Concentrated beetroot juice may lower blood pressure in older people by altering the composition of the oral microbiome, according to researchers at the University of Exeter, published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine (FRBM).
In their study, the researchers compared the effects of beetroot juice on 36 people aged 60-70 and 39 younger volunteers. Both groups received twice-daily servings of the juice for two weeks, alternating with a placebo, and the composition of oral bacteria was studied using sequencing. It turned out that it was in the elderly participants that the levels of potentially harmful bacteria, such as Prevotella, significantly decreased, and the proportion of beneficial species, such as Neisseria, increased.
This change in the microbiome improved the conversion of nitrates to nitric oxide, a molecule that regulates blood vessel tone. As a result, older people who initially had higher blood pressure had significantly lower blood pressure after consuming the juice. No similar effects were observed in younger participants.
The authors of the study emphasize that a diet rich in nitrates may be a simple way to improve vascular health in old age. In addition to beets, nitrates are found in spinach, arugula, celery, fennel and kale, which opens up wide opportunities for the prevention of cardiovascular disease through nutrition.
