Nitrates??

Nitrites from Beet Juice REDUCES High Blood Pressure: 

– Nitric oxide (NO) relaxes blood vessels and can reduce blood pressure. It is synthesized in a couple of ways in the body. One of those ways uses nitrate (NO3-) from food sources.

Study:

– Hypertensive patients, both those who were taking blood pressure medications and those who weren’t, took beet juice either containing nitrates or with the nitrates removed for four weeks. Blood pressure and other vascular measurements were taken to determine how dietary nitrates affected these measurements.

Results:

– Nitrate consumption appeared to cause significant reduction of systolic blood pressure after a single week and continued to have a time-dependent benefit all the way up to the last week of supplementation

– Two weeks cessation caused the elevations of plasma NOX and cGMP to return to normal levels, when nitrate was no longer used by hypertensive participants their blood pressure and blood flow returned to baseline levels. (a ‘band-aid’ supplement that exerts its benefits for only as long as it is used)

– Nitrate ingestion, even once a day, provides a sustained decrease in blood pressure for 24 hours, which can be extended by simply taking another dose each day. 

– Nitrate ingestion did not appear to be associated with any significant side-effects clinically, biochemically, or hematologically

– It is possible that the tiny nitric oxide molecule explains a
good portion of the health-giving properties of some vegetables!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4288952/pdf/emss-61499.pdf

– Examine RD issue 5