Nitrate in beetroot juice lowers blood pressure

[Celebration]

http://www.physorg.com/news196951984.html

The nitrate content of beetroot juice is the underlying cause of its blood pressure lowering benefits, research from Queen Mary University of London reveals today.

The study, published online in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, found that blood pressure was lowered within 24hours in people who took nitrate tablets, and people who drank beetroot juice.

The research will be welcome news to people with high blood pressure who might now be able to use a new 'natural' approach to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease (including stroke and heart attacks) - the world's biggest killer.

Study author Amrita Ahluwalia, Professor of Vascular Biology at Queen Mary's William Harvey Research Institute, said the investigation was able to demonstrate that the nitrate found in beetroot juice was the cause of its beneficial effects upon cardiovascular health by increasing the levels of the gas nitric oxide in the circulation.

[petronius]

1. I wonder if eating beets themselves have the same effect

I suppose if one wanted to drink beetroot juice you'd need a juicer - I've never seen it on sale anywhere (of course, I've never looked)...

[bananas]

6. borscht

You should be able to find beet juice, borscht, or canned beets in kosher and ethnic sections of most groceries and supermarkets. You can drain the juice from canned beets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borsch
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080314073514AAgieWo

[petronius]

7. Funny, I guess I don't think it counts as juice unless the 'J'-word is on the label

:silly:

I do like borscht, but never think to buy it, although we've been cooking fresh beets a lot lately...

[BrklynLiberal]

14. I love it all..and I do buy Borscht just to drink it.

Love fresh beets, pickled beets, and a company named Biotta make THE MOST DELICIOUS beetroot juice ever. It is almost intoxicating.

I use cut up or shredded beets in every salad I make.

I have always had low blood pressure....wonder if I like the beets because my pressure is low...or my pressure is low because I love beets so much

[Webster Green]

2. I think I'll try this.

I've been thinking about trying to stop using the pills, and I love me some beets.


Tom Robbins on beets:

THE BEET IS THE MOST INTENSE of vegetables.

The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.

Slavic peoples get their physical characteristics from potatoes, their smoldering
inquietude from radishes, their seriousness from beets.

The beet is the melancholy vegetable, the one most willing to suffer. You can't
squeeze blood out of a turnip.

The beet is the murderer returned to the scene of the crime. The beet is what happens
when the cherry finishes with the carrot. The beet is the ancient ancestor of the
autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized; the dark green sails of the grounded
moon-boat stitched with veins of primordial plasma; the kite string that once
connected the moon to the Earth now a muddy whisker drilling desperately for rubies.

The beet was Rasputin's favorite vegetable. You could see it in his eyes.

-Tom Robbins - 'Jitterbug Perfume' (1984)

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I love beets, eaet the 3-4 times a week, in salads.

Canned, that is.
Wonder how much of the nitrate is left in canned beets.

Never have had high blood pressure, so have no idea if it is the beets or what.

[notadmblnd]

5. I love beets too

I like to boil, then dice them and sautee in butter and a little sugar.

[tabatha]

4. One has to be careful with younger children

The highest concentration of nitrates occurs in water, root vegetables and leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce and other greens.

The concentration and amount of occurring nitrates will vary depending on the type of vegetable, the temperature that it is grown at, the sunlight exposure, soil moisture levels and the level of natural nitrogen in the soil.

Foods that tend to accumulate the highest amount of nitrate include:

o spinach
o beets
o cabbage
o broccoli
o carrots

Root vegetables such as carrots, beets and broccoli all contain nitrates though at a much lower level than do the leafys. Leafy vegetables include spinach, cabbage or other greens like Kale.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/nitratearticle.htm

[Go2Peace]

8. Anyone know how these compare chemically to "nitrates" used to preserve meat?

That "version" can cause cancer.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. That topic is also getting renewed attention

Joel Petersson of Uppsala University addresses it in another study reported by PhysOrg, http://www.physorg.com/news129398308.html">Nitrates in vegetables protect against gastric ulcers: "Nitrates in food have long been erroneously linked to an increased risk of cancer."

The process by which these nitrates promote healing is by acting as precursors for nitric (not nitrous) oxide, which is a major circulatory modulator and has also been found to play a big role in the immune system. I have no doubt that some of the nitrates used to preserve foods can promote cancer, but "nitrates" is a big group of chemicals.

Most of these articles emphasize that we're still in the discovery stage of this part of medical science, but eating more fruits and vegetables can't hurt. Cabbage, for example, has a long history as a treatment for stomach ulcers. No matter what's in it, it's "healthy", and most people like it.

--d!

[Go2Peace]

10. Careful though...

Looks like the kind in meat still cause cancer. Apparently they are different.

"I have no doubt that some of the nitrates used to preserve foods can promote cancer, but "nitrates" is a big group of chemicals."

Now if they can use the "natural" nitrates as meat preservatives it would be great.

[midnight]

11. I had to figure out what the beetroot is. It is the round

part from what I looked up. Is that correct?

[Webster Green]

12. It is a "root crop" so that's correct.

Everything below the soil. I don't know if the leaves are edible or useful.

[petronius]

13. Beet greens are edible - like mustard, chard, etc

I've never eaten them, but I've seen them described as bitter. Beets are on my shopping list for today, so I'll try the greens...

[BrklynLiberal]

15. the leaves are delicious in a salad....