Nitric oxide may be a tiny molecule, but it plays an important role in blood vessel relaxation, blood flow, exercise, and cardiovascular function.
Your body can make nitric oxide naturally, but diet and everyday habits can affect how much is available.
Nitrate-rich foods, physical activity, and even the bacteria in your mouth can influence this process.
How to Increase Nitric Oxide Production
You do not necessarily need a nitric oxide supplement to support nitric oxide production. Several everyday habits can help.
1. Eat More Nitrate-Rich Vegetables
One of the simplest ways to support nitric oxide production is to eat more vegetables naturally rich in nitrate.
Good choices include:
- Beetroot
- Arugula
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Swiss chard
- Celery
- Other leafy greens
Nitrate from these foods can be converted by bacteria in your mouth into nitrite, which can then contribute to nitric oxide production. Leafy greens are among the richest dietary sources of nitrate.
You don’t need to eat large amounts of one particular vegetable. Instead, try adding a variety of nitrate-rich foods to your regular meals.
2. Exercise Regularly
Exercise is another powerful way to support your body’s nitric oxide system.
During physical activity, increased blood flow creates friction against the walls of your blood vessels. This stimulates the cells lining your vessels to produce more nitric oxide and may help them respond better to changes in blood flow.
Research suggests that exercise can increase nitric oxide and related nitrate/nitrite levels in the blood. This benefit was seen with both aerobic and high-intensity interval training, regardless of exercise duration or session length.
You don’t need intense workouts to get these benefits. Walking, cycling, swimming, running, resistance training, and other forms of regular physical activity can support vascular health.
The most important factor is consistency.
3. Give Your Oral Health Some Attention
This one is easy to overlook.
The bacteria living in your mouth play an important role in the nitrate-to-nitrite-to-nitric oxide pathway. When you eat nitrate-rich foods, these bacteria help convert nitrate into nitrite before it continues through the pathway.
Research suggests that disrupting the oral microbiome, including through certain antiseptic mouthwashes, can reduce nitrate conversion and nitric oxide availability.
This doesn’t mean you should stop practicing good oral hygiene. Brushing and cleaning between your teeth remain important for maintaining oral health.
Instead, if you’re specifically trying to support this pathway, it may be worth avoiding unnecessary use of strong antiseptic mouthwashes.
If you use a medicated mouthwash, follow your dentist’s or healthcare professional’s advice rather than stopping it on your own.
4. Eat Foods That Provide L-Arginine
Your body can also make nitric oxide from L-arginine, an amino acid found in a variety of foods.
Good dietary sources include:
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Peanuts
- Beans
- Lentils
- Soy foods
- Whole grains
- Some dairy products
L-arginine serves as a building block for nitric oxide production through enzymes called nitric oxide synthases.
But more L-arginine doesn’t necessarily mean more nitric oxide. Your body tightly regulates this pathway, and only a small proportion of dietary arginine is converted directly into nitric oxide.
A meta-analysis showed that longer-term consumption of tree nuts and peanuts improved fasting blood-vessel function. However, the researchers noted that the improvement could not be explained by their L-arginine content alone.
So rather than focusing on L-arginine alone, include these foods as part of an overall nutritious diet.
5. Include Foods Rich in L-Citrulline
L-citrulline is another amino acid that can help your body make nitric oxide.
And watermelon is one of its best-known food sources.
Here’s the interesting part: your body can convert L-citrulline into L-arginine, which is then used to produce nitric oxide. L-citrulline can also raise L-arginine levels more effectively than oral L-arginine because it is less extensively broken down during absorption.
Research on watermelon suggests it may support blood vessel function, arterial stiffness, and blood pressure, although results have varied, partly because the amount of L-citrulline in watermelon products can differ.
L-citrulline supplements have also been studied for blood flow, exercise performance, and recovery, but the findings are mixed.
So if you enjoy watermelon, it can be a simple, food-first way to add L-citrulline to your diet.
6. Get Some Sensible Sunlight
Sunlight may influence nitric oxide in a way that’s different from the nitrate pathway you get from foods.
Your skin contains nitrogen-containing compounds that can release nitric oxide when exposed to UVA radiation. In human studies, UVA exposure increased blood flow and temporarily lowered blood pressure, with the effects linked to the release of nitric oxide from the skin.
Sunlight may affect blood vessel function through a pathway that is independent of nitric oxide synthase and dietary nitrate availability.
However, this doesn’t mean you should deliberately expose your skin to large amounts of UV radiation to increase nitric oxide. Studies have produced mixed results, and researchers have not established UV exposure as a treatment for high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease.
For now, think of sunlight as an interesting area of nitric oxide research—not a reason to skip sun protection.
7. Include Cocoa and Dark Chocolate
Cocoa is another interesting food when it comes to nitric oxide and blood vessel health. Its flavanols, particularly epicatechin, may influence how well your blood vessels function.
In human research, flavanol-rich cocoa has been shown to increase nitric oxide-related compounds and improve flow-mediated dilation (FMD), a measure of how well blood vessels widen when blood flow increases.
More recent evidence points in the same direction. A 2026 meta-analysis found that cocoa flavanols improved FMD and pulse-wave velocity, although the certainty of evidence for these vascular outcomes was still limited.
So, how can you include cocoa? Unsweetened cocoa powder or dark chocolate with 70–85% cocoa content can be simple ways to add cocoa flavanols to your diet. Just remember that chocolate can still be calorie-dense, so more isn’t necessarily better.
8. Breathe Through Your Nose
Your nose plays a bigger role in nitric oxide than you might think.
The nasal passages and sinuses produce high levels of nitric oxide, with the sinuses acting as an important reservoir. When you breathe through your nose, some of this NO travels with the air into your lungs, where it may support airway function and local respiratory defenses.
In fact, human research has found that nasal breathing produces more exhaled NO than mouth breathing during exercise.
But don’t overstate the finding. Nasal breathing doesn’t necessarily increase your body’s overall nitric oxide production like dietary nitrate can. The strongest evidence concerns nasal NO and its role in the respiratory system.
9. Consider Nitric Oxide Supplements
If diet and lifestyle aren’t enough, you may come across supplements marketed as “nitric oxide boosters.” Despite the name, most don’t contain nitric oxide itself. Instead, they provide ingredients such as L-arginine, L-citrulline, or nitrate that can support the body’s nitric oxide pathways.
The research is promising, but supplements aren’t a guaranteed shortcut. L-arginine, for example, has been shown in a meta-analysis to reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, although the effects varied between groups.
L-citrulline has also been studied for blood flow, blood pressure, exercise performance, and recovery, but the results are mixed.
Nitrate supplements, including concentrated beetroot products, have also been studied for their effects on nitric oxide availability and vascular function. But if you’re already eating plenty of nitrate-rich vegetables, a supplement may not be necessary.
And more isn’t always better. If you take medication that lowers blood pressure or affects blood-vessel dilation, talk with a healthcare professional before using these supplements, as some ingredients may further lower blood pressure.
The Bottom Line
You don’t need a nitric oxide supplement to support nitric oxide production.
Start with the basics: eat nitrate-rich vegetables, exercise regularly, maintain good oral health, and include foods rich in L-arginine and L-citrulline.
If you have high blood pressure, poor circulation, erectile difficulties, or another cardiovascular concern, talk with a healthcare professional rather than relying on nitric oxide supplements alone.