Daily beetroot juice may reduce BP

A daily 8-oz glass of beetroot juice appears to reduce BP by 10 mm Hg, according to results of a small study published in Hypertension.

Eight women and seven men with systolic BP between 140 mm Hg and 159 mm Hg — who were not taking statins — drank 250 mL of beetroot juice or a matched volume of water containing a low nitrate. BP was monitored for 24 hours.

Low-dose beetroot juice (dietary nitrate) significantly lowered systolic and diastolic BP compared with the placebo control, according to researchers. The greatest reduction in systolic BP occurred between 3 and 6 hours after consumption, with the peak mean reduction of 11.2 mm Hg vs. 0.7 mm Hg in the control group. At 24 hours, systolic BP remained significantly lower than the control group and reduced from baseline, whereas diastolic BP remained lower in the dietary nitrate-treated limb up to 6 hours, with a peak mean decrease of 9.6 mm Hg, and returned to pretreatment levels after 24 hours.

“We have demonstrated that nitrite is more potent at reducing BP in hypertensive animals and patients than in normotensives,” researchers wrote. “Perhaps more importantly, we show that a dietary nitrate load (in the form of beetroot juice) at a dose that is easily achievable sufficiently elevates circulating plasma nitrite levels with resulting reductions in BP.”

For more information:

Ghosh SM. Hypertension. 2013;doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.00933.

Disclosure: Two researchers report being directors at Heartbeet Ltd.