Daily beetroot juice intake could help protect heart health after menopause

• Daily beetroot juice may promote cardiovascular health in women at the postmenausal stage, a new study claims.
• The juice may be a good source of critical nitrate that keeps blood vessels functioning well.
• The study found, however, that when participants stopped drinking beetroot juice, the beneficial effects waned within 24 hours.

During and after menopause, the body produces less estrogen, often leading to poorer blood vessel function and a greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

A new randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover clinical trial from The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) suggests that consuming beetroot juice daily may improve blood flow through blood vessels, reducing the risk of heart problems.

Beets — and beetroot juice — are high in nitrates. The study observed improved blood vessel performance in participants who drank beet root juice daily.

The findings appear in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition.

The researchers recruited an initial 54 women at the postmenopausal stage from the local community, but the final analysis included only 24 women: 12 in early postmenopause and 12 in late postmenopause.

The participants had a resting blood pressure of less than 130/80 millimeters of mercury (mmHg), body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 to 35 kilograms per square meter (kg/m2), fasting low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol below 160 milligrams per deciliter (mm/dL), a hemoglobin A1C below 6%, and normal fasting blood sugar.

They were all nonsmokers, and were not taking any cardiovascular medications or hormones at the time of the study.

Under otherwise strict dietary guidance, the participants consumed two 2.3-ounce bottles of concentrated beetroot juice at the start of the study, followed by one bottle daily for one week. Each bottle delivered the same level of nitrates as three large beets.

A few weeks later, individuals received beetroot juice from which the nitrate had been removed, serving as a placebo.

The study authors performed imaging via Doppler ultrasound to assess the effect of the beetroot juice on participants’ brachial artery blood flow — the brachial artery is on the inside of one’s upper arm — before and after consumption, and the same was done with the placebo.

The authors concluded that blood flow was improved while the participants were consuming their daily nitrate-rich beetroot juice, but the effect faded within 24 hours of drinking their last bottle.

Additionally, neither the nitrate-rich beetroot juice nor placebo prevented the decline in blood flow after ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in either group.