KSU research attests to benefits of beetroot

MANHATTAN, Kansas — BEETROOT has been in the news again lately as winning Auburn University football team shares one of its pre-game rituals – consuming beetroot juice.

“Our research, published in the journal Physiology in 2013, has shown that the nitrate found in beetroot concentrate increases blood flow to skeletal muscles during exercise,” said David Poole, professor of exercise kinesiology and anatomy and physiology at Kansas State University.

Prof Poole, along with university colleagues, Scott Ferguson, doctoral student in anatomy and physiology; and Timothy Musch, professor of exercise kinesiology and anatomy and physiology, share the study, "Microvascular oxygen pressures in muscles comprised of different fibre types: Impact of dietary nitrate supplementation," in the Journal of Nitric Oxide, Biology and Chemistry. It offers the basis for how beetroot juice may help in preferentially increasing blood flow to fast-twitch muscle fibres — the ones used for explosive running in sports such as football.

In heart failure patients, beetroot juice can improve the quality of life as well. "It's a big deal because even if you can only increase oxygen delivery by 10%, that can be the difference between a patient being wheelchair-bound versus getting up and walking around and interacting with his or her family," Prof Poole said.

How does beetroot help?

Beetroot is a nutritious vegetable packed with nitrate.  The amount of nitrate in one 70mL bottle of beetroot juice is about the same amount found in 100 grams of spinach. "When consumed, nitrate is reduced in the mouth by bacteria into nitrite," Dr Ferguson said. "The nitrite is swallowed again and then reduced to nitric oxide, which is a potent vasodilator. The nitric oxide dilates the blood vessels, similar to turning on a water faucet, and allows blood to go where it needs to go."

Consuming beet root juice resulted in a 38% higher blood flow to the skeletal muscles during exercise and was preferential to the less-oxygenated, fast-twitch muscles.

"Heart failure is a disease where oxygen delivery to particular tissues, especially working skeletal muscles, is impaired, decreasing the capacity to move the arms or legs and be physically active," Prof Poole said. "The best therapy for these patients is getting up and moving around. However, that is often difficult. Increasing the oxygen delivery to these muscles through beetroot can provide a therapeutic avenue to improve the quality of life for these patients."

Clinical trials are currently underway, and Prof Poole and his team are working with Andrew Jones, professor of applied physiology at the University of Exeter in the UK. The research is funded by the National Institutes of Health.