“A beet a day keeps the doctor away,” sounds like as improbable a health tip as you’re likely to get these days.
However, new research shows that a glass of beet juice a day will help people with high blood pressure.
A trial, conducted at Queen Mary University of London, England found that drinking a glass of beet juice every day significantly lowered the blood pressure of patients suffering from hypertension.
Beets contain high levels of inorganic nitrate. The body converts that to nitric oxide, which relaxes and dilates blood vessels.
The patients consumed the juice every day for four weeks. The study found during that time, their blood pressure was in the normal range. When they stopped drinking the beet juice, their blood pressure returned to higher levels.Researchers concluded that drinking the beet juice is an easy, inexpensive and effective in lowering blood pressure as taking medication.
High blood pressure is a contributing factor to other serious and life-threatening illnesses. For example, about 70 percent of people who have a first heart attack, about 80 percent of those who have a first stroke, and 70 percent of those with chronic heart failure have high blood pressure.
