A specific red vegetable could help lower blood pressure, according to a doctor. Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure is a potentially dangerous condition thought to affect around one in three adults in the UK.
If you have high blood pressure, it means your heart has to work harder than usual to pump blood around your body. Over time, this puts extra pressure on the heart, blood vessels and other organs.
And if not treated it can have serious consequences, with high blood pressure linked to medical emergencies such as strokes and heart attacks. Diet is known to be a major contributing factor for hypertension, with foods high in salt one of the major culprits.
This is because salt helps the body to hold on to water, driving the blood pressure up. However, what we eat and drink can also have the opposite effect.
In a video uploaded to social media platform TikTok, Doctor Suraj Kukadia explained some of the benefits of eating beetroot. Dr Kukadia, who is better known online as Dr Sooj, said: “Are beetroots good for you?
“Beetroots are an excellent dietary nitrate, which has been proven to lower blood pressure both centrally and peripherally. On top of this, it can also help improve athletic performance.
“If you find the taste of beetroot a bit too earthy, you can also just mix it with a bit of apple or a bit of ginger and even mix it into fruit juices.”
View 3 ImagesIt is thought around one in three adults in the UK have high blood pressure(Image: Getty)
His advice is backed by studies looking at the effect of beetroot juice on blood pressure. In a study, published in Hypertension journal in 2015, a team from Queen Mary University of London found that a 250ml glass of beetroot juice resulted in an average decrease in blood pressure of about 8/4 mmHg.
This meant that many of the study participants saw their blood pressure levels back into a safe range. Researchers said this was significant as it is thought every 2mmHg increase in blood pressure increases the likelihood of death from heart disease by seven per cent and stroke by 10 per cent.
The blood pressure-lowering benefits of beetroot were linked to the high levels of dietary nitrates found in the plant. Other foods rich in nitrates include spinach, rhubarb, celery, lettuce and watercress.
In a university release, lead study author Professor Amrita Ahluwalia explained: “Diseases of the heart and blood vessels – which can cause heart attacks and strokes – remain the biggest cause of death worldwide.
“However, unlike some other serious illnesses, we are fortunate in that we can make certain lifestyle changes which dramatically improve our heart and blood vessel health.
“This research has proven that a daily inorganic nitrate dose can be as effective as medical intervention in reducing blood pressure and the best part is we can get it from beetroot and other leafy green vegetables.”
A more recently published paper came to a similar conclusion. A meta-analysis, published in Frontiers in Nutrition in 2022, looked at seven existing studies and concluded that nitrates found in beetroot juice reduces systolic blood pressure, but not diastolic blood pressure in patients with arterial hypertension.
This concluded that daily consumption of the juice over 60 days saw best results.
View 3 ImagesStudies have found a link between drinking beetroot juice and reduced blood pressure(Image: Getty)
To lower your blood pressure, the NHS recommends you:
- Have a healthy, balanced diet
- Exercise regularly – aim to do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week
- Lose weight if you’re overweight
- Do not eat too much salt – avoid salty food or adding salt to your meals
- Do not drink too much alcohol – avoid drinking more than 14 alcohol units a week on a regular basis
- Do not drink too much caffeine – drinks high in caffeine include coffee, tea and cola
- Do not smoke
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If you are concerned about your blood pressure, you should speak to your GP.