Root vegetable, and potential lifesaver?
Drinking 500ml of beetroot juice a day can significantly reduce
blood pressure, UK research suggests.
The key beneficial ingredient appears to be nitrate, which is
also found in green, leafy vegetables.
The researchers found that in healthy volunteers blood pressure was
reduced within an hour of drinking the juice.
The study, by Barts and the London School of Medicine and the Peninsula
Medical School, could suggest a low-cost way to treat hypertension.
Drinking beetroot juice, or consuming other nitrate-rich vegetables,
might be a simple way to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system
Professor Amrita Ahluwalia
Barts and The London School of Medicine
Previously the protective effects of vegetable-rich diets have
been attributed to their antioxidant vitamin content.
While it took less than an hour to note a reduction in blood pressure
in the beetroot juice tests, it was more pronounced after three to
four hours and a degree of reduction continued to be observed for up
to 24 hours, the report published on the online journal Hypertension
said.
Saliva breakdown
The researchers showed that nitrate in the juice is converted in saliva,
by bacteria on the tongue, into nitrite.
This nitrite-containing saliva is swallowed, and in the acidic environment
of the stomach is either converted into nitric oxide or re-enters the
circulation as nitrite.
The peak time of reduction in blood pressure correlated with the appearance
and peak levels of nitrite in the circulation.
No such drop in blood pressure was recorded in a second group of volunteers,
who did not swallow their saliva while drinking beetroot juice, or
for three hours afterwards.
More than 25% of the world's adult population are hypertensive, and
it has been estimated that this figure will increase to 29% by 2025.
Hypertension causes around 50% of coronary heart disease, and approximately
75% of strokes.
In total, cardiovascular disease kills over 110,000 people in England
every year.
Researcher Professor Amrita Ahluwalia said: "Our research suggests
that drinking beetroot juice, or consuming other nitrate-rich vegetables,
might be a simple way to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system,
and might also be an additional approach that one could take in the
modern day battle against rising blood pressure."
Professor Graham McGregor, of the British Hypertension Society, described
the research as "interesting".
He said: "This shows that beetroot juice lowers blood pressure
in the short term in volunteers with normal blood pressure.
"What we need now is research to see whether it has an effect
on people with high blood pressure over a much longer period of time."
Professor McGregor said there was a growing body of work showing that
a diet rich in fruit and vegetables had a beneficial impact on hypertension.
But he said previous research had suggested that potassium may be
the key mineral.
Victoria Taylor, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "Whilst
beetroot juice was used in this study, it is unlikely that people will
be able to - or wish to - consume it in the quantities used in the
research.
"Although we know that eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables
as part of a well balanced diet is beneficial to heart health, we do
not know yet whether there are certain fruits or vegetables that are
more helpful than others and so for now, people should continue to
choose a wide variety in achieving their five a day. "
Extract from Bob Longmore's article in the Australian
Pharmacist published Sept 2008, vol 27, No 9, pages768-770 under
the title Beetroot for better health.
In a right pickle – the case for beetroot.
By Bob Longmore
Few would think of beetroot as a herbal medicine but
present evidence suggests that the root is a rich source of therapeutic
benefits.
Perhaps the most exciting feature of beetroot may
be its role as cancer preventative or at least supplement to healthy
resistance to cancer.
Recent research findings bear witness to this faith
put in the use of beetroot juice by cancer patients. Beetroot extract
exhibited in vitro inhibition of Epstein-Barr virus early antigen induction.
I am a strong supporter of the ‘food as medicine’ philosophy
and find the recent findings on the value of beetroot almost a life
changing experience! While we may not see beetroot and its active constituents
on the Pharmacy shelves in the guise of a formulated complementary
medicine, I am sure that readers should take the findings to heart
and act accordingly. Let fresh and cooked beetroot become an important
addition to the diet.
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