The power of beetroot juice

That festive of festive season approaches, and don't we all just love to indulge.... and often regret it when we over do it. One healthy way to prepare the body is to introduce a regular drop of beetroot juice.

Why beetroot juice?  Beetroot juice is particularly high in natural dietary nitrates, as well as being both easy to consume and delicious in taste.

According to the Blood Pressure Association there are about 16 million people in the UK with a blood pressure higher than 140/90mmHg – the upper limit of normal. This means that one in every three adults now have high blood pressure, with larger numbers affected in older age groups.

Sometimes the first symptom will be a stroke or heart attack (yes, you should go and get tested now!). Current treatment is with tablets but unfortunately many patients, especially if they do not feel unwell, do not like taking tablets every day and the treatment is essentially lifelong. This is what makes the recent research by a group of doctors at St. Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital particularly important. They have shown that a daily dose of natural beetroot juice can have as much effect on blood pressure in healthy volunteers as a conventional tablet prescribed by a doctor.

Why beetroot juice? Well, beetroot is unusual in that it contains very high levels of nitrate. All plants need nitrate to grow and make protein. Beetroot is just better than the others at taking it up from the soil and storing it in its swollen root.

A spokesperson said: "The magnitude of the blood pressure reduction surprised us all..."

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