Beetroot juice could help reduce high blood pressure
Beetroot juice could be the answer to lowering high blood pressure after new research found it brought it down just a few hours after drinking it.
More importantly, blood pressure remained lower up to 24 hours later.
The results will be particularly welcomed by people with high blood pressure who prefer to use natural products to control the condition. High blood pressure has been linked with cardiovascular disease - the world’s biggest killer - a cause of strokes and heart attacks.
The beetroot juice supplied by Beet It has a naturally high nitrate content. The research has clearly identified that this nitrate level is the reason it is so effective at lowering blood pressure.
Lawrence Mallinson, owner of James White, which produces Beet It, said: “The William Harvey Research Institute has led the way in beetroot juice from the start. And as producers of Beet It, we are proud to be their beetroot juice supplier. We are now supplying around 40 universities world wide with Beet It.”
This nitrate (NO3) converts into nitrite (NO2) though interaction with enzymes in saliva which can be stored in body tissues where is can be reduced further to Nitric Oxide (NO) in the blood system. Nitric oxide is a signaling molecule that widens blood vessels, increasing blood flow and so reducing blood pressure. This also increases the blood supply and thereby oxygen supply to the muscles enabling them to work more efficiently.
Beetroot juice has already been attracting a lot of attention from the sports world as Boris Johnson discovered to his surprise when congratulating David Weir, winner of the Paralympic marathon and 4 gold medal winner. In fact many medal winners from many nations were powered by “nothing more sinister than” little shots of concentrated beetroot juice.
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