--- title: Beet Juice Is Good for Athletes—But Not for the Reason They Think description: Athletes are known to chug beet juice to give them an endurance boost. The root vegetables are a rich natural source of nitrates—which may help... canonical: https://time.com/3676324/beet-juice-athletes/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-21T20:05:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:44:46.897Z article:section: Health og:title: Beet Juice Is Good for Athletes—But Maybe Not for the Reason They Think og:description: Athletes are known to chug beet juice to give them an endurance boost. The root vegetables are a rich natural source of nitrates—which may help... og:url: https://time.com/3676324/beet-juice-athletes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1971ee00ba83877/69877b1b06f2c1d76a33386c/beets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4179 og:image:height: 2351 og:image:alt: beets og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Beet Juice Is Good for Athletes—But Maybe Not for the Reason They Think twitter:description: Athletes are known to chug beet juice to give them an endurance boost. The root vegetables are a rich natural source of nitrates—which may help... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1971ee00ba83877/69877b1b06f2c1d76a33386c/beets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Juice Is Good for Athletes—But Not for the Reason They Think > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 21, 2015 8:05 PM UTC  Organic Beet Organic Beet Getty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 21, 2015 8:05 PM UTC Athletes are known to chug beet juice to give them an endurance boost. The root vegetables are a rich natural source of nitrates—which may help with blood flow—and they’re thought to give exercisers an edge by increasing flow to their limbs during workouts. Now, a new [study](http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/apnm-2014-0228#.VL%5FacmTF-Tc) in the journal _Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism_ shows that beet juice really _is_ good for athletes—but maybe not for the reasons they believe. In a small trial, 12 healthy men in their early twenties drank beet juice either with nitrates, or a placebo version with the nitrates removed. Three hours after drinking, researchers measured the size of their arteries and flow speed of their blood when they were at rest and during six different intensities of a hand grip exercise. Contrary to what they expected to find, researchers discovered that the beet juice had no effect on blood flow or artery size, either at rest or during activity. But they did find that it lowered pressure of blood vessels at rest. The authors note that more research is needed to determine if the results would change under more strenuous exercise, or in an older, less healthy population. But other [studies](http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/51/3/784?ijkey=44c2ed7fa888f7e2a8d65fc14dd98efca11c44b6&keytype2=tf%5Fipsecsha) have shown beet’s positive effect on blood pressure and cardiovascular health—which could mean that far more of us than just elite athletes might want to give beets a chance. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3676324/beet-juice-athletes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3676324/beet-juice-athletes/"},"headline":"This Juice Is Good for Athletes—But Not for the Reason They Think","datePublished":"2015-01-21T20:05:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:44:46.897Z","description":"Athletes are known to chug beet juice to give them an endurance boost. 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