ZippyThePinhead

Someone sent this article about how beet juice taken before exercise makes aging brains act younger.

I've never taken a beet juice supplement before, but I do have hypertension and I'm thinking to try it before a ride. The same friend who sent the article gave me some capsules (500 mg), but I searched and found a few comments from others who affirm the benefits, so I was wondering what you beet root aficionados do to get your beet juice? Can one get legit beet juice without breaking the bank, or are extract capsules the way to go?

mwalsh5757

Just don't say it three times! "Beet Juice, Beet Juice, Beet Juice!"

Shimagnolo

NYMXer

beet juice w some avc helps for BP, so will magnesium supplements.

DaveQ24

avc? Apple cider vinegar?

NYMXer

Yes. You can add lemon juice for taste or real maple syrup or honey for energy also.

Carbonfiberboy 

If you want to go cheap, potassium nitrate works just fine. Food grade, scant 1/4 t. is the dose. Yep, it's saltpeter.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20585108
Both the potassium and nitrate are known to lower blood pressure. The nitrate becomes nitric oxide, which relaxes arterial walls, thus increasing blood flow and reducing back pressure.

rm512

I either juice fresh beets or stir up some superbeets powder. Both forms really give me an energy boost.

JohnJ80

Better work because it's, well, beet juice.

ZippyThePinhead

Interesting. May I ask if you have medical training?

I only read the abstract from the one you linked, but it states "Whether inorganic nitrate underlies these effects and whether the effects of either naturally occurring dietary nitrate or inorganic nitrate supplementation are dose dependent remain uncertain." Of course, 'these effects' are a reduction in blood pressure, no?

I'm not from a medical background, nor am I a frequent reader of medical journals, but from my man-on-the-street perspective it seems that it's often easy to find possibly contradictory studies. That site suggests several keyword-related studies, including one from which the abstract states "An increase in dietary nitrate intake may not be an effective short-term approach to further lower blood pressure in treated hypertensive subjects." But the article in the OP describes exercise benefits of beet juice intake; collateral benefits would be icing on the cake. Unless I am misunderstanding, it would seem research supports the article in the OP; a review of various studies shows:
As I understand it, the endothelial function that study refers to is, in essence, improved circulation?

That superbeets stuff is spendy. The stuff I got is cheaper.

Carbonfiberboy 

No, no medical training, just an interest in researching exercise physiology and testing it on myself.

It could very well be that if one is being treated with hypertension drugs, nitrate supplementation may not be noticeable against the much larger effect of the drugs.

Scientists usually hedge their research findings. A good place to learn and sort out confusion about supplements is: https://examine.com/supplements/nitrate/
You can search it for any supplement about which you are curious. Studies are listed at the bottom of each page, in the case of nitrate, it's 235 studies. Reading studies is a great way to learn about how stuff works.

The "endothelial function" is, in the case of nitric oxide, simply the relaxation of the arterial walls. Think of it like a python eating a pig. Flexible arterial walls allow a high volume of blood produced by an exerciser's heart to move through these blood vessels more easily. I ride bikes with a PhD physiologist who worked with exercising dogs for many years, trying to find the mechanism that causes nitric oxide to be released and the source of the chemical. Nitric oxide levels are greater in trained athletes, even without supplementation.

BTW nitrate supplementation doesn't seem to increase power or energy, anything like that. I doubt that it's noticeable at all except for perhaps a slight improvement in high output endurance, but no more than having a good day. But having a good day every day would be nice.

It's well known that in sedentary individuals, nitric oxide production falls off with age. However in life-long athletes this does not seem to be the case or perhaps falls off much more slowly.

And as I always say, training is the hammer, supplements are a feather.

I bought a pound of potassium nitrate for $27. That's maybe a year's supply, depending on how frequently one uses it.

ModeratedUser17082018

Does anyone think I can get the benefit just from eating the beets in jars found in grocery stores? I tried eating raw beets but they are hard hard hard. I've never found beet juice in stores around here. Looking for ideas on how to get beets into me. I'd like to add some of this endothelial function .

NYMXer

You need to cook them, boiling is the most common method I think. I've never found ready to drink beet juice either, but there are crystals or throw them in a blender.
Again, I think for maximum benefit, add ACV. Magnesium supplements also help.

FBOATSB

In my experience, some vegetables should be eaten raw for full nutritional benefit and the nitrates spoken of here are also readily available in veggies like spinach, radish, celery, lettuce, etc. I eat beets raw just fine cut up small in a salad of turnip, carrot, radish, celery, onion, etc on a bed of baby spinach with a splash of vinegar and oil. Just be prepared for the dark reddish colored "outcome" of beets in your diet.

DaveQ24

Raw beets shred pretty easily in a food processor or on a grater. No worse than other hard root vegetables.

Golden and white beets are in some grocery stores and produce markets - less mess without the staining red pigment. Woukd they offer the benefits? Dunno.

ZippyThePinhead

I take a pretty low dose of an ACE inhibitor. I'll ask my GP-- I think he's a vegan, or at any rate a believer in a diet which is primarily plant-based-- what he thinks about the beet juice/beet supplement idea.

Very interesting site. Appreciate the link. I'm wary of oversupplementing, though I do take some, mainly for convenience. I like to make sure I have a reason for taking a supplement before getting on the bandwagon. One that I take is resveratrol, about 1200 mg/day. Not quite cheap in the form of a supplement, but you'd have to drink an awful lot of pinot noir to get that much, which is even more expensive, and not just in dollars.

I agree that most hedge their research findings. Most studies have small samples, as well, like this one regarding the benefits of resveratrol in older athletes.

I buy my protein shakes in part on the basis of how much potassium they deliver, but IME mentioning potassium supplementation makes doctors nervous. I'd wager my GP would advocate for naturally-occurring supplementation-- eating more beets, or home-made beet juice-- before he'd advocate for supplementation, especially in the form of potassium nitrate. Did your riding buddy suggest the potassium nitrate? Or was it your idea? LOL, wasn't there an urban myth about putting saltpeter in food to lower the sex drive of inmates or something like that?

May I ask, what is the reason behind the cider vinegar?

I have to look into this more. I do have a juicer, so that's an option, but I agree it is probably better to eat them whole. It is my understanding the juicer can add collateral damage in the form of extracted sugars; for example, eating whole carrots is better than drinking carrot juice, which has a higher concentration of sugars. Could this be a problem with beets?

Carbonfiberboy 

I tried reveratrol for about a year, noticed no difference at all, stopped it. Noticed no difference upon stopping it. I think the difference is that a well-trained endurance athlete has plenty of mitochondria and other force production adaptations. Studies done on the sedentary are seldom applicable to what we do. I've taken other supplements touted as being able to increase mitochondrial density, also with no result. Intervals are how you increase mitochondrial density and improve force production. Like I said, the hammer. Obviously works, big time.

I read a study where they used potassium nitrate on one of the groups, similar result to those who used beet juice with the nitrate quantities controlled to be the same. Plus no calling 911 about the toilet contents. My wife did once call her doctor. Yes, there are barracks and private school myths about saltpeter as well as other substances. But they are, as you say, myths. If anything, saltpeter would enhance performance.

ZippyThePinhead

Regarding the saltpeter study, I'll search for that. When I get an answer from my GP, I'll share, but it could be a week or two, as I'm seeing him in June and he may elect to respond verbally. Regarding the resveratrol, I was off and on. An acquaintance of mine is a pharmacology proffie, and according to her the research on the benefits of resveratrol with blood glucose levels and amyloid plaque is well-accepted, and since both of those are of interest to me (family genetics), I'm on right now.

Regarding the beet juice, I found a few resources:

Runner's World: Beet Juice, How Much and When?

Training Peaks: Using Beet Juice to Improve Performance

Looks like the study cited by both is this one.

I'll hit up a local market today to see if I can find some concentrated beet juice.

Dan Burkhart 

Never heard of this, but have heard of beet juice used as a highway de icer. maybe the next all purpose miracle substance.

alathIN

Costco has packages of pre-cooked organic beets with no additives - most packaged beets have a lot of added sugar, which admittedly helps them go down much easier
I like the plain Costco ones pretty well. You can chunk them up and put them in a salad, or just slice and salt them and eat them raw.

Carbonfiberboy 

Love to see the study(ies) on resveratrol that had those results. I discontinued taking it a few years ago and undoubtedly there's new info out there. All I've been able to find is equivocal studies which showed that 2g ($2/dose!) was well tolerated but had no measurable positive effect. Brain volume decreased, whatever that means.

Here's a link to many links on the NO3 issue: Inorganic Nitrate and Beetroot Juice Supplementation Reduces Blood Pressure in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

I noticed that study results indicated that daily nitrate supplementation produced better results than only before exercise supplementation. I wasn't aware of that.