Although its taste is not liked by everyone, beetroot juice has been shown to have many health benefits.
One big health benefit is protecting the heart. Recent research has shown that drinking beetroot juice can benefit heart disease patients.
For example, one study from Indiana University showed drinking beetroot juice could help improve exercise capacity in patients with heart failure.
In the study, 8 heart failure patients drank beetroot juice before exercise. Because of their disease, their heart pumped insufficient oxygen-rich blood to the body, and they had to used more energy in the exercise.
The researchers found that beetroot juice strongly increased the patients exercise duration and oxygen uptake during exercise.
Another study from Wake Forest University shows that beetroot juice can also help improve blood pressure in people who have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
This disease a recently recognized heart condition that reflects how the left ventricle of the heart pumps with each beat.
It occurs primarily in older women and is the dominant form of heart failure, as well as the most rapidly increasing cardiovascular disorder in this country.
People with this disease usually show exercise intolerance, which includes shortness of breath and fatigue with normal amounts of exertion.
Researchers think it is partly due to insufficient oxygen delivery to active skeletal muscles.
In the study, 19 people with heart failure drank a daily dose of beetroot juice for 7 days, and the researchers measured their endurance and blood pressure before and after the juice treatment.
The result showed that daily dosing of beetroot juice improved aerobic endurance by 24 percent after one week.
In addition, drinking beetroot juice significantly reduced resting systolic blood pressure by 5 to 10 mmHg.
Why does beetroot juice have this health benefit?
The researchers explain that beets contain a high level of dietary nitrate, which is converted to nitrite and then nitric oxide (NO) when consumed.
NO increases blood flow in the body, and multiple studies have shown it can improve exercise performance in people with different ages.
The researchers said “these initial findings suggest that one week of daily beetroot juice could be a potential therapeutic option to improve aerobic endurance in patients with heart failure, which has implications for improving everyday activities and quality of life.”
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