Blood Pressure and Beetroot

According to a study from 2012, the consumption of beetroot juice lowers the blood pressure in healthy individuals. Two randomized placebo-controlled studies were conducted with people without blood pressure problems. Randomized means that the test subjects were randomly selected, and placebo-controlled means that there was a comparison group without the intake of beetroot juice. Blood pressure was measured in all individuals over a period of 24 hours after consumption. 18 test subjects received beetroot juice in different concentrations (0, 100, 250, and 500 g), while another 14 individuals received bread enriched with beetroot, bread with white beet, and control bread. The results showed that beetroot juice significantly lowers both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The breads enriched with beetroot or white beet also significantly lowered blood pressure, albeit to a lesser extent.

In another study, blood pressure was reduced by about 10 mmHg in healthy individuals three hours after consuming 500 ml of beetroot juice - simultaneously, the nitrite concentration in plasma increased.

It is actually the nitric oxide (NO) in beetroot that can have such a positive effect. It has a distinctly positive influence on numerous processes in the body: NO increases the oxygen content in the blood, causes the dilation of blood vessels, and thereby improves oxygen supply to the tissues. NO regulates the aggregation of platelets (thrombocytes) and thus reduces the risk of arteriosclerosis. And NO supports the immune system.

But the nitrite contained in beetroot is also of great importance. As early as the 1970s, F. Murad discovered the ability of organic nitrates to act as vasodilators. Another pharmacologist, R. F. Furchgott, found a factor in the inner lining of blood vessels that leads to a reduction in muscle tension in the vessel wall. At the end of the 1980s, this factor was simultaneously identified by Furchgott and L. J. Ignarro: it was NO. In 1998, these three researchers received the Nobel Prize for their findings that NO can play a crucial role in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and their consequences.

Shortly thereafter - already in 1999 - the gas INOmax was approved by the FDA in the USA. This is a mixture of various nitrogen oxides used to lower blood pressure in newborns with pulmonary hypertension (the lungs fail). NO is also used as a supportive measure in heart surgeries today.

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By Sabine Croci. This article is medically reviewed. Last updated (03/2024).
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Blood Pressure and Beetroot

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