Can you beet it? Beetroot juice for endurance athletes!

What's sweet, red and boosts the performance of endurance athletes? Believe it or not… it's beetroot juice. Find out why the humble beetroot could be your new favourite sports supplement.

Beetroot is a love it or loathe it veg (I love it!) Some people really enjoy eating the sweet root, whether boiled or roasted, or as a jarred pickle. But did you know that beetroot juice is now being used by sports teams and athletes to boost endurance? The sports world has discovered the powers of beetroot, with juice harnessing all the benefits in a specific highly concentrated form.

What's the benefit of beetroot? Nature usually gives us a visual heads up about the nutrient density of fruit and vegetables. And beetroot, with its deep red colour, is no different. Sports science research now suggests that it's one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables around. But the power of beetroot is very specific. It contains extremely high levels of natural dietary nitrates which our bodies convert to nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide and endurance athletes: Nitric oxide (full name nitrogen oxide or nitrogen monoxide), is a free radical. In the body, this molecule boosts vasodilation - the ability of our blood vessels to dilate and therefore increase blood flow. This leads to better oxygen efficiency. And you can imagine how that benefits triathletes, both in endurance and in the ability to increase top-end speed when it matters. 

Plenty of research has been carried out on beetroot juice and endurance sport. Exeter University in particular has conducted a range of studies into the use of beetroot juice in sport, including published studies named "Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the 02 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans", "Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the 02 cost of walking and running - a placebo controlled study" and "Acute dietary nitrate supplementation improves cycling time trial performance". 

One of Exeter University's studies found that regularly drinking beetroot juice increased blood nitrate levels and reduced resting blood pressure. Perhaps more importantly for triathletes, studies also found that drinking beetroot juice can reduce oxygen consumption during moderate- and high-intensity running and even increase time to exhaustion by 15%.

It's clear that beetroot juice has a very real impact on our physiology and a measurable impact on our sports performance. And with elite athletes from sports including track and field, road cycling, rugby and - yes - triathlon singing the praises of this red juice, perhaps it's time we all gave it a shot?

The key seems to lie in controlled doses of dietary nitrate. Simply eating beetroot, or using freshly squeezed juice, probably won't give you the amount necessary to boost sports performance. So you'll need to seek out one of the popular brands of beetroot juice products aimed at endurance athletes (hint: they're easy to find, in most supermarkets, health food shops, and online). 

Do you like beetroot? Do you cook with it regularly? How would you feel about knocking back a shot of beetroot juice as part of your training or race day preparations?