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Beetroots are surprisingly good for you
Beetroots can help your blood pressure is the conclusion in a study that found out that consuming nitrate-rich vegetables such as beetroot might be a safe and cost effective actor in blood pressure management.
A recent study was conducted at the Queen Mary University in London. It showed that Beetroot juice is effective in lowering blood pressure in Hypertensive patients (i.e. people with high blood pressure). There have been many studies showing that even a single dose of beetroot is capable of lowering blood pressure in the immediate term in healthy volunteers with normal blood pressure. But this recent study is important because it shows that beetroot juice could be used safely and effectively in the management of blood pressure because it is the first study to be conducted in a clinically relevant population; i.e real blood pressure patients as opposed to healthy volunteers.
How does Beetroot lower Blood pressure?
Beetroot is a rich source of dietary nitrate. Nitrate is converted in the body to nitric oxide. Nitric oxide acts on the blood vessels to cause them to dilate which causes a decrease in blood pressure.
Your blood pressure is a product of the pumping effort of your heart, and the resistance provided by your blood vessels.
When the blood vessels dilate, there is less total resistance in the transport network of blood vessels that the heart needs to pump against to delivery blood and oxygen to tissues. It is this decrease in resistance that causes a decrease in blood pressure.
