Beetroot juice for high blood pressure

Posted on Sun, 20 Jan 13

Beetroot juice could be the anti-hypertensive medicine of the future with increasing evidence suggesting it is an effective way to lower blood pressure.

A number of studies have demonstrated a blood pressure lowering effect of beetroot. The effect is thought to be in part because beetroot contains nitrate, a substance used to make nitric oxide, which enables your blood vessels to relax and reduce the pressure.

Most studies have been tightly controlled with a low nitrate diet so a recent report set out to see if beetroot juice was still effective without any dietary change.

The study found that a single dose of 500 g of beetroot and apple juice lowered blood pressure by 4–5 mmHg. This magnitude of reduction is very impressive and would translate to a significant reduction in cardiovascular death at the population level.

Reference:

Coles LT, Clifton PM. Effect of beetroot juice on lowering blood pressure in free-living, disease-free adults: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Nutr J. 2012 Dec 11;11(1):106.