Can Beetroot Juice Help You Exercise Longer?
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Is your exercise routine leaving you feeling fatigued? Find out how beetroot may enhance your workout and help you keep moving for just that little bit longer.
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- Can Beetroot Juice Help You Exercise Longer?
If you’re looking for a boost to your workout, you may just find it in a glass of beetroot juice.
Previous research on beetroot juice has suggested that it has beneficial effects on heart health and endurance over short periods of time.
How beetroot juice may boost your endurance
With this in mind, researchers in Korea set out to investigate if these benefits could be seen with a more regular intake of beetroot juice over a longer period of time.
The double-blind crossover study involved 14 young healthy adult men who were randomly assigned to drink 70 ml of nitrate-containing beetroot juice or the same amount of nitrate-depleted beetroot juice for 15 days. A wash-out period of two weeks followed this before the men crossed over to the other group.
What they found was that, regular consumption of beetroot juice that contains nitrates increases plasma nitric oxide levels, improves oxygenation and reduces the load on the heart- so that you can exercise for longer before getting fatigued.
The study authors conclude,"These findings suggest that beetroot juice can act as a dietary ergogenic supplement capabale of enhancing oxygen delivery and reducing work of the heart, allowing exercise to be performed at a given workload for a longer period of time before the onset of fatigue."
Are you too tired to exercise?
What are nitrates and nitric oxide?
Nitric oxide is a signalling molecule with many functions in the body, including blood flow regulation, energy production and muscle contraction. Dietary nitrates, like those found in beetroot, are converted into nitric oxide in the body.Energy-boosting beetroot juices
Make your own beetroot juice combinations:- Beetroot, pear, cucumber, mint
- Beetroot, celery, carrot, apple, ginger
- Beetroot, blueberries, watermelon, cinnamon
Source: Lee JS et al. Effects of chronic dietary nitrate supplementation on the hemodynamic resonse to dynamic exercise. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol (17 June 2015) doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00099.2015
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