{"id":1154,"date":"2021-01-01T05:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betternutrition.com\/2017\/01\/01\/beetroot-juice-benefits\/"},"modified":"2021-08-22T09:31:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T15:31:15","slug":"beetroot-juice-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betternutrition.com\/conditions-and-wellness\/heart-health\/beetroot-juice-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits of Beetroot Juice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The secret to the healing powers of the humble beetroot?<\/strong> Turns out, it\u2019s an incredibly concentrated source of dietary nitrate. If you\u2019ve never heard of \u201cdietary nitrate,\u201d you\u2019re far from alone. Only recently has nitrate\u2014and supplements containing it in the form of beetroot\u2014gained serious scientific interest. Nitrate is now coming out of obscurity, with studies showing it can help to lower blood pressure, protect against glaucoma, improve athletic performance, and more.<\/p>\n

The story of dietary nitrate begins with nitric oxide, not to be confused with nitrous oxide\u2014aka laughing gas. The journal Science<\/em> once declared nitric oxide to be the \u201cmolecule of the year,\u201d and three scientists earned the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research on this substance. That\u2019s an impressive pedigree.<\/p>\n

Nitric oxide helps the body\u2019s cells talk with each other, and one of its functions is to tell the endothelial cells that line blood vessels to dilate or relax. Because of this property, nitric oxide plays a key role in maintaining normal blood pressure.<\/p>\n

Nitric oxide\u2019s nutritional precursors include the amino acid L-arginine,<\/em><\/strong> but dietary nitrate is also an often overlooked and excellent precursor. Through a series of steps, the body converts nitrate to nitric oxide.<\/p>\n

Many fruits and vegetables are good sources of nitrate, and there are significant amounts of nitrate in celery, lettuce, arugula, and spinach. But the hands-down richest source is beetroot and, in particular, beetroot juice and concentrate. (The juice is extracted from the red beetroots you cook with or use in salads, not the sugar beets used for making sucrose.)<\/p>\n

How to Lower Blood Pressure with Beetroot Juice<\/h2>\n

The studies on the benefits of beetroot juice and hypertension show remarkably consistent benefits. Researchers at Queen Mary University in London asked 68 people with hypertension to drink either 1 cup (150 mL) of nitrate-rich beetroot juice or nitrate-free beetroot juice daily. The drinks were switched so that everyone in the study eventually consumed both types of juice daily for two weeks.<\/p>\n

The researchers measured the subjects\u2019 blood pressure using three different techniques. All three techniques found a reduction in blood pressure among people drinking the beetroot juice with naturally occurring nitrate.<\/p>\n

See Also<\/em><\/strong> The Benefits of Beets<\/a><\/p>\n

A separate study by the same researchers involved giving 69 patients a cup of either nitrate-rich beetroot juice or beetroot juice without nitrate daily for six weeks. All of the subjects had elevated cholesterol levels. Using\u00a0ultrasound, researchers determined that the nitrate-rich beetroot juice led to a 24 percent improvement in blood vessel flexibility and tone. The subjects also had a slight decrease in blood clotting, another sign of improved cardiovascular health. These factors worsened in the placebo group.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, researchers at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands tested four nitrate-rich beverages on 11 men and seven women who were in their late 20s. All of the subjects were healthy, had normal blood pressure, and were physically active. The study consisted of a crossover design, so each subject consumed one of the beverages on one day over five weeks.<\/p>\n

The four drinks consisted of a concentrated beetroot juice (Beet It); a beverage made from fresh arugula; a beverage made from fresh spinach; and a beverage containing sodium nitrate. Each beverage contained 800 mg of nitrate.<\/p>\n

All of the drinks reduced diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) by several points after about two-and-one-half hours, with beetroot concentrate having the greatest effect\u20147.5 mm Hg lower\u2014and blood pressure remained lower for at least five hours. The drinks lowered systolic blood pressure (the upper number) from 3 to 6 mm Hg after the same time, except for the drink with sodium nitrate.<\/p>\n