Beets: A Superfood for Athletic Performance

Person consuming beetroot juice before a workout

Beetroot juice and beetroot supplements have gained substantial attention in sports nutrition research over the past decade. These supplements are rich in dietary nitrate, which the body converts to nitric oxide—a molecule that plays crucial roles in vascular function, muscle contractility, and exercise efficiency.

This blog post examines findings from available research understanding of beetroot's effects on exercise.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d7fdcd_83a80c7edae24c618c7dfd975b9b9f6a/360p/mp4/file.mp4

Video about how beats can improve athletic performance

How Beetroot Works: The Nitrate-Nitrite-Nitric Oxide Pathway

Beetroot's performance-enhancing effects stem from its high nitrate content, which undergoes conversion to nitrite and subsequently to nitric oxide in the body. This pathway enhances blood flow, reduces oxygen cost during exercise, and may improve muscle contractile function. A comprehensive systematic review by Jones and colleagues highlighted that dietary nitrate supplementation can reduce the oxygen cost of submaximal exercise and improve exercise tolerance [1]. The physiological mechanisms include improved mitochondrial efficiency, enhanced calcium handling in muscle fibers, and vasodilation that increases oxygen delivery to working muscles [2].

Beets can help with blood flow

Effects on Endurance Exercise Performance

A research study by McMahon and colleagues analyzed 47 studies encompassing 76 trials and found that dietary nitrate supplementation produced a small to moderate, but significant improvement in time-to-exhaustion trials [3]. However, the same analysis revealed that nitrate supplementation was less effective for time-trial performance, showing only a trivial, non-significant overall effect.

These findings suggest that beetroot supplementation may be more beneficial for extending exercise capacity—the ability to sustain effort until exhaustion—rather than improving race pace or time-trial performance. Another review by Domínguez and colleagues examining cardiorespiratory endurance in athletes corroborated these findings [4]. In short, consume beetroot if you want to go farther, but do not expect it to make you go faster.

Using beetroot can improve endurance

Interestingly, chronic beetroot juice supplementation has demonstrated the ability to improve maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max or the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise) in some populations. A double-blind, randomized crossover study with recreational runners found that just three days of beetroot juice supplementation (8.4 mmol NO₃⁻ per day) significantly increased VO₂max from 45.1 to 46.6 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹, along with improvements in velocity associated with VO₂max and peak velocity [5]. These findings suggest potential benefits beyond just exercise efficiency, extending to fundamental markers of aerobic capacity.

Dosing, Timing, and Individual Variability

Effective supplementation protocols typically involve either acute or chronic dosing strategies. For example, acute protocols commonly use 70 mL of concentrated beetroot juice containing approximately 6.4 mmol of nitrate, consumed 2-3 hours before exercise to coincide with peak plasma nitrite concentrations [6], [7]. Chronic supplementation protocols typically involve 5-7 days of daily beetroot juice consumption at similar nitrate doses [8].

A major consideration is an individuals' response to nitrate supplementation. Research by Coggan and colleagues identified "high responders" and "low responders" to dietary nitrate, with some individuals showing substantial increases in muscle power while others demonstrated minimal benefits [9]. This variability may relate to differences in oral microbiome composition, baseline nitric oxide production, training status, and genetic factors. Essentially results of beetroot consumption may vary due to different variables.

Always talk with your doctor before starting any supplements

In addition to beetroot juice there are many forms that beetroot can be consumed including whole beets, blended beets, beetroot powder, beetroot crystals, beetroot soft chews. Simply take the supplement that you can stick to. Also do not consume more than directed on the instructions. While generally safe for most healthy individuals, beetroot supplementation poses risks for people with specific pre-existing conditions. The primary dangers involve lowered blood pressure, kidney complications from oxalates, mineral imbalances in kidney disease, and unpredictable medication interactions. Always talk to a medical doctor before starting any new supplementation especially if you are:

• Taking prescription heart or blood pressure medications

• Prone to kidney stones

• Diagnosed with kidney disease

• Managing diabetes

• Pregnant or breastfeeding

Conclusion

Beetroot juice and beetroot supplements have emerged as popular aids among athletes and fitness enthusiasts, primarily due to their high dietary nitrate content. The research reveals that beetroot supplementation enhances blood flow, reduces oxygen cost during exercise, and may improve muscle contractile function and supplementation can enhance certain types of exercise performance—particularly endurance capacity, high-intensity intermittent efforts —though effects vary considerably based on exercise type, intensity, duration, and individual response. Use beetroot as a tool to help keep you on track with your exercise regimen. Always talk with your doctor before starting a beetroot regimen.

References

[1] A. M. Jones, "Dietary Nitrate Supplementation and Exercise Performance," Sports Medicine, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 35-45, 2014.

[2] R. Domínguez et al., "Effects of beetroot juice supplementation on intermittent high-intensity exercise efforts," Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 15, article 24, 2018, doi: 10.1186/S12970-017-0204-9.

[3] N. F. McMahon, M. D. Leveritt, and T. G. Pavey, "The Effect of Dietary Nitrate Supplementation on Endurance Exercise Performance in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," Sports Medicine, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 735-756, 2017.

[4] R. Domínguez et al., "Effects of Beetroot Juice Supplementation on Cardiorespiratory Endurance in Athletes. A Systematic Review," Nutrients, vol. 9, no. 1, article 43, 2017.

[5] A. Castro et al., "Effects of chronic beetroot juice supplementation on maximum oxygen uptake, velocity associated with maximum oxygen uptake, and peak velocity in recreational runners: a double-blinded, randomized and crossover study," European Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 119, pp. 1043-1053, 2019.

[6] O. Esen et al., "Acute Beetroot Juice Supplementation Enhances Intermittent Running Performance but Does Not Reduce Oxygen Cost of Exercise among Recreational Adults," Nutrients, vol. 14, no. 14, article 2839, 2022.

[7] A. Saleh et al., "Effects of a Single Dose of Dietary Nitrate via Beetroot Crystals on High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise Performance in Recreational Collegiate Athletes," 2024.

[8] T. Leal et al., "Effect of acute and chronic nitrate supplementation on the performance of endurance athletes: a systematic review," Multidisciplinary Reviews, vol. 5, article 2022009, 2022.

[9] A. R. Coggan et al., "Dietary nitrate-induced increases in human muscle power: high versus low responders," Physiological Reports, vol. 6, no. 2, article e13575, 2018.