This bright red flavored vegetable has been known to be delicious to eat by some and completely preposterous to others (in terms of its unique sweet taste). Nonetheless, it is unanimously agreed as very nutritious as it contains a rich source of iron, but recently, new benefits of the beetroot have been discovered.
A recent study that was carried out to test the link between beet juice and blood pressure found a strong correlation. It showed that an increased consumption of beet juice can decrease blood pressure levels and bring them down to healthier amounts, a factor which can later on prevent heart related diseases from occurring. Here is a brief overview of what the study was about, how it was conducted and what the findings suggest.
Very recently there was a study carried out in order to test the link between beet juice and blood pressure. It was conducted by researchers at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne and published in the Nutrition Journal. This breakthrough study employed 15 men and 15 women were made to drink either 17.6-oz of a beet juice beverage containing 500 g of beetroot and apple juice, or a placebo juice. The blood pressure of the participants was measured at baseline and then at hourly intervals for the next 24 hours following juice consumption using an ambulatory blood pressure monitor. Not only that, but they stayed back at the clinic for an hour before resuming normal non-strenuous daily activities. The same procedure was repeated two weeks later, the difference being that the drinks were switched this time around, with those who drank the placebo on the first round receiving beetroot juice on the second.
Beet juice is effective in reducing blood pressure: When controlling for all other factors and just checking for the relationship between beet juice and blood pressure, this experiment showed that for both men and women, within a matter of hours, the consumption of beet juice brought down the Systolic Blood Pressure by a massive 4 to 5 points after it had been ingested.
What this could mean: The implications of these findings are quite massive. The people who conducted the research stated that while the drop in blood pressure may not seem to be very significant when taken as an individual number, things were different when it was taken into context. Researchers said that with regards to public health, this seemingly insignificant decrease in blood pressure could lower the rate of deaths due to heart related diseases by 10%.
A final word: Additionally, a research fellow at the institute where the study was carried out, Dr. Leah Coles stated, “It’s promising that we can see an effect from a single dose. It’s promising that we can see an effect from a single dose,”
