Beetroot Juice- natural remedy for high blood pressure

There definitely has been a lot written recently about beetroot juice, the stuff is having its 15 minutes of fame and quite deservedly too. I first came across an article in the spring, it said that beetroot juice boosts stamina; a UK study led by a team at Exeter University had found quite startling results from their test group. They had studied a group of men and tested for their times on a bicycle prior to being put into either a placebo group or the beetroot juice quaffing bunch. Then after a week the guys were retested for their times. Of course they could have just used regular sports supplements to boost their performance but thus was about finding out if there was a natural way to better results.

The placebo group were given blackcurrant juice to drink daily and the others were given beetroot juice, they were asked to drink 500ml daily and the effects were observed. I have to say that half a litre of beetroot juice is quite hefty work no matter how tasty or organic it is. Even so, it’s all worth it when the results really are very clear.

The beetroot drinking bingers showed a staggering decrease of 19% in their VO2 max, basically meaning that they were able to ride for longer before exhaustion.

The group drank 500ml daily for 7 days to achieve these results however after the first 24 hour period it was evident that it was a high blood pressure cure as there was a reduction in their resting heart rate. High blood pressure (hypertension) can put you at risk of heart disease and stroke, studies are showing that not only can beetroot juice be useful in endurance sporting events but also in helping to improve people circulatory health.

But don’t think that beetroot juice is not for you, either because you’re not an athlete or don’t have high blood pressure. All of us could do well to include more beets in our diet, whether that is by eating them in their natural form in regular meals, or as a healthy drink like Biotta Beetroot Juice or indeed as beetroot supplements such as Redibeets. If we are lucky to not have high blood pressure now, it is very likely that at some point in our future we will develop it so I see beetroot juice as a natural drinks remedy to be taken as a preventative of a high blood pressure diet.

It is believed that the culprits for such results or perhaps little angels are the nitrates found in the beets. The inorganic nitrate is converted into a gas through the process of digestion and it is this gas which in turn makes it possible for the blood vessels to stay open which therefore will reduce high blood pressure by keeping the blood vessels relaxed and open.

I took beetroot juice for 8 days before an event and I will swear by the results, I felt really good after actually quite appalling spring training. I will defiantly use beets as sports supplement in future. Also my grandfather has been asking about it as he is reliant on oxygen from a canister, so we’ll see how he gets on.