Research dossier
Clinical research on Beet Root Powder
9 trials reviewed across 2 indications.
Strongest evidence
Blood pressure & vascular function
Mechanism
Dietary nitrate is concentrated in saliva, where nitrate-reducing oral bacteria convert it to nitrite. Swallowed nitrite is reduced further to nitric oxide in the acidic, low-oxygen environment of the stomach and tissues. Nitric oxide relaxes vascular smooth muscle and lowers blood pressure — bypassing the body's own nitric-oxide-synthase pathway entirely.
Meta-analysis shows ~4–5 mmHg systolic reduction, and the best single trial (Kapil 2015, n=68 hypertensives) found ~7.7 mmHg over 4 weeks. The effect is dose-dependent on nitrate and strongest in people with elevated baseline BP — but it requires daily dosing, and at least two trials in treated older hypertensives found no effect at all.
Most useful in untreated or mildly elevated blood pressure. Effect is inconsistent in already-medicated hypertensives, and disappears entirely if antibacterial mouthwash kills the oral bacteria that activate nitrate.
Trials cited
Inorganic nitrate / beetroot juice and blood pressure (meta-analysis)
positive · Meta-analysis
Siervo et al., 2013, Journal of Nutritionn=254Pooling 16 RCTs (254 participants), nitrate/beetroot supplementation lowered systolic BP by ~4.4 mmHg (95% CI -5.9 to -2.8, p<0.001); the diastolic reduction (~1.1 mmHg) fell just short of significance. Meta-regression showed the BP drop tracked the nitrate dose — direct evidence that nitrate, not beetroot per se, drives the effect.
Constituent trials were small crossover studies, mostly acute or short-term. The effect is real but modest, and longer hard-outcome data (events, not just office BP) is thin.
Dietary nitrate for sustained BP lowering in hypertension
positive · RCT
Kapil et al., 2015, Hypertensionn=68The largest and best beetroot BP trial. Four weeks of daily nitrate-rich beetroot juice lowered systolic BP by ~7.7 mmHg (clinic) versus essentially no change in the nitrate-depleted placebo group, with parallel ambulatory and home reductions and improved endothelial function. A double-blind, placebo-controlled result in genuine hypertensives — the strongest beetroot evidence to date.
Endpoint is blood pressure, not cardiovascular events, and 4 weeks is short. The effect requires daily dosing — BP drifts back up when supplementation stops.
Antibacterial mouthwash blunts nitrate-to-nitrite conversion
positive · RCT
Govoni et al., 2008, Nitric Oxiden=7The mechanism-defining experiment. Rinsing with antibacterial mouthwash markedly attenuated the expected rise in plasma nitrite after a dietary nitrate load. Humans can't reduce nitrate to nitrite on their own — we outsource the first step to nitrate-reducing bacteria on the tongue. Kill those bacteria and the entire nitrate-to-nitric-oxide pathway stalls.
Tiny (n=7) biomarker study. But the finding is robust and has been replicated in BP studies — antiseptic mouthwash use raises blood pressure by blunting this same pathway.
Beetroot juice over 4 weeks in older hypertensives (null)
Null · RCT
Fejes et al., 2024, Food & Functionn=15Plasma and salivary nitrate/nitrite rose on schedule — the nitrate was absorbed and metabolized — yet there was NO improvement in vascular function or in 24-h ambulatory or home blood pressure versus depleted placebo. A clean reminder that the BP effect is not universal: in already-treated older hypertensives the signal can vanish.
Small (n=15). But it sits alongside other null trials in treated hypertensives, tempering the optimistic read from Kapil 2015 — the population and medication background matter.
Exercise economy & endurance performance
Mechanism
Nitric-oxide-derived signaling improves mitochondrial efficiency and reduces the ATP cost of muscle force production, so the same workload demands less oxygen ('improved exercise economy'). It also enhances blood flow to type-II muscle fibers. The net effect is lower O2 cost at submaximal intensities and longer time-to-exhaustion.
Beetroot/nitrate reliably cuts the oxygen cost of submaximal exercise by ~3–5% and improved a 16-km cycling time trial by ~2.7% in club cyclists. The effect has a threshold (~8 mmol nitrate) and a ceiling above which more does nothing. It does NOT help short maximal sprints, and benefits shrink in highly trained athletes.
Largest gains in recreational and moderately trained endurance athletes. Elite athletes — who already have high nitric-oxide-synthase activity — show attenuated or absent benefit, and sprint power is unaffected.
Dietary nitrate and oxygen cost of exercise
positive · RCT
Larsen et al., 2007, Acta Physiologica (Oxf)n=9The foundational discovery. Three days of dietary nitrate (as sodium nitrate) cut the oxygen cost of submaximal cycling — VO2 fell from 2.98 to 2.82 L/min and gross efficiency rose from 19.7% to 21.1% (p<0.01), with no change in lactate or work output. Same power for less oxygen: the 'exercise economy' effect that launched the entire nitrate-for-performance field.
Tiny sample (n=9), used pharmaceutical sodium nitrate rather than beetroot, and measured physiology — not race performance. Mechanistically seminal, but a long way from a real-world outcome.
Beetroot juice reduces O2 cost of walking and running
positive · RCT
Lansley et al., 2011, Journal of Applied Physiologyn=9The first study to confirm the economy effect with WHOLE beetroot juice rather than pharmaceutical nitrate, and to use a true nitrate-depleted placebo (same juice, nitrate removed). Beetroot juice cut the O2 cost of submaximal walking and running by ~5%. The depleted-juice placebo is the methodological gold standard — it isolates nitrate as the active ingredient.
Small (n=9), acute, submaximal exercise only. Establishes the mechanism cleanly but not a competitive performance outcome.
Beetroot juice improves cycling time-trial performance
positive · RCT
Lansley et al., 2011, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercisen=9A single dose of beetroot juice improved 4-km time-trial performance by ~2.8% and 16.1-km by ~2.7% versus nitrate-depleted placebo, with higher power output for the same oxygen uptake. A small but, for a competitive cyclist, race-relevant gain — and the trial that anchored beetroot's reputation as an endurance aid.
Small (n=9), single acute dose, trained-but-not-elite cyclists. A ~2.7% improvement is meaningful to a racer and trivial to a casual rider.
Beetroot juice dose-response for plasma nitrite and exercise
positive · RCT
Wylie et al., 2013, Journal of Applied Physiologyn=10The dose-response map. Plasma nitrite rose dose-dependently, but the exercise benefits plateaued: 140 mL (8.4 mmol nitrate) lowered O2 cost and extended severe-intensity time-to-exhaustion as much as the 280 mL dose, while 70 mL did little. Translation: there's a threshold dose to clear and a ceiling above which more nitrate adds nothing.
Small (n=10), acute, recreational men. The plateau means megadosing nitrate is pointless — but it also means under-dosed powders that never reach the ~8 mmol threshold do effectively nothing.
Beetroot juice and repeated-sprint performance across training levels
Null · RCT
Jonvik et al., 2018, European Journal of Sport Sciencen=27An honesty check on the hype. Six days of beetroot juice raised plasma nitrate and nitrite as expected — but did NOT improve repeated-sprint (Wingate) peak power in any group, recreational through elite. Beetroot's benefit is real for endurance economy and submaximal work, not for short maximal sprints, and well-trained athletes show little ergogenic response.
One sprint modality (Wingate) in a modest sample. It doesn't refute the endurance economy data — it bounds it: the effect is task- and training-status-specific.
2 forms of Beet Root Powder compared
Beet It Sport (and similar)
Nitrate-standardized beetroot juice / shot
Reliable — labeled nitrate content (typically ~400 mg / ~6.5 mmol per shot), the form used in nearly every positive trial
Best forBlood pressure, exercise economy and enduranceThis is the form that actually works, because the dose is the nitrate, and these products state it. The clinical target is ~300–600 mg (5–8 mmol) nitrate, taken ~2.5 h before exercise for performance or daily for blood pressure. If a product doesn't list nitrate content, you cannot know whether you're getting a clinical dose.
heart400–600 mgenergy400–800 mgPlain beetroot powder
Unreliable — plain powder is only ~1–1.5% nitrate by weight and rarely states the actual nitrate content
Best forMarketed for the same uses, but usually under-dosed for themThe honesty problem. At ~1–1.5% nitrate, a 500 mg capsule of plain beetroot powder delivers only ~5–7 mg nitrate — roughly 1–2% of the ~400 mg clinical dose. To reach the threshold from plain powder you'd need ~20–40 g, which no capsule product provides. Unless a powder is specifically nitrate-standardized and states the milligram nitrate dose, treat it as decorative.
Are you deficient? Symptoms, risk groups, lab tests
Beetroot is a food, not an essential nutrient — there is no 'beetroot deficiency.' It is supplemented for the pharmacological effect of its dietary nitrate on nitric oxide, not to correct a shortfall. Leafy greens (rocket, spinach) and beets are the richest dietary nitrate sources.
Side effects and drug interactions
Side effects
Beeturia (red/pink urine and stool)
Common
Harmless reddish discoloration of urine and stool from betalain pigments, seen in roughly 10–14% of people. Frequently mistaken for blood. Benign and reversible — but worth knowing before it causes a panic.
Worse with:nitrate-standardized beetroot juice, beetroot powder
GI upset
Uncommon
Mild stomach discomfort or loose stool, mostly from the sugar and fiber load of concentrated juice rather than the nitrate itself.
Lightheadedness / hypotension
Uncommon
Because nitrate lowers blood pressure via nitric oxide, large doses can cause mild lightheadedness, especially when stacked with blood-pressure medication or nitrates.
Drug interactions
Additive effect
nitrates (nitroglycerin, isosorbide)PDE-5 inhibitors (sildenafil, tadalafil)antihypertensivesDietary nitrate raises nitric oxide and is vasodilatory. Stacking with prescription nitrates, ED drugs, or blood-pressure medication can produce additive blood-pressure lowering.
Use caution combining concentrated beetroot/nitrate with prescription nitrates, PDE-5 inhibitors, or antihypertensives; watch for lightheadedness. Discuss with a prescriber if you are on nitrate therapy for angina.
Reduces nutrient status
antibacterial / antiseptic mouthwash (chlorhexidine, cetylpyridinium)Antibacterial mouthwash kills the oral nitrate-reducing bacteria required to convert dietary nitrate to nitrite. Without them, the nitrate-to-nitric-oxide pathway is blunted and beetroot's blood-pressure and performance effects are abolished.
Do not use antibacterial mouthwash if you are taking beetroot/nitrate for its effect. This is the single most overlooked way to waste the supplement entirely.
Other critical caveats
- The active ingredient is NITRATE, not 'beetroot.' Every positive trial dosed ~300–600 mg (5–8 mmol) nitrate, almost always as nitrate-standardized juice. Plain beetroot powder is ~1–1.5% nitrate, so a typical 500 mg capsule delivers only ~5–7 mg — roughly 1–2% of the clinical dose. Buy products that state milligrams of nitrate.
- Antibacterial mouthwash abolishes the effect. Humans rely on nitrate-reducing bacteria on the tongue to convert nitrate to nitrite; chlorhexidine/antiseptic mouthwash kills them and stalls the whole nitric-oxide pathway (Govoni 2008). If you take beetroot for blood pressure or performance, skip the antibacterial rinse.
- Benefits shrink in elite athletes and short sprints. The economy and endurance effect is real for recreational and moderately trained athletes (Larsen 2007, Lansley 2011), but attenuates in elite athletes and does nothing for maximal sprint power (Jonvik 2018). The dose-response also plateaus around 8 mmol nitrate — more is not better.
- Red urine and stool (beeturia) is benign. It affects ~10–14% of people and is harmless betalain pigment, not blood — but it surprises people who don't expect it.
Frequently asked
Does beetroot actually lower blood pressure?
Yes, modestly — but it's the nitrate doing the work, not the beet. Meta-analysis shows about a 4–5 mmHg systolic drop, and the best trial (68 hypertensives) found ~7.7 mmHg over 4 weeks of daily nitrate-rich juice. The effect needs daily dosing and is strongest in people with elevated baseline blood pressure; in already-medicated older hypertensives, some trials found no effect at all.Is beetroot powder as good as beetroot juice?
Usually not, and this is the most important thing to know. Plain beetroot powder is only about 1–1.5% nitrate, so a 500 mg capsule gives you roughly 5–7 mg of nitrate — about 1–2% of the ~400 mg clinical dose. Nitrate-standardized juice or 'shots' state the milligrams of nitrate and reliably hit the dose used in studies. If a powder doesn't list its nitrate content, assume it's under-dosed.Why does mouthwash ruin beetroot's effect?
Your body can't turn nitrate into nitrite by itself — it depends on nitrate-reducing bacteria living on your tongue. Antibacterial mouthwash (chlorhexidine and similar) kills those bacteria, which blunts the conversion of nitrate to nitric oxide and abolishes beetroot's blood-pressure and performance benefits. If you take beetroot for a reason, don't use antibacterial mouthwash.Will beetroot make me faster or fitter?
If you're a recreational or moderately trained endurance athlete, modestly yes — nitrate cuts the oxygen cost of submaximal exercise by ~3–5% and improved a 16-km cycling time trial by ~2.7%. But it does nothing for short maximal sprints, and the benefit shrinks in elite athletes who already have high nitric-oxide output. Take it ~2.5 hours before exercise and aim for ~6–8 mmol (≈400–500 mg) of nitrate.Why is my urine red after taking beetroot?
That's beeturia — harmless red or pink discoloration of urine (and sometimes stool) from beetroot's betalain pigments. It happens to roughly 10–14% of people and is completely benign, though it's often mistaken for blood. It's not a sign anything is wrong.
References
- 01Examine.com — Nitrate
- 02Siervo et al., 2013 — Inorganic nitrate and beetroot juice and blood pressure meta-analysis (J Nutr)
- 03Kapil et al., 2015 — Dietary nitrate provides sustained BP lowering in hypertension (Hypertension)
- 04Wylie et al., 2013 — Beetroot juice dose-response (J Appl Physiol)
- 05Govoni et al., 2008 — Antibacterial mouthwash attenuates plasma nitrite rise (Nitric Oxide)
Last reviewed2026-05-24