Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure

Drinking 500 ml of beetroot juice a day can lower blood pressure. The effect comes about an hour after taking the juice and takes days after the journal Hypertension. British researchers from the Medical and Dental School Barts and London (Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry) conducted a study in healthy volunteers, who will be invited, half a liter of beetroot juice were drinking. An hour after taking the juice blood pressure of the participants began to decline, the scientists said. According to them, the maximum reduction in pressure (above - 10.4 mm Hg and lower - 8 mm Hg) for about 3 hours after drinking the juice were recorded, and the effect lasted up to 24 hours. After studying the market leader Amrita Ahluwalia (Amrita Ahluwalia), the effect of beet juice because of the high content of nitrate - a substance that is also found in lettuce and spinach. Under the action of bacteria on the surface of the tongue, and fall into the saliva, nitrate is converted to nitrite. Taking these and nitrite in the acidic environment of the stomach, this substance is converted to nitric oxide or in the blood stream in the form of nitrite. Time to maximum concentration of nitrite in the blood corresponded to the greatest reduction in blood pressure in the volunteers, which confirms the role of this substance, the researchers noted. If blocking the conversion of nitrate to nitrite (used for this purpose on the surface of the tongue of volunteers anaerobic bacteria) use beet juice not to a decrease in blood pressure leading to additional information on the key role of nitrite. According to statistics, hypertension affects more than 25% of the adult population. High blood pressure is responsible for about 50% of ischemic heart disease and 75% of strokes. "Our research suggests that drinking beetroot juice, or other vegetables rich in nitrates can be a simple way to maintain the health of the cardiovascular system, and can be an additional way to treat high blood pressure "Fighting, - said Ahluwalia. For his part, Professor Graham MacGregor (Graham McGregor), the British Society of Hypertension, the need for long-term studies in patients with hypertension.