Sunday Feb 10, 2008
A daily glass of beetroot juice could help beat high blood pressure, say researchers. A study found drinking half a litre - just under a pint - led to dramatically lower readings.

The effect was traced to nitrate in the beetroot that reacted with bacteria in the mouth. This led to chemical changes which resulted in blood vessels dilating to increase blood flow.

Other vegetables also contain high levels of nitrates, including spinach and lettuce.

Healthy volunteers recruited for the study at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London were asked to drink either half a litre of beetroot juice or water.

Those who had the juice started to show reductions in blood pressure after an hour.

At 2.5 hours, their systolic BP - the pressure with each heart beat - was around 10mm of mercury (mm Hg) lower than that of participants who had drunk water.

For the diastolic reading - the "resting" pressure between heart beats - a reduction of 8mm Hg was seen in the juice drinkers after three hours.

At 24 hours, systolic BP was still more than 4mm Hg lower for volunteers given the beetroot, while there were no differences for diastolic BP.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 Big Beetroot.
• 1/2 an Apple (Optional).
• Piece of Carrot (Optional).
• 1 Glass of Water.
• Pinch of Salt.

Method

Add everything in to the blender or a juicer,Strain it and its ready to drink!