This is why you must drink beetroot juice daily

It is always recommended to include vegetable juice in your diet for a healthy lifestyle and for all the right reasons. Veggie juices are not only delicious but also provide a good dose of nutrition.

A recent study has linked beetroot juice with healthy ageing by improving brain function and keeping your blood vessels in a good condition. Read on to know the details of the study and why you must include beetroot juice in your daily diet.

In a new study done by the University of Exeter and published in the journal ‘Redox Biology’ 26 healthy older people took part in two ten-day supplementation periods. One was with nitrate-rich beetroot juice and another was with nitrate-free placebo juice, which the subjects drank twice a day.

The results showed higher levels of bacteria associated with good vascular and cognitive health, and lower levels of bacteria linked to disease and inflammation.

The systolic blood pressure of the subjects dropped on average by five points (mmHg) after drinking the beetroot juice.

Beetroot and other foods including lettuce, spinach, celery are rich in inorganic nitrate and many oral bacteria. Both these combined together play a role in turning nitrate into nitric oxide, which helps to regulate blood vessels and neurotransmission (chemical messages in the brain).

Older people tend to have lower nitric oxide production and this is associated with poorer vascular (blood vessel) and cognitive (brain) health.

“We are really excited about these findings, which have important implications for healthy ageing,” said lead author Professor Anni Vanhatalo, of the University of Exeter.“Previous studies have compared the oral bacteria of young and older people, and healthy people compared to those with diseases, but ours is the first to test nitrate-rich diet in this way,” added Vanhatalo.

Vanhatalo further noted, “Our findings suggest that adding nitrate-rich foods to the diet – in this case via beetroot juice – for just ten days can substantially alter the oral microbiome (mix of bacteria) for the better. Maintaining this healthy oral microbiome in the long term might slow down the negative vascular and cognitive changes associated with ageing.”

“We are working with colleagues in the University of Exeter Medical School to investigate interactions between the oral bacteria and cognition to better understand how diet could be used to delay cognitive decline in older age,” Vanhatalo added.

Much research has been conducted into the benefits of a healthy gut microbiome, but far less is known about the oral microbial community, which plays a crucial role in “activating” the nitrate from a vegetable-rich diet.