Was your mother right to make you eat your beets? Dietary nitrates and blood pressure

This paper studied whether nitrates in the diet can help with lowering blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure. 

Hypertension refers to high blood pressure. This can increase the risk of complications like heart disease and kidney problems. Nitric oxide is a substance that dilates blood vessels, and so reduces blood pressure. In patients who have high blood pressure, levels of nitric oxide are reduced. Nitrates can enhance the production of nitric oxide. Thus it is suggested that improving levels of nitric oxide with nitrates can help with high blood pressure. 

Patients were randomly assigned to receive either dietary nitrates (beetroot juice) or a placebo (beetroot juice without nitrates). Blood pressure was measured at the clinic and at home.

Overall, both dietary nitrate and the placebo were well tolerated. There were no serious adverse events (undesired effect of treatment).

Patients who received dietary nitrates had increased levels of nitrate in the body. Systolic blood pressure (pressure when heart beats) recorded in the clinic decreased by an average 7.7 mmHg in patients receiving dietary nitrates. Diastolic blood pressure (pressure when heart relaxes) recorded in the clinic decreased by an average 2.4 mmHg in patients receiving dietary nitrates. This change in blood pressure was not seen in patients receiving placebo. Blood pressure changes over 24 hours also decreased after consuming dietary nitrates compared to placebo.

Blood pressure measured at home decreased within 1 week of patients consuming dietary nitrate, but not for those consuming placebo.

Dietary nitrate consumption was also associated with improvements blood vessel function. Pulse wave velocity (a measure of the stiffness of arteries) was reduced by 0.58 m/s more in patients who received dietary nitrates than in patients who received placebo. Pulse wave velocity is a good predictor of heart problems in the future. 

The authors concluded that the addition of dietary nitrates led to reduced blood pressure in patients with hypertension. 

Talk to your doctor about receiving dietary nitrates to supplement blood pressure management.