stock photo

[Best Syndication] Researchers showed positive results from a study of drinking 500 ml of beetroot juice each day considerably reduced blood pressure. The study was first published in the current online edition of the American Heart Association journal Hypertension.

Why does beetroot juice work? The researchers believe that it is the ingestion of dietary nitrate that produces the reduction in blood pressure. Plant nitrates are also found in green, leafy vegetables. Other studies have suspected that a diet full of vegetables benefited by the amount of antioxidant and vitamin content.

The lead researcher, Professor Amrita Ahluwalia of the William Harvey Research Institute at Barts and The London School of Medicine, and Professor Ben Benjamin of Peninsula Medical School researched the aspect of plant nitrate in the reduction of blood pressure.

The participants were all had healthy blood pressure. After drinking the beetroot juice there was a blood pressure reduction after 1 hour and the peak reduction were seen at 3 – 4 hours after intake. The benefit lasted for up to 24 hours to some degree. The researchers found that the peak reduction of blood pressure matched up to the peak amounts of nitrite that was measured in the blood.

The nitrate in the juice is converted by saliva and the bacteria on in the mouth in to nitrite and nitric oxide. When a person swallows the saliva, it helps create a chemical of nitric oxide. The saliva contains nitrite.

The researchers had a group drink the beetroot juice and had them not swallow the saliva. Instead to these participants were to spit out all the saliva for the next 3 hours. This group did not see an increase in nitrite in their blood, nor did they see a reduction in blood pressure.

Professor Ahluwalia recommends that drinking beetroot juice and eating other nitrate rich vegetables can be one simple way to keep the cardiovascular system healthy.

By Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication News Writer

____________________________________
other information

Cardiovascular Disease: Treatments YouTube Video