point of Natural Plus, at 1,400 mg pre-workout, and it heads the inflammation pathway of the Muscle Matrix. This page covers the dose, what the two trials found, and the one mistake that cancels it out: painkillers around your training.
Arachidonic acid is an omega-6 fatty acid. It’s built into the membrane of every cell, muscle included. You get it from eggs, meat and fish. In addition, your body makes it from other omega-6 fats.
Then, when you train hard, muscle cells release ArA from their membranes. Enzymes then turn it into prostaglandins and other signals. Those signals cause the soreness and swelling after training, but they also start the repair.
The book’s idea is simple: use controlled inflammation as a growth signal. In the Glossary’s words, ArA signals muscle damage to trigger hypertrophy. Dosed pre-workout, it amplifies that signal.
So more ArA in the muscle means more raw material for the signal when you train. That’s also why it works the opposite way from fish oil, curcumin and painkillers, which all calm the inflammation.
So far, there are two main human trials, both in resistance-trained young men.
Trial 1, 2007. 31 men took 1 g of ArA a day or placebo for 50 days, training four days a week. At the end, strength and body composition were no different from placebo. Anaerobic power on a bike sprint test was higher, though, and the inflammatory marker IL-6 was lower [1]. This is the study the book cites.
Trial 2, 2016. 30 men took 1.5 g a day or placebo for 8 weeks. Only the ArA group gained significantly: 1.6 kg of lean mass, 8.7 percent on the bench press and about 13 percent in peak power [2]. However, the company that holds the patent on the product partly funded the study, and diet wasn’t controlled [3].
Overall, the honest summary: power improved in both trials. Strength and muscle improved in one, but not the other.
Below is the dose table, timing, the NSAID problem, safety data, who should skip it and the comparison table.
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This page documents Dr. Tony Huge’s research and self-experimentation. It is journalism and education, not medical advice, and it creates no doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Tony Huge holds a Juris Doctor; he is a lawyer, not a physician. Read the full Legal Disclaimer.