Researchers at the University of Exeter report that adults in their 60s and 70s who drank nitrate-rich beetroot juice twice a day for two weeks saw their blood pressure fall, an effect not observed in younger adults.
Researchers at the University of Exeter studied whether nitrate-rich beetroot juice could influence blood pressure in older people, potentially through changes in oral bacteria involved in nitrate processing.
The trial enrolled 36 adults in their 60s and 70s and 39 adults under age 30, recruited through the NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility. Participants completed two separate two-week phases in a crossover design: one phase using nitrate-rich beetroot juice and another using a placebo version with the nitrate removed, with a two-week “washout” period between phases.
According to the University of Exeter summary of the research, the older group’s blood pressure fell after the nitrate-rich beetroot juice phase, while no comparable reduction was seen in the younger group. The researchers said both age groups showed shifts in the oral microbiome after drinking the nitrate-rich juice, but the changes differed between younger and older participants.
The study was published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
