What is Beetroot?
Beetroot, also know as beta vulgaris is a root vegetable. It is red in colour and packed with essential nutrients. It can be consumed raw, as a juice, baked, boiled or in our case as a powdered extract.
It contains a number of antioxidant substances such as flavonoids, anthocyanins and betaine but the main compound that provides its benefits within the space of physical performance is that it contains high levels of inorganic nitrate (NO3). Intake of this has proven to be effective at increasing blood nitric oxide (NO) concentrations which can promote vasodilation and blood flow [1].
What is Beetroot 20:1 extract and its nitrate content?
Our extract is a 20:1 extract which means to make 1g of the extract 20g of raw beetroot powder was used. Beetroot contains 1.5% of nitrates per gram of raw material and so per serving our beetroot extract wil provide 300mg of nitrates which is regarded as an effective ergogenic dose.
Beetroot provides a source of bioavailable dietary inorganic nitrate.
Once this is ingested and absorbed it is converted to nitrite (NO2) and through nitrate reductase it is then further broken down to nitric oxide. Precursors to NO have been shown to cause vasodilation, alter lactate removal and increase muscle blood flow, all of which can increase performance [2].
What are the benefits?
- Improves aerobic endurance
- Increases tolerance to high intensity exercise
- Increases power output
Improves aerobic endurance
NO causes blood vessel dilation which increases the blood flow to the muscles and reduces the VO2 at a given work rate. It is still unclear the mechanics of this but it could be suggested that increased levels of nitric oxide may reduce the ATP cost of force production [3].
During submaximal work dietary nitrate supplementation results in a lower oxygen demand which is likely down to energy production becoming more efficient [4].
There have been multiple studies showing improvements in cycling time trial performance, notably one found a lowered Vo2 of 3.5% and 5.1% at work rates corresponding to 45% and 65% of their VO2 max [5].
Increases tolerance to high intensity exercise
Supplementation of nitrate-rich beetroot significantly reduces the oxygen cost when working at fixed work rates and increases the time to failure during high intensity exercise, one study found an improvement of 16% in the time to failure during intense exercise [6].
Improved tolerance to high intensity exercise was shown through athletes performing work sets until exhaustion consisting of 15 seconds bouts, pedalling at 170% VO2 max followed by 30 second rest periods. Athletes who had beetroot saw nearly a 20% increase in the number of reps completed compared to the placebo [7].
Dietary nitrates may promote the production of NO via the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway and can enhance performance by facilitating greater muscle glucose uptake or by maintaining muscle excitability [8].
Increases power output
It is thought that the increased blood flow by NO is specific to type II muscle fibers, which are your fast twitch muscle fibers. This could translate to an increased capacity for muscle strength and power output [9].
Beetroot supplementation was able to significantly improve the power (6.7%) developed through the first 15 seconds of a Wingate test which may also be explained by the reduced ATP demands and a diminished phosphocreatine (PCr) cost during exercise efforts [10].
Enhanced power production can be seen during maximal muscle efforts where males participated in isometric mid-thigh pulls and saw a 13.5% increase in peak output [11].
References
[1]https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0204-9
[2]https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2020/04000/effect_of_acute_beetroot_juice_supplementation_on.5.aspx
[3]https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/6/2/605
[4]https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-1716.2007.01713.x
[5]https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=5971658fceb41daedc3f27d2a58503bda0d031e3
[6]https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00722.2009?rss=1&ssource=mfr
[7]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1089860315002190
[8]https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-013-2589-8
[9]https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0204-9
[10]https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/12/1360
[11]https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/apnm-2018-0050