The New Endurance Drink: Beetroot Juice

No one is recommending the taste of beetroot juice, but scientists at the University of Exeter are touting the beverage’s remarkable ability to help athletes exercise 16 percent longer. A university press release reports that researchers gave eight men aged between 19 and 38 500ml per day of organic beetroot juice for six consecutive days before completing a series of tests, involving cycling on an exercise bike. On another occasion, the men were given a placebo of blackcurrant cordial for six consecutive days before completing the same cycling tests. After drinking beetroot juice the group was able to cycle for an average of 11.25 minutes, which is 92 seconds longer than when they were given the placebo. The researchers say the boost translates into an approximate 2 percent reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance. The group that had consumed the beetroot juice also had lower resting blood pressure.

Mindful that beetroot juice has high nitrate content, which boosts the body’s nitric oxide, the researchers conducted a followup experiment using a nitric oxide supplement. Yet another university news release reports that nine healthy males were put through several different physical challenges on a cycling ergometer to measure their performance under different levels of exercise intensity. The men were randomly assigned to take either a blackcurrant cordial placebo drink or the genuine supplement, which was Ark 1 from Arkworld International Limited – which contains the L-arginine amino acid which enhances the production of nitric oxide in the body. The report, published on-line by the Journal of Applied Physiology, found taking the supplement improves severe-intensity exercise endurance by 20 percent, significantly reduces systolic blood pressure, and reduces the oxygen cost of exercise.

Read more about it in the Los Angeles Times.