A Cup of Beetroot Juice a Day Lowers Blood Pressure

A latest study published in the American Heart Association Journal Hypertensions shows a strong association between beetroot juice and blood pressure.

According to the study, drinking 8 ounces of beetroot juice daily reduces blood pressure by 10mm Hg thereby improving the cardiovascular health. The initial findings don't yet suggest that supplementing your diet with beet root juice benefits your health.

The researchers state that the beetroot juice has about 0.2g of dietary nitrate. The same level is also found in a large bowl of lettuce or even two beetroots. This nitrate in the body gets converted to nitrite and then to nitric oxide. This nitric oxide gas plays an important role in widening blood vessels and improving blood flow.

"We were surprised by how little nitrate was needed to see such a large effect. This study shows that compared to individuals with healthy blood pressure much less nitrate is needed to produce the kinds of decreases in blood pressure that might provide clinical benefits in people who need to lower their blood pressure. However, we are still uncertain as to whether this effect is maintained in the long term," Amrita Ahluwalia, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a professor of vascular pharmacology at The Barts and The London Medical School in London, said in a press statement.

In order to prove the hypothesis, the study was conducted on eight women and seven men who had a systolic blood pressure that ranged between 140-159 millimeters of mercury.  These subjects did not have any other medical complication and were not taking any medication for blood pressure.

The researchers made the participants drink 250 mL of beetroot juice or water containing low amount of nitrate after which their blood pressure was monitored. Compared to the control group, those subjects who had beetroot juice had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. This remained the same even when the nitrite circulating in the blood returned to the previous levels prior to drinking beetroot. The effect of drinking beetroot juice was more distinct after three to six hours.

According to the researchers, consuming vegetables that are rich in dietary nitrate and other critical nutrients is the most accessible and inexpensive way to control blood pressure.