In a new study, researchers found that in people aged 70-80, drinking beetroot juice promotes a mix of mouth bacteria associated with healthier blood vessels and brain function.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Exeter.
Beetroot—and other foods including lettuce, spinach and celery—are rich in inorganic nitrate, and many oral bacteria play a role in turning nitrate into nitric oxide, which helps to regulate blood vessels and neurotransmission (chemical messages in the brain).
Older people tend to have lower nitric oxide production, and this is associated with poorer vascular (blood vessel) and cognitive (brain) health.
In the study, 26 healthy older people took part in two ten-day supplementation periods: one with nitrate-rich beetroot juice and another with nitrate-free placebo juice, which they drank twice a day.
The results showed higher levels of bacteria linked to good vascular and cognitive health, and lower levels of bacteria linked to disease and inflammation.
Systolic blood pressure dropped on average by five points (mmHg) after drinking the beetroot juice.
Previous studies have compared the oral bacteria of young and older people, and healthy people compared to those with diseases, but ours is the first to test a nitrate-rich diet in this way.
The findings suggest that adding nitrate-rich foods to the diet—in this case via beetroot juice—for just ten days can substantially alter the oral microbiome (mix of bacteria) for the better.
Maintaining this healthy oral microbiome in the long term might slow down the negative vascular and cognitive changes associated with aging.
The team stressed that more research is needed to confirm the findings and see whether similar effects are found in other groups.
The study is published in Redox Biology. One author of the study is Professor Anni Vanhatalo.
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