- Daily glass of beetroot juice could reduce harmful inflammation.
- Nitrate juice restores the function of the endothelium, the cells that line the inside of all blood vessels.
- The University of Aberdeen also found changes in brain activity in areas known to control the beating of the heart.
Research suggests a daily glass of beetroot juice reduces harmful inflammation by boosting nitric oxide levels, according to an article published in The Guardian.
Reduction in Inflammation
Beetroot juice has been proved useful in reducing inflammation.
“Inflammation is vital to protect the body from injury and infection,” said Dr Asad Shabbir, clinical research fellow at Queen Mary University of London, which led the research. “However, in people with coronary heart disease persistent inflammation can exacerbate the furring of the arteries, making their condition worse and increasing their risk of a heart attack.”
“Our research suggests that a daily glass of beetroot juice could be one way to get inorganic nitrate into our diet to help to interrupt harmful inflammation.”
Increase in nitric oxide
People with coronary heart disease have lower levels of nitric oxide, which is produced naturally by the body and is vital for good health. In addition to its role in regulating blood pressure, it has important anti-inflammatory effects. Increase in Nitric Oxide level.
Researchers investigated whether a daily beetroot juice high in inorganic nitrate would increase levels of nitric oxide, and whether this would affect inflammation.
The Investigation
A team studied 114 healthy volunteers. Of those, 78 received a typhoid vaccine to temporarily increase inflammation in their blood vessels and 36 were given a cream to create a small blister on their skin and produce more localized inflammation.
The volunteers drank 140ml of beetroot juice every morning for seven days. Half drank juice high in nitrate while the other half drank juice that had the nitrate removed.
The Result
In the group given the typhoid vaccine, those who drank the nitrate-rich beetroot juice had higher levels of markers of nitric oxide in their blood, urine, and saliva compared with those that consumed the juice with the nitrate removed.
The researchers believe the increased levels of nitric oxide helped to speed up how quickly the volunteers were able to recover from inflammation by switching key immune cells from a state that promotes inflammation to a more anti-inflammatory state. They suggest this could have benefits for millions of people with coronary heart disease.
“This research suggests that increasing the level of inorganic nitrate in your diet could help to reduce inflammation in your body,” said Prof James Leiper, the BHF associate medical director. “We know that inflammation plays an important role in the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases and therefore interventions that can dampen inflammation have potential as future treatments to tackle this.”
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Source: The Guardian
