Rich in salt nitrate to help lower blood pressure! Why beetroot should be in your plate? Professor said

I posted celery juice on 2025-6-21 to lower blood pressure. Reader Meara responded quickly:

Please ask the teacher, is beetroot (juice) also helpful for lowering blood pressure?

The article sent by Meara was published by a nutritionist from the mainland. He said: A very special part of beetroot is — — the salt nitrate content is very rich. What is the effect of nitric acid salt? Dietary salt nitrate can be converted into nitric oxide through a series of paths in our body, which helps to expand blood vessels and reduce blood pressure.

In Taiwan, salt nitrate is considered as a poison. On TV, you can often see "experts" promoting how terrible nitric acid is. For example, please see my post:

2023-9-25: Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue causes cancer, Health 2.0 host spreads errors Health information

2024-8-25: "Non-toxic Godmother" said that a bayou can relieve the toxicity of 18 fragrant kidneys

In fact, as early as 2017, I published a Chinese commentary: New Year's dishes may cause cancer, and reject the argument that "salt nitrate causes cancer". Is salt nitric acid published in 2019 a carcinogenic? The error will be a big deal, and I further pointed out:

1. Our saliva contains a lot of "a nitric acid", which is very important to our health

2. "a nitric acid" and "a nitric acid" from food are considered healthy. (Note: "Nitrate" and "Asia Nitrate" will transform each other through oxidation and reduction)

3. Studies have shown that "Nitrate" or "Asia Nitrate" can be used to treat heart failure. In other words, the toxic drugs in the rumors may be good medicine.

What is ridiculous is that in 2022, Taiwan's news media actually reported the so-called "reverse discovery". However, I had published "reverse discovery" three years earlier than Yangming Jiaotong. Please see that nitric acid can prevent cardiovascular diseases. Can Yangming Jiaotong University reverse detection? .

No matter what, the salt of nitrate contained in beetroot juice can lower blood pressure, which was reported scientifically as early as 2008. After about 3 hours after the willful person drank 500cc beetroot juice, the blood pressure decreased by about 10. mmHg, which should be related to the increase in the peak concentration of nitric acid. See Acute blood pressure lowering, vasoprotective, and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate via bioconversion to nitrite.

A systematic review paper published in 2013 made this conclusion: "The extraction of organic nitrolate and beetroot juice is related to a significant reduction in contraction pressure." Please see Inorganic nitrate and beetroot juice supplementation reduces blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

A systematic review article published in 2018 also made the conclusion: "Beetroot juice should be promoted as an important part of healthy life to control blood pressure in patients with hypertension." Please see Dietary Nitrate from Beetroot Juice for Hypertension: A Systematic Review (The impact of dietary salt nitrate in beetroot juice on hypertension: Systematic evaluation)

Subsequent studies found that besides salt nitrate, beetroot also contains phytochemicals that can help lower blood pressure, such as betaining betanin, saponins, and polyphenols. Please see Beetroot, a Remarkable Vegetable: Its Nitrate and Phytochemical Contents Can be adjusted in Novel Formulations to Benefit Health and Support Cardiovascular Disease Therapies, published in 2020, a Remarkable Vegetable: Its Nitrate and Phytochemical Contents Can be adjusted in Novel Formulations to Benefit Health and Support Cardiovascular Disease Therapies.

A systematic review paper published in 2022 found that beetroot juice can reduce contraction pressure, but cannot reduce relief pressure. See Nitrate Derived From Beetroot Juice Lowers Blood Pressure in Patients With Arterial Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The American Career Association published Give me a beet: Why this root vegetable should be on your plate on 2023-2-22. It says:

1. Beet is rich in salt nitrate, and studies have shown that it can improve cardiovascular health in many aspects.

2. Beets also contain antioxidants, compounds in this food help repair DNA and maintain good cell health, and have anti-inflammatory properties that reduce the risk of a variety of chronic diseases.

3. Beets are low-fat and high-fiber. Half a cup of cooked beets contain 0.15 grams of fat and 1.7 grams of veget. Beets are rich in vitamin C, A and K, which helps bone health, and are also rich in group B vitamins, which can prevent dementia and memory reduction by improving blood circulation in the brain.

4. Beets are also rich in leaf acid, which is important for healthy cell growth and red blood cell formation. Half a cup of cooked beets contain 68 micrograms of leaf acid, which provides 17% of the daily required.

Finally, I provide another health benefit of nitric acid, that is, nitric acid taken from vegetables may not only reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, but also seems to reduce the risk of senile plaque disease. Please see the correlation between the intake of salt nitrate and the changes in senile plaque.

Original text: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure, relieves denitrite

Responsible editor: Gu Zihuan