Beetroot Juice and Blood Pressure–a Healthy Combination, Study Claims

People who do not like beetroot can also consume alternative vegetables rich in nitrates, including kale, spinach, fennel, and celery.

Andrew Griffin

Published: 9/5/2025, 9:57:40 AM EDT

Beetroot Juice and Blood Pressure–a Healthy Combination, Study Claims — Beetroot bulbs are pictured at the fruit and vegetable department of an "O Marche" supermarket in Saint-Francois, on the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe, on April 11, 2018. (Helene Valenzuela/AFP via Getty Images)

The health benefits of the lowly beetroot prove that, once again, Mother Nature has a natural option in staving off high blood pressure and other maladies.

A new study featured in Free Radical Biology and Medicine, published by health researchers at the University of Exeter in Britain, revealed that two groups were featured in a recent health study trial where 39 adults were given either nitrate-rich beetroot juice or a nitrate-free placebo version over a two-week period.

The author of the British beetroot study, University of Exeter professor Anni Vanhatalo, explained in the magazine article that beetroots offer significant health benefits due to their rich nitrate and betalain content. The presence of these nutrients has been proven to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and "vascular-positive effects."

"We know that a nitrate-rich diet has health benefits, and older people produce less of their own nitric oxide as they age," Vanhatalo said. "They also tend to have higher blood pressure, which can be linked to cardiovascular complications like heart attack and stroke."

This root vegetable, it should be noted, has been found worldwide, planted everywhere from the ancient Mediterranean to former President George Washington's Virginia home at Mount Vernon.

Vanhatalo noted that people who do not like beetroot can also consume alternative vegetables rich in nitrates, including kale, spinach, fennel, and celery.

The scientific article explained that the older group had higher average blood pressure at the start of the study, which fell after taking the nitrate-rich beetroot juice, but not after taking the placebo supplement.

As for the betalains, they are what gives beets—a root vegetable also known as Beta vulgaris rubra, or red beetroot— their vibrant color, according to WebMD.

Good Bacteria Increase

The University of Exeter beetroot study also revealed that the oral microbiome—good bacteria in the mouth—changed significantly for both young and old, but particularly for the older test subjects.

The study explained that "(t)he older age group experienced a notable decrease in the mouth bacteria Prevotella after drinking the nitrate rich juice, and an increase in the growth of bacteria known to benefit health such as Neisseria."

The study's findings proved encouraging to study co-author University of Exeter Medical School professor Andy Jones, who said, "This study shows that nitrate-rich foods alter the oral microbiome in a way that could result in less inflammation, as well as a lowering of blood pressure in older people."

Jones concluded that the Exeter study proves that a more expansive study should be conducted in order to determine how lifestyle and gender are impacted by dietary nitrate supplementation like that found in beetroots.