I’ve had high blood pressure all my life. I take the blood pressure lowering agent nifedipine; my seventh medicine, nothing helps. Now I also drink beetroot juice and that helps. How much can I use and for how long?
Joris Bartstra, journalist with a medical degree.
The body regulates blood pressure in several ways. One is through the release of nitric oxide through the lining of the blood vessels. This substance causes the muscles in the vessel wall to relax and the vessels to widen, causing the blood pressure to drop. Leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach, as well as beets, contain a lot of nitrate, which can be converted into nitric oxide. With beet juice you take the nitrate in a concentrated way. Research into the blood pressure lowering effect of beetroot juice does show some effect, but much less than that of a blood pressure lowering drug. Nitrate can also be converted in the body to nitrosamines, which are carcinogens. This is one of the reasons that the Nutrition Center advises not to drink beet juice every day. A carcinogenic effect of beetroot juice has never been demonstrated. It is known that people who eat a lot of leafy vegetables have a lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. So I can’t give a concrete answer. Personally, I would try to eat more vegetables than drink beet juice. Vegetables contain a lot of healthy substances. Trying to focus on some of them and leave out the rest usually isn’t an improvement.
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