Nearly half of adults in the United States have high blood pressure, a leading cause of cardiovascular problems like stroke and heart attack. While medications can help lower it, certain foods also play a role—including, potentially, beetroot juice.
A recent study found that the juice made from the red root vegetable helped improve blood pressure levels in older adults. Researchers also explored how it might do so—finding that the secret may lie in how the juice changes bacteria in the mouth.
So how did they reach this conclusion? And does this mean you should give beetroot juice a try? Here’s what to know about the study.
Previous research has suggested that beetroot juice, also known simply as beet juice, may help lower blood pressure. The juice is rich in nitrates that help relax blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more freely.
But for this study, the research team wanted to dig deeper, exploring how exactly beetroot juice might improve blood pressure and who might benefit most.
They recruited two groups. One included 39 people ages 18 to 30, and the other involved 36 people between the ages of 65 and 79. Importantly, participants had no active oral disease and blood pressure at or below 140/90, which is considered high.
After being assigned to either a placebo beetroot juice group or a nitrate-rich beetroot juice group, all participants drank about 2.5 ounces of their assigned juice twice daily—once in the morning and once in the evening—for three separate two-week periods. In between juice periods, they rinsed with mouthwash twice daily for two weeks.
Researchers tested participants’ oral microbiomes, heart rate, blood pressure, plasma, salivary nitrate, and nitrite levels before each juice and mouthwash period.
Compared to a placebo, nitrate-rich beetroot juice had a greater effect on blood pressure, but only in one group with high blood pressure: older adults. In this group, blood pressure decreased by about 4 mmHg on average, the researchers reported in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine,.
“Individuals with elevated blood pressure showed greater reductions,” study author Anni Vanhatalo, PhD, a professor of human physiology at the University of Exeter Medical School, told Health.
Results from oral microbiome testing also revealed an interesting link between blood pressure reduction and fewer inflammation-associated oral bacteria. One key group that appeared to be suppressed, Prevotella species, may interfere with the production of nitric oxide, a molecule that helps relax blood vessels and regulate blood pressure.
This finding suggests potential clinical implications not only for high blood pressure, but for a range of conditions driven by chronic, low-level inflammation, including COVID, pneumonia, and cognitive impairment, the researchers noted.
If you have high blood pressure, beetroot juice might sound pretty appealing right now. But before you run out to buy some, keep in mind that the study was small—and the positive effects were limited to people over age 65.
Even if you’re younger than 65, though, there’s no reason not to give beetroot a shot if you’re curious, experts said. The juice is nutritious, packed not just with nitrates but also with folate, vitamin C, potassium, and plant compounds that may reduce inflammation and support blood pressure regulation.
“The polyphenols found in beetroot help nitric oxide from being oxidized, leaving more for the body to use,” Michelle Routhenstein, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, a preventive cardiology dietitian at Entirely Nourished, told Health.
It’s also relatively safe for most people—though some people may have stomach discomfort if they consume too much of it, Vanhatolo said. Routhenstein warned that people prone to calcium oxalate kidney stones may want to limit their intake.
That said, experts cautioned that beetroot juice isn’t a silver bullet and shouldn’t be your only strategy for lowering blood pressure.
“I think beetroot juice is a viable way to lower blood pressure,” Veronica Rouse, RD, owner of The Heart Dietitian and author of Easy Steps To Lower Cholesterol, told Health, “but it should not replace core lifestyle strategies.” Those include following the DASH diet, limiting sodium, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and managing sleep and stress.
