Drinking beetroot juice before a workout could enhance the benefits of exercise training in postmenopausal women, according to new research. The findings from the study are published in the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology . As we age, declining mobility can lead to a dangerous cycle that raises the risk of falls, physical inactivity and dependence on others.
In some cases, it can even lead to premature death. While exercise training is the most effective way to counter the age-related decline in physical function, late postmenopausal women —those at least six years past their final menstrual period—often find it harder to build strength and improve fitness compared to premenopausal women and men of the same age. Reduced nitric oxide availability may diminish the responsiveness of skeletal muscles and blood vessels during exercise, potentially explaining why late postmenopausal women respond differently to exercise training.
To address these challenges, the researchers investigated whether beetroot juice, rich in dietary nitrate, could enhance the health benefits of exercise for late postmenopausal women. Nitrate is stored in limited amounts in skeletal muscle and converted to nitric oxide during physical exertion. For the study, 24 postmenopausal volunteers completed supervised, circuit-based exercise training three times per week for eight weeks.
Half of the participants drank 140 milliliters (about half a glass) of beetr.