The Nutrient You Need but Probably Don’t Know About
Nutrition and biochemistry form two sides of the same coin: our diet provides the raw materials for complex biochemicals that form the structure of the body and the myriad substances that enable it to function.
One particular biochemical is nitric oxide, not to be confused with nitrous oxide, or so-called laughing gas. Back in 1992, the journal Science declared nitric oxide to be the “molecule of the year.” Six years later, three scientists earned the Nobel Prize for their research on nitric oxide.
The story, like almost everything that occurs in nutritional biochemistry, follows a series of steps. Cells “talk” with each other, and nitric oxide functions as a key cell-communication molecule. It signals endothelial cells lining blood vessels to dilate, or relax. Because of this property, nitric oxide plays a key role in maintaining normal blood pressure.
Nitric oxide’s nutritional precursors are the amino acid L-arginine, and the body can make some L-arginine from L-citrulline. But an excellent and often overlooked source is dietary nitrate. The body converts nitrate to nitrite, which is then converted to nitric oxide.
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.)
How to “Beet” Hypertension
The studies on the benefits of beetroot juice and blood pressure show remarkably consistent benefits. Amrita Ahluwalia, PhD., of Queen Mary University, London, and her colleagues asked 68 people with hypertension to drink either one cup (150 ml) of nitrate-rich beetroot juice or nitrate-free beetroot juice daily. The drinks were switched so everyone in the study eventually consumed both types of juice for two weeks.
The researchers measured the subjects’ 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.
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 ultrasound, researchers determined that the nitrate-rich beetroot juice led to a 24 percent improvement in blood vessel flexibility and tone, technically known as endothelial function. The subjects also had a slight decrease in blood clotting, another sign of improved cardiovascular health, and an improvement in aortic pulse wave velocity, both signs of improved cardiovascular risk. These factors worsened in the placebo group.
Reducing Glaucoma Risk
Harvard medical researchers recently reported that eating nitrate-rich vegetables can lower the risk of primary open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of the disease.
Jae H. Kang, ScD, and her colleagues analyzed health data that had been collected every two years, starting in the mid-1980s and continuing through 2012, and that included 63,893 female nurses and 41,094 male physicians as study subjects. She reported that people with the highest daily intake of nitrate—approximately 240 mg, mostly from leafy green vegetables—had a 21 percent lower risk of open-angle glaucoma and a 44 percent lower risk of glaucoma with the early stages of vision loss.
Boosting Athletic Performance
Finally, Michael J. Berry, Ph.D. of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and his colleagues tested the effects of beetroot juice on 15 people diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The juice substantially increased blood levels of nitrate and nitrite.
Studies conducted in Europe show that concentrated beetroot improves exercise performance and increases tolerance to high-intensity exercise. The studies involved “recreationally fit” athletes and elite athletes training under controlled conditions, such as cycling or running on a treadmill in an exercise laboratory.
The dietary nitrate in beetroot works in a couple of different ways. First, it enables blood vessels to flex (instead of remaining stiff) under pressure. Second, the nitrate enables athletes to use less oxygen while exercising at the same intensity. This makes “exercise seem easier, and it should be possible to continue it for longer,” says Andrew M. Jones, Ph.D., a professor and exercise physiologist at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
These studies have found that blood nitrate levels peak two to three hours after consuming beetroot, and that levels remain elevated for six to nine hours. That means the key is to drink beetroot juice three hours before exercising, and to have it daily to maintain higher blood levels of nitrate, according to Jones. The juice also led to significant reductions in post-exercise and resting blood pressure.
How to Use Beetroot Juice
Most blood pressure studies have used 180 g (6.35 oz.) of beetroot juice daily, although more might be helpful to some people. (Beet juice can cause nausea and vomiting, so this amount should be spread over the course of the day in 2–3 doses.) A beneficial effect on blood pressure should be apparent within 10 days.
Please note that the juice may turn your urine pink, but this is a superficial, not harmful, side effect.
The Nutrition Reporter, Jack Challem, August 31, 2016.
God has freely given us life giving, nutrient abundant vegetables, fruits, juices for building, repairing, rejuvenating, and healing of blood and cells. Consuming a diet rich in nutrition can prevent and even reverse disease conditions. Let each eat and drink that which will offer radiant, energetic and truly optimal health.