Beetroot

Studies in people

• Concern

  Blood pressure and heart health²

  Beetroot juice can lower blood pressure, but drinking a lot may raise nitrate to levels scientists link to harmful compounds.

• Open question

  Muscle fatigue in exercise³

  In athletes, beetroot juice may delay muscle tiredness during short bursts of hard exercise, but scientists are not yet sure.

• Open question

  Exercise performance⁴

  Beetroot juice may help athletes use oxygen better, but effects on race times are still unclear.

• Benefit

  Blood pressure control⁵

  In people, beetroot juice supplements might lower blood pressure, but whether nitrate causes this is unclear.

• Open question

  Exercise performance in women⁶

  In female athletes, beetroot juice improved oxygen use and heart and breathing measures during exercise.

• Open question

  Long COVID recovery⁷

  In people with long COVID, beetroot juice did not improve walking or fatigue more than placebo, though it changed gut bacteria.

• Benefit

  Blood vessel health⁸

  In people, beetroot juice improved blood vessel function two hours after drinking it, in both healthy people and those with HIV.

• Benefit

  Blood pressure and artery health¹⁰

  In healthy adults, beetroot powder improved artery stiffness, some artery function and aortic blood pressure, but not arm blood pressure.

• Benefit

  COPD symptom relief¹¹

  In people with COPD, beetroot juice may help exercise capacity, blood pressure, blood vessel function and sleep.

• Open question

  Blood pressure and kidney health¹⁴

  In dialysis patients and healthy people, beetroot juice raised blood nitrate levels but did not change blood pressure.

• Benefit

  Pregnancy success in IVF¹⁵

  In women having fertility treatment, drinking beetroot, watermelon and ginger juice daily led to more pregnancies.

• Benefit

  Anemia and antioxidant levels¹⁶

  In people with anemia, 12 weeks of beetroot supplements raised their antioxidant vitamins and enzymes.

• Benefit

  Blood pressure before pregnancy²⁰

  In women planning to conceive, beetroot juice plus exercise was linked to lower standing blood pressure, but many skipped the juice.

• Benefit

  Blood pressure in older adults²¹

  In older adults, drinking beetroot juice for a few weeks slightly lowered blood pressure, but the study was small.

• Open question

  Exercise at altitude²²

  In cyclists at simulated altitude, beetroot juice made a timed ride faster and lowered oxygen use during steady riding.

• Open question

  Muscle force²³

  In men, drinking beetroot juice for a week raised muscle force at low stimulation, but scientists don't know why.

• Benefit

  Blood pressure²⁵

  In young adults, beetroot juice lowered resting systolic blood pressure, but only in males, not females.

• Benefit

  Long COVID inflammation²⁶

  In people with long COVID, drinking beetroot juice for 14 days lowered three inflammation markers in their blood.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Heart damage from chemo³¹

  In animal studies, beetroot juice with doxorubicin reduced heart damage from the chemo drug.

Study type not stated

• Benefit

  General health effects²⁸

  Beetroot contains vitamins, minerals and plant compounds that may help prevent and manage various diseases.

• Benefit

  Heart and blood sugar health²⁹

  Beetroot may help blood pressure and blood sugar, but scientists say more research is needed.

• Benefit

  Heart and liver health³⁰

  Beetroot is packed with nutrients and antioxidants, and studies suggest eating it may help with heart and liver conditions.

How it’s made and used

• Muscle strength and endurance⁹

  In active men, beetroot juice did not improve jumping, leg strength or muscle endurance.

• Muscle fuel during exercise¹²

  In men, beetroot juice during long rides seemed to spare muscle fuel, though it did not make them faster.

• Muscle power during exercise¹³

  In men, drinking beetroot juice before half-squats raised their muscle power in both lifting and lowering phases.

• Muscle endurance in squats¹⁷

  In resistance-trained men, beetroot juice with caffeine increased squat reps, but not bench press.

• Running performance¹⁸

  In nine runners, beetroot juice did not change performance, heart rate, or how hard the run felt.

• Exercise efficiency in athletes¹⁹

  In trained cyclists, beetroot juice did not change how efficiently they used oxygen while cycling.

• Blood nitrate testing²⁴

  After drinking beetroot juice, fingertip blood showed higher nitrate and nitrite levels than blood drawn from a vein.

• Natural food colouring stability²⁷

  Beetroot's natural colours can fade with heat, light, and air during cooking and storage.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.