Arginine is an α-amino acid.  It is classified as a semi-essential or conditionally essential amino acid, depending on the developmental stage and health status of the individual. Preterm infants are unable to synthesize or create arginine internally, making the amino acid nutritionally essential for them.

Arginine plays an important role in cell division, the healing of wounds, removing ammonia from the body, immune function, and the release of hormones. So it is hardly semi-essential!  It is also 

• A precursor for the synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) which plays a part in preventing atherosclerosis and helps in vasodilation.  In effect it is one of the natural substances that help with the alleviation of hypertension and in the control of blood pressure
• Used in the healing of injuries and wounds and helps in reducing the time for wounds to heal

Sources of Arginine in Food

We have provided an observation derived from Dr Duke’s phytochemical database that shows the plants that have arginine.  The table below shows the other foods and is ordered by nutrient content. 

It comes from the USDA Nutrients database, which produces a list some 40-50  plus pages long and which also has a fair amount of repetition, caused by the fact that each product has to have labelling whereas we are looking for broad guidelines we can use in cooking and preparing balanced meals. 

It also includes processed food, which we have excluded. We have included no vegetables generally, as these are in Dr Duke’s list.

Overall in order to get adequate arginine input, a vegetarian needs to concentrate on seeds and nuts, especially nuts.  A meat eater has a very easy time, unless of course they have become allergic to gelatine.  In this case, they might be better to go vegetarian and eat more oily fish.