You Just Can’t Beet It
Fresh Beetroot
Its purple pigment is said to increase and normalise cell respiration - the oxygen-based energy production within cells and, therefore, be advantageous in the diet of anyone with or seeking to avoid cancer or degenerative diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome - which feature reduced cell respiration.
Other research declared beetroot a “mood food”, with Betaine found in the vegetable recognised as helping people to relax and feel good.
Now we have beetroot juice as the answer to high blood pressure. The beneficial ingredient here seems to be nitrate, also found in green, leafy vegetables, which would, however, require you eating an awful lot of leaves. Dr Andrew Webb from the William Harvey Research Institute at Barts and the London School of Medicine, and colleagues from other UK institutions conducted the research which was supported by fellowships from the Wellcome Trust and the British Heart FoundationResearchers found that healthy volunteers’ blood pressure was reduced within an hour of drinking a glass of beetroot juice and that the effect was more pronounced after three to four hours. A reduction could still be observed for up to 24 hours.
Professor Graham McGregor, of the British Hypertension Society, described the research as "interesting". He said that research was now needed to see whether beetroot has an effect on people with high blood pressure over a much longer period of time.Patricia McLoughlin
Tue, 02/12/2008 - 18:35 — Tricia
