Can beetroot juice or supplements lower blood pressure or improve exercise performance, and are they safe?

Answer:

Beetroot juice (also called beet juice) may modestly lower blood pressure, although it does not seem to help people with hypertension already treated with medication.

Nitrate in beetroot can also increase blood flow to muscles, but the evidence is mixed as to whether beetroot juice improves physical performance. At best, it modestly improves some aspects of exercise endurance or performance, especially in people who are not trained athletes and when the exercise is more physically challenging than to what one is accustomed.

The effects of beetroot juice are likely due to nitrate in beetroot, which is converted by the body to the vasodilator nitric oxide. It is unclear if all beetroot supplements provide these effects, as they contain varying and often low amounts of nitrate.

Sign in as a member to learn more, including the amounts of nitrate in beetroot products, including Beetroot Pro Beet Powder Extract, Force Factor Total Beets Original Powder, Lakewood Organic Beetroot Juice, Knudsen and Sons, Ginger Beet Juice, Sport ProElite Shot, Beet It Organic Beetroot Shot, Beet It Sport, Beet Performer with Passion Fruit, Love Beets, PureClean Powder, Red Rush, BeetElite, Beet-Power, and Redibeets. Also learn the best way to store beetroot juice to preserve its nitrate content, and about its safety and potential side effects (including methemoglobinemia, a very rare but potentially fatal condition).

(For information about the cardiovascular and/or exercise performance-enhancing effects of other supplements that may increase the body's production of nitric oxide, see our L-Citrulline and L-Arginine Reviews, as well as our article about hesperidin.)