Compound or practice · Supplement
Beetroot / Dietary Nitrate
Dietary nitrate lowers the oxygen cost of exercise — a legit endurance aid, best in recreational athletes.
- Overall grade
- Grade B
- Last revised
- 2
- graded outcomes
- 0
- references listed
A structured monograph in Prometheus's bundled library. Its grades are the monograph's own reading of the evidence, not a peer-reviewed review.
2 at grade B — 2 graded rows
What is known
Each outcome with its grade (how strong the evidence is, A to D), the size of the effect where the entry records one, and how often studies agree.
- Endurance / O2 costEvidence grade B
Larger in recreational athletes
Smallhigh
- Blood pressureEvidence grade B
Modest reduction
Smallhigh
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
- Caution with Blood-pressure medications: Additive blood-pressure lowering.
Interactions
Documented pairings with supplements and medicines. A medicine on this list is a conversation for whoever prescribes it.
Blood-pressure medicationsCaution
Additive blood-pressure lowering.
The evidence in words
What it is
Beetroot juice concentrates inorganic nitrate, which the body converts to nitric oxide via a diet-dependent oral-bacteria pathway.
How it works
Nitrate → nitrite → nitric oxide improves blood flow and mitochondrial efficiency, reducing the oxygen cost of a given workload and improving muscle contractile efficiency.
What the evidence shows
Reasonable evidence for improved endurance and time-to-exhaustion, with larger effects in recreational than elite athletes. Antibacterial mouthwash abolishes the effect by killing the oral bacteria that reduce nitrate — a genuinely important, often-missed detail.
How to use it
~6–13 mmol nitrate (about one to two concentrated beet shots) 2–3 hours pre-exercise; avoid antibacterial mouthwash around dosing.
Safety & interactions
Safe; harmless pink urine/stool. Additive blood-pressure lowering with antihypertensives. antihypertensives — Additive blood-pressure lowering.
Bottom line
A real endurance aid, especially if you're not elite. Beet shot a couple hours before, and don't sabotage it with mouthwash.
How it is used
As the entry records it, from the studies it summarises. Not a recommendation for you — doses that suit a trial population may not suit you.
- Pre-exercise
- 6–13 mmol nitrate, 2–3 h prior.
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- Beetroot / Dietary Nitrate for Blood pressureEvidence grade B — Modest reductionEvidence grade B
- Beetroot / Dietary Nitrate for Endurance / O2 costEvidence grade B — Larger in recreational athletesEvidence grade B
- Beetroot / Dietary Nitrate: dosage and how to take it6–13 mmol nitrate, 2–3 h prior.Evidence grade B
- Beetroot / Dietary Nitrate: side effects, safety & interactionsSafe; harmless pink urine/stool. Additive blood-pressure lowering with antihypertensives.Evidence grade B
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.