Grapefruit juice can enhance beetroot’s blood blood-pressure-lowering effects

Credit: Unsplash+

Study Background

A recent study conducted by researchers from King’s College London has found that grapefruit juice could potentially enhance the blood pressure-lowering properties of beetroot juice.

This discovery comes at a time when dietary interventions for managing blood pressure are more crucial than ever.

Beetroot and Grapefruit: Health Powerhouses

Beets are rich in folate and nitrates which play a significant role in controlling damage to blood vessels, reducing the risk of heart disease, and relaxing and widening blood vessels to lower blood pressure.

On the other hand, grapefruit is a low-calorie fruit, rich in vitamins A and C, and has low glycemic index impact. Its combination of fiber, potassium, lycopene, vitamin C, and choline all contribute to heart health.

Research Findings

The research aimed to investigate if grapefruit juice could enhance beetroot juice’s ability to lower blood pressure by maintaining circulating nitrite.

The study involved 11 healthy volunteers who were administered with a 70-mL shot of active beetroot juice (Beet-It) and 250 mL grapefruit juice, active beetroot juice with 250 mL water, or a placebo with no beetroot juice and grapefruit juice.

Results demonstrated that the addition of grapefruit juice to active beetroot juice resulted in lowered systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure compared with beetroot juice plus water.

Five hours after drinking beetroot juice and grapefruit juice, participants’ systolic blood pressure decreased by 3.3 mmHg, while two and a half hours after drinking the juice blend, participants’ systolic blood pressure decreased by 4.2 mmHg.

Conclusions and Limitations

The study concluded that grapefruit juice enhanced the effects of beetroot juice on lowering systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure despite reducing the nitrite level in the blood.

The findings provide promising evidence that grapefruit juice could enhance the benefits of beetroot juice on blood pressure, despite the study’s limitation of a small sample size.

The researchers, however, caution that grapefruit juice can interact with certain medications, so individuals should consult their doctors before consuming large amounts of it.

Dietary Recommendations for Blood Pressure Management

The study reinforces the importance of diet in managing blood pressure.

Recommendations for blood pressure management include increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables, reducing salt intake, eating whole grains, choosing lean protein sources, and considering the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, which emphasizes nutrient-dense foods while limiting salt, saturated and trans fats, and added sugars.

If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about a safe and more effective way to treat high blood pressure, and many people with high blood pressure may take a drug making it worse.

For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.

The research is published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and was conducted by Kevin O’Gallagher et al.

Copyright © 2023 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.