Research paper
Inorganic nitrate and beetroot juice supplementation reduces blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Study answer
What this study found
Overall, inorganic nitrate and beetroot juice supplementation reduced systolic blood pressure, while the effect on diastolic blood pressure was smaller and less consistent. Pooled systolic BP decreased by 4.4 mm Hg (95% CI 5.9 to 2.8; P < 0.001), whereas diastolic BP decreased by 1.1 mm Hg (95% CI 2.2 to 0.1; P = 0.06). Beetroot juice and inorganic nitrate showed similar systolic BP effects, with reductions of 4.5 mm Hg and 4.2 mm Hg, respectively; diastolic effects were not significant for either intervention. Higher daily inorganic nitrate dose appeared to be associated with greater…
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of 16 randomized clinical trials including 254 adults with crossover designs.
- Intervention
- Oral beetroot juice or inorganic nitrate supplementation, typically given daily in short-term randomized crossover trials against placebo.
- Key limitation
- Evidence was based on small, short-duration crossover trials, many of which enrolled mostly healthy young men.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Diets including food products rich in inorganic nitrate are associated with lower blood pressure (BP). The evidence for the BP-lowering effects of inorganic nitrate and beetroot in randomized clinical trials has not been systematically assessed. The …