Beetroot juice supplement could improve health and enhance mobility for COPD patients, study finds

21 Dec 2023 --- A team of London-based researchers reveal that a daily beetroot juice supplement may benefit individuals suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The 12-week study, conducted at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, underscores the potential of beetroot juice, which is rich in nitrate, to improve health outcomes in COPD patients.

COPD is a severe lung condition encompassing chronic bronchitis and emphysema, which affects approximately 400 million people globally. The disease not only causes breathing difficulties but also significantly restricts physical activity and increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

“COPD cannot be cured, so there is a pressing need to help patients live as well as they can with the condition and to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease,” explains Dr. Apostolos Bossios, head of the European Respiratory Society’s airway disease assembly. “Patients taking part in this trial generally found the beetroot juice supplement acceptable and they saw benefits in terms of their blood pressure and mobility.”

“This suggests they may see improvements in everyday life and should have a lower risk of heart disease and stroke, but we will have to study patients for longer to confirm if this is the case.”

Impressive findings
The study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, included 81 participants with COPD, all of whom had a systolic blood pressure exceeding 130 millimeters of mercury (mmHg), higher than the ideal range of 90 to 120 mmHg.

“There is some evidence that beetroot juice as a source of nitrate supplementation could be used by athletes to improve their performance, as well as a few short-term studies looking at blood pressure,” reveals Dr. Nicholas Hopkinson, the lead author of the study and a researcher at Imperial College London, UK. “Higher levels of nitrate in the blood can increase the availability of nitric oxide, a chemical that helps blood vessels relax.”

Since COPD has no known cure, beetroot juice supplementation could improve the quality of life of millions of sufferers.“It also increases the efficiency of muscles, meaning they need less oxygen to do the same work.”

The results show that patients who consumed the nitrate-rich beetroot juice experienced an average decrease in systolic blood pressure of 4.5 mmHg compared to the placebo group. Furthermore, their ability to walk improved significantly, with an average increase of approximately 30 meters in a six-minute walking test.

Implications for treatment
According to the researchers, the patients were randomly assigned to either receive a nitrate-rich beetroot supplement with 70 ml of concentrated beetroot juice with 400 mg of nitrate daily or a placebo.

The results suggest that beetroot juice, with its high nitrate content, could be a simple yet effective dietary supplement for managing COPD. The team emphasizes that the supplement not only has the potential to lower blood pressure but also appears to enhance the physical capabilities of those afflicted by this debilitating respiratory condition.

Additionally, the researchers state that the study opens up new avenues for non-pharmacological interventions in managing COPD, offering a ray of hope for millions suffering from this condition. 

The team says the results also signify the importance of dietary choices and natural supplements in supporting overall health, particularly for chronic diseases. 

“At the end of the study, we found that the blood pressure of people taking the nitrate-rich beetroot juice drink was lower and their blood vessels became less stiff,” Hopkinson stresses. “The juice also increased how far people with COPD could walk in six minutes compared to placebo.”

“This is one of the longest-duration studies in this area so far. The results are very promising but will need to be confirmed in larger, longer-term studies,” he concludes.

Edited by William Bradford Nichols