A recent study has found that consuming dietary nitrate, which is found in beetroot juice, can help increase muscle force while exercising.
Key Findings
- Dietary nitrate, which is found in beetroot juice, can help increase muscle force while exercising.
- An hour after consuming nitrate, participants had a significant increase in nitrate levels in their muscle.
- The nitrate boost caused an increase in muscle force of 7% compared to when the participants took a placebo.
Recommendations
- Consume beetroot juice or other dietary sources of nitrate before exercising.
- Talk to your doctor before taking beetroot juice or other dietary sources of nitrate if you have any health conditions.
- More research is needed to determine the optimal dose of dietary nitrate for exercise performance.
Researchers at the University of Exeter and the US National Institutes of Health used 10 healthy volunteers to trace the distribution of nitrate in the body after they consumed it.
“They found that an hour after consuming nitrate, participants had a significant increase in nitrate levels in their muscle.”
When the participants were asked to perform 60 contractions of their thigh muscle at maximum intensity, the team found that the nitrate boost caused an increase in muscle force of 7% compared to when the participants took a placebo.
Previous studies had found an increase in nitrate in the body after consuming it but this new study used a tracer to accurately assess where nitrate is active and also shed new light on how it is used to enhance exercise performance.
The researchers say that these findings have significant implications for not only the exercise field but also for other medical areas such as those targeting neuromuscular and metabolic diseases related to nitric oxide deficiency.