Beetroot is not only a popular vegetable and a valuable source of vitamins and minerals. Research shows that the spherical or elongated tubers offer a range of health benefits. In fact, beetroot contains important nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium as well as B-group vitamins, vitamin C and folic acid, which benefit the body. Beet is therefore considered a real power food.
Neurodegenerative and Inflammatory Diseases
In a study, a research group led by Christian Gruber from MedUni Vienna’s Institute of Pharmacology has isolated a peptide (small protein molecule) from beet. The peptide is able to inhibit a specific enzyme that is responsible for the breakdown of messenger molecules in the body. Due to its particularly stable molecular structure and its pharmacological properties, the beet peptide could be a good candidate for the development of a drug to treat certain inflammatory diseases, such as neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases.
The peptide, which is found in the roots of beet plants, belongs to a group of molecules that plants use for chemical defense against pests such as bacteria, viruses or insects. By analyzing thousands of genome data, the team was able to define a series of new cysteine-rich peptides and place them phylogenetically in the plant kingdom. In doing so, they became aware of a possible function as so-called “protease inhibitors”. The beet peptide can inhibit enzymes that digest proteins. The beet peptide specifically inhibits prolyl oligopeptidase (POP), which is involved in the breakdown of protein hormones in the body and can therefore regulate inflammatory reactions. POP is a much-discussed target for drugs against neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.
The peptide is not only found in the root vegetable, but can also be detected in beet juice – albeit in very low concentrations – and it is not clear whether it can be absorbed as such via the gastrointestinal tract. The research work in Gruber’s laboratory is based on the idea of harnessing nature’s blueprint for the development of drug candidates.
Increasing Muscle Strength
Other studies have shown that the consumption of dietary nitrate – the active molecule in beet juice – significantly increases muscle strength during exercise. While it is known that dietary nitrate enhances physical performance and increases both endurance and high-intensity exercise, researchers still have much to learn about why this effect occurs and how our bodies convert dietary nitrate into nitric oxide that can be used by our cells. To fill this gap, researchers from the University of Exeter and the U.S. National Institutes of Health tracked the distribution of ingested nitrate in the saliva, blood, muscle and urine of ten healthy volunteers, who were then asked to perform a maximal legwork exercise. The team wanted to find out where in the body the nitrate ingested with food is active in order to obtain information on the mechanisms of action. It was shown that the consumption of dietary nitrate – the active molecule in beet juice – significantly increases muscle strength during exercise.
One hour after ingesting the nitrate, participants were asked to perform 60 contractions of the quadriceps – the thigh muscle that is active when the knee is extended – at maximum intensity for five minutes on an exercise machine. The team observed a significant increase in nitrate levels in the muscle. During the exercises, the researchers could see that this nitrate boost led to a seven percent increase in muscle strength compared to the participants taking a placebo.
Previous studies had found an increase in nitrate concentration in tissue and body fluid after ingesting labeled nitrate from food.
By using the tracer in the new study, the researchers were able to assess exactly where nitrate is elevated and active, and also shed new light on how the nitrate we ingest is used to improve athletic performance. According to the researchers, these findings are not only relevant to the field of exercise, but also potentially to other medical fields, such as neuromuscular and metabolic diseases related to nitric oxide deficiency.
Supporting Heart and Blood Vessels
After menopause, the risk of heart disease in women increases dramatically. To improve and support heart and blood vessel health in post-menopausal women, researchers at Penn State University investigated whether beet juice can improve blood vessel function. The results, published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, suggest that daily consumption of beet juice may improve blood vessel function in post-menopausal women to the extent that the risk of future heart disease is reduced.
Beet juice contains a high proportion of nitrate, which the body converts into nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps to dilate blood vessels so that blood can flow more easily through the circulatory system. According to the researchers, nitric oxide’s ability to dilate blood vessels is particularly helpful at times when blood flow and oxygen supply are restricted, such as during a heart attack. David Proctor, professor of kinesiology and physiology at Penn State University, and Jocelyn Delgado Spicuzza, who holds a doctorate in integrative and biomedical physiology from Penn State University, led an interdisciplinary team of researchers who studied how nitrate-rich beet juice affects the vascular health of 24 postmenopausal women in their 50s and 60s.
After menopause, women no longer produce estrogen, which helps maintain nitric oxide in the body. This loss of nitric oxide production contributes to the significantly increased risk of heart disease in post-menopausal women. Foods rich in nitrate – especially beets – are being studied as a natural, non-pharmaceutical way to protect the heart and blood vessels. Nitrate is an approved food additive for some animal foods, such as processed meats. However, according to Delgado Spicuzza, nitrate-based food additives and preservatives are strictly regulated because they can cause cancer. In contrast, plants such as beets, spinach and lettuce naturally accumulate nitrate from the soil. These plant sources of nitrate have cardiovascular benefits because the human body can convert nitrates from plants into nitric oxide, which it cannot do with nitrate added to meat.
In this study, participants at the Penn State Clinical Research Center were tested for vascular function and then consumed a bottle of beet juice every morning for a week. All participants drank concentrated beet juice, with each serving containing as much nitrate as three large beets. A few weeks later, the participants drank beet juice from which the nitrate had been removed. Neither the researchers nor the participants knew which juice they had been drinking at the time of the test. One day after the last dose, the participants returned to have their vascular function tested. The researchers compared how well each woman’s blood vessels dilated when they drank the nitrate-containing beet juice and when they did not. The researchers used an ultrasound sensor to monitor how blood flowed through the brachial artery – located in the upper arm and supplying blood to the hands – during an exercise test in which blood flow in each participant’s forearm was restricted for five minutes. When the restriction was lifted, the researchers again measured how the blood flow in the brachial artery changed.
The results showed that daily consumption of beet juice improved blood flow, while participants drank nitrate-free beet juice. The researchers stated that this level of improved blood vessel function – if it could be maintained over the years after menopause – could significantly reduce the risk of developing heart disease. The long-term health benefits of beet juice had not yet been studied, but the long-term benefits of nitrate-rich vegetables had been confirmed.