Beet juice can drop systolic blood pressure within hours of a single glass. Trials find that daily intake keeps the effect going.
A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases pooled randomized trials in people with hypertension. It reported a significant reduction in clinical systolic blood pressure that held up to 90 days of daily beet juice.
The average reduction was 5.31 mmHg lower than placebo, and the effect was strongest on the clinical measurement rather than 24-hour ambulatory readings.
A separate 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis of seven randomized trials in 218 hypertensive patients found a very similar signal. Across those trials, nitrate-rich beetroot juice cut systolic blood pressure by 4.95 mmHg on average.
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The pathway from beet to blood vessel
The active ingredient is inorganic nitrate. Bacteria on the tongue reduce nitrate to nitrite, and the bloodstream then converts nitrite to nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide relaxes the smooth muscle in artery walls. Vessels widen, resistance drops and the heart pushes blood through with less force.
Why the effect can show up in hours
In a placebo-controlled crossover study of healthy older adults, 140 mL of nitrate-rich beetroot juice cut systolic blood pressure by roughly 7.9 mmHg three hours after the drink. Diastolic pressure fell by about 5.7 mmHg.
Blood pressure had returned to baseline six hours after the glass. That short duration is why researchers test daily intake rather than one-off doses.
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What it means for readers with high blood pressure
The CDC reports that 48.1 percent of American adults, or 119.9 million people, have high blood pressure, defined as a systolic reading over 130 mmHg or a diastolic reading over 80 mmHg. About one in four have the condition under control.
The 2024 meta-analysis authors cautioned that the evidence does not yet support a prolonged 24-hour reduction. Diastolic pressure did not fall significantly in the pooled trials either.
Beetroot juice is not a replacement for prescribed treatment. Anyone with hypertension should talk to a doctor before making changes to their regimen.
Age changes the response
The body's own ability to reduce nitrate to nitric oxide declines over the decades. An Exeter trial we covered earlier traced part of that shift to changes in the oral bacteria that drive the first step of the conversion.
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Antibacterial mouthwash can blunt the effect for the same reason, because it strips away the tongue bacteria the pathway depends on.
Doses in the trials ranged from 70 to 250 mL a day. The strongest effect came from a trial using 250 mL, roughly one cup, daily for four weeks.
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This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.