Feature

Mon 26 Oct, 4:00 pm UTC

Nutrition: Is beetroot the route to success?

By Dr Kevin Currell, Triathlon Plus

Reports in the press have highlighted research into the effects of beetroot juice on endurance performance. Could it really help you become a faster cyclist, or are the findings hard to stomach?

The test

A recent research paper (Bailey et al. 2009, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology) investigated the effects of beetroot juice on performance.

Researchers took eight recreationally active males and, in a double blind placebo-controlled crossover study, asked them to drink 0.5l of beetroot or blackcurrant juice every day for six days.

The test subjects were asked to refrain from foods high in nitrates during this time. At the end of the six days they were asked to perform a ride to exhaustion at a 'severe' intensity.

The result

The beetroot-drinking participants were able to exercise for 11 minutes 25 seconds, which was 92 seconds longer than those who had drunk blackcurrant juice.

The researchers also investigated some of the reasons for this potential improvement. They found that when the subjects exercised at a moderate intensity, the amount of oxygen they used was decreased by 19 percent with beetroot juice. This is quite a remarkable finding, as it’s something that is very hard to change, even with training. 

How it works

The suggested reason for the increased time to fatigue and decrease in oxygen use is that beetroot juice contains nitrate, which can be used to synthesise nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide plays a number of key roles, in particular allowing your blood capillaries to open up and increase blood flow through your muscles. It is also important in making your muscles more efficient at using oxygen.

As with all research, there are some possible confounding factors in the study. For one, there is no measurement of the normal nitrate intake of participants. This is important because they were all asked to refrain from eating high nitrate foods. So the research could actually be showing that removing nitrates from the diet decreases performance rather than the other way around. Without a control or baseline trial it is difficult to prove that this is not the case.

Our experience

BikeRadar editor Jeff Jones and What Mountain Bike art editor Robin Coomber put beetroot juice to the test. Here's how they fared...

Jeff jones: jeff jones

Jeff Jones: "I struggled to drink 500ml per day so I drank 250ml and ate beetroot sandwiches instead, on top of my normal veggie rich diet. I lasted four days and then I raced a 10 mile time trial. I wasn’t any faster and my power output was the same as normal.

"At £2.75 per 500ml for the Biotta juice I tried, it’s not cheap either. Still, I think it’s worth a go, and I'm prepared to trial it for a couple of weeks with the more palatable Beet It juice."

Robin coomber: robin coomber

Robin Coomber: "I could only drink 250ml per day because it was so disgusting. It tasted like a cross between fresh mud and Chinese medicine. I felt sick and even my sweat (among other things) was red. I only lasted five days. I think I’m better off with a balanced, healthy diet instead."

The verdict

The research highlights the general importance of eating foods high in nitrates. As usual, you can find these by eating a well-balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, and making a few informed food choices, such as looking for foods with high nitrate content.

There are several other studies underway which will hopefully yield more answers, but at the moment it is unclear whether supplementing your diet with beetroot juice will improve your cycling performances – so don’t give up the training just yet!

What other foods are sources of nitrate?

Very low nitrate: Water melon, artichoke, onion, potato, tomato

Melon: melon

Moderate nitrate: Cabbage, dill, turnip, celeriac, leek

Cabbage: cabbage

Very high nitrate: Rocket, celery, cress, chervil, lettuce, spinach

Rocket: rocket

User Comments

There are 21 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 21 of 21 comments

  • Tried it as part of half marathon training - liked the taste but noticed no difference in speed over the same training loop I was using.

    Another study has shown beetroot juice reduces blood pressure, which sounds measurable...

  • All these studies on fruit and veg should just read something along the lines of:

    - It's all good for you

    - Eat as much as you want

    - Keep it varied

    - Don't overcook it, especially in bad fats.

    There you go job done... :-)

  • Red sweat? **** that!

  • Eat food, mostly plants, not too much.

  • "Nutrition: Is beetroot the *root* to sucess?"

  • I like beatrout but discovererd that if you eat two much ot it it it affacts your abilaty two spelll

  • Interesting that the research claims that there may be some increase in stamina and yet Jeff seems to be expecting an increase in power output not to mention all the other variables associated with not being able to improve on a personal best in a TT.

  • I grew a whole load of beetroot earlier in the year and used to juice it to drink during rides...

    I reckon it made a difference, and if mixed with apple and carrot etc. was quite nice :-)

  • "..the route to sucess"

    Haw haw haw, my sides are now bereft of ribs...

  • I like beetroot but not half a litre a day. Sounds a bit excessive. This article is the usual fad bollocks put out by people who have an undeclared interest who pseudo journo-scientists who want to make a name for themselves. Everything in moderation as part of a healthy balanced diet.

  • I've been experimenting with the litre of red wine a day diet for a while now and it's really produced some results.

    The main result being a nice big tummy in which I can store fats for long rides.

  • crouchingmonkey - if time to exhaustion is increased, then because of the strong correlation between power and length of the effort, I'd expect to be able to ride at a higher power than normal in a TT (the bonus is that it should take less time to complete the course).

    It was a club 10 - I was well rested, went for it and I did do a good time (conditions were perfect) but my power was average. A few weeks later - without a hint of beetroot - I managed an extra 15W in a 10. Of course it was only one test and hardly scientific but at least I had some measure of whether the beetroot was doing anything. Err, besides the obvious side effects.

    I'll try it again for a longer period but I'll still keep my veggie-rich diet, not replace it with beetroot juice.

  • Not a scientific test, but interesting...

    http://tinyurl.com/yfb5o48

  • I'd have to suggest bacon as an alternative source of nitrates. I'm pretty sure I could eat more bacon sarnies than I could beetroot.

  • Endurance properties aside, my favourite way to get beetroot into my diet is as follows:

    - Apples x20 (or carton of apple juice)

    - Beetroot x4

    - Carrots x 3

    - Ginger stem

    Whiz the above in a juice maker - this is a really lovely drink. The above makes about 1 litre and I keep mine in the fridge after making it.

    Be warned - it turns your wee and poo red!

  • I've been adding these to my smoothies almost every morning and they still taste great!! I learned about them awhile ago from www.greensmoothiegirl.com -- many recipes there. These things have given me more energy period. Doing the smoothies in the blender is more complete and filling!

  • I like beetroot.

    But how much would I have to eat to get the equivalent of half a litre of juice a day?

    Cheers

  • There might be something in it; I seem to remember that potassium nitrate is on the UCI list of banned substances.

  • One thing to be aware of is that beetroot colours your poo.

    Just in case you look back in shock – it’s unlikely you're haemorrhaging to death.

  • Beetroot & bacon sarnies are nice ..

    Also try beetroot with wholegrain mustard and salad, tasty !

  • I thought that when your body could not absorb any more of the ingredients of your food it just let it pass through you, thereby changing the colour of your waste product, e.g. too much iron turns it green etc. This being the case, is it not just a waste to overload on any one food type?

  • 1

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