Beetroot Juice Improves Sprinting and Decision-Making During Exercise

22 Sep 2015 --- Rugby players take note: drinking high nitrate beetroot juice improves both sprint performance and decision-making during prolonged intermittent exercise such as rugby and football, according to scientists from the University of Exeter.

As excitement mounts for the Rugby World Cup, the research, published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, adds further weight to the case for beetroot juice as a superfood for both elite and amateur sports players and athletes. Previously, the team at Exeter had regular beetroot juice drinks which can help people to exercise for 16% longer.

In the latest study,16 male team sport players received 140ml of Beet It Sport, high nitrate beetroot juice for seven days. On day seven, the sportsmen, who were all members of rugby, hockey or football teams, completed an intermittent sprint test which consisted of two 40 minute sessions of repeated two minute blocks. This consisted of a six second all-out sprint, 100 seconds active recovery and 20 seconds of rest, on an exercise bike. At the same time, they were given cognitive tasks designed to test how accurately and how fast they made decisions.

The participants carried out the same tests after drinking nitrate-rich beetroot juice and again after drinking a placebo version with the nitrate stripped out. Researchers found those who had consumed the nitrate-rich version saw an improvement in both sprint performance (3.5%) and speed of making decisions (3%) without hindering decision accuracy.

Chris Thompson, of the University of Exeter, who led the study, said, “We supplemented our participants with two 70 ml concentrated beetroot shots for 7 days prior to the exercise experiments. On the day of experimental testing, participants consumed two shots 2.5 hours before exercise. We have previously shown that this allows sufficient time for blood plasma levels of nitrite to peak.”

He went on to say: “This is a really exciting landmark in the research conducted on nitrate supplementation so far. Specifically this is the first study to demonstrate that both physical and cognitive performance during high intensity intermittent exercise may be enhanced by nitrate-rich beetroot juice. The improvements we have reported may seem small, but are likely to be practically meaningful to competitive athletes. It could mean that team sport players are able to make those important decisions faster and cover more ground than their opponents in the seconds when it matters most.”

Professor Andrew Jones, Associate Dean for Research at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter commented: “These new results suggest that beetroot juice could improve both physical performance and decision-making during team sports such as rugby and football. In events like the Rugby World Cup, every second counts in those crucial moments, so this improvement could make all the difference”.

BEET IT shots are at the centre of worldwide research in over 150 universities into the benefits of natural dietary nitrate supplementation. The research has identified that their naturally high dietary nitrate content (400mg per shot) interacts with enzymes in saliva to generate nitric oxide in the blood system. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator that increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the muscles, thereby boosting strength and endurance.

Dietary nitrates do not have the same effect in the body as nitrate/nitrite salts used as food preservatives. Nitrate is converted in the body into nitrites which in turn may be converted into harmful nitrosamines, but vitamin C, found naturally in all vegetables , naturally inhibits this conversion, which is why fresh fruits and vegetables cause fewer problems than preserves meats. Nitrite which is not converted into nitrosamine becomes nitric oxide, which is a potent vasodilator.

Many other vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, fennel, radishes and parsley also contain high levels of nitrates and may have the same effects if concentrated in this way. However, if processed into juices many of these lose their nitrate content once opened and stored at room temperature whereas beetroot extract does not, making it the most stable of all the sources.

The latest research comes as the University of Exeter is named The Times and The Sunday Times Sports University of the Year 2015-16, in recognition of its research, education and performance on the field.