According to a study by scientists from Wake Forest University, drinking beetroot juice can act as a great supplement for a workout. The results of their study showed that beetroot juice makes the brain work more efficiently, especially for older adults.

Study co-author W. Jack Rejeski of Wake Forest’s Behavioral Medicine Laboratory said that drinking beetroot juice supplement before exercise helped the brain connectivity of older adults so much that their brain activity “closely resembles what you see in younger adults.”

The study examined 26 men and women who were age 55 or older. They drank beetroot juice one hour before a 50-minute walk on a treadmill which the researchers described as a “moderately intense” workout. Half of the participants drank beetroot juice containing around 560 mg of nitric oxide, while the other half drank a placebo with very little nitric oxide.

The study found that older adults who exercised and consumed the beetroot juice that contained nitric oxide performed better than those who drank the placebo with very little nitric oxide, and that the brain networks of the older adults more closely resembled the brain networks of young adults. These results showed Rejeski and his team that beetroot juice is an excellent workout supplement.

Rejeski and the other researchers believe that dietary nitric oxide is what gives beets their ability to improve people’s workout performances. Beets contain a high amount of dietary nitric oxide. “Nitric oxide is a really powerful molecule. It goes to the areas of the body which are hypoxic, or needing oxygen, and the brain is a heavy feeder of oxygen in your body,” said Rejeski.

The power of supplementing your exercise with beets

This study is just one among many showing the great health benefits provided by beets. It shouldn’t be surprising, considering the superfood’s powerful nutritional profile. Beetroots can provide a lot of vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins C and B6, folate, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese and iron. You can have all of these nutrients while also consuming very few calories and fat.

Wake Forest has a long history of studying the connection between beets and athletic performance. One of the first studies that linked the consumption of beets with improving blood flow to the brain came from a 2010 study also done by Wake Forest. This study showed that drinking beet juice can increase blood flow to the brain in older adults.

A 2012 study also found that consuming whole beets improved the running performance of fit adults. A 2015 study found that beetroot juice was great at helping patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exercise for far longer. Furthermore, a 2016 study found that drinking beetroot juice daily significantly improved endurance during exercise as well as the blood pressure of the study participants, who were all elderly people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

This isn’t all that beets can do for health. Many studies have been done confirming that beets have a whole variety of health benefits. For example, beets can keep blood pressure in check by significantly lowering them, reducing your risk of developing heart disease. A study found that beets can improve blood flow to the brain’s frontal lobe. This area is associated with higher-level thinking, memory and decision making. Other studies have even found that beets have anti-cancer properties. A study found that beetroot extract reduces the division and growth of tumor cells.

Beets are a superfood that can provide impressive benefits. If you want to improve your workout experience as well as improve your health in a variety of other ways, grab yourself some beets and learn some recipes, so you can eat them with other nutritious foods.

Sources:

News.WFU.edu

Academic.OUP.com

Healthline.com