Beetroot juice: enhanced performance by 3.2% in the latest trial
IN LAST week’s AW we reported how Belgian researchers claimed nitrate-rich leafy green vegetables were as effective as much-acclaimed beetroot when it comes to aiding recovery and enhancing performance. But beetroot bites back in the form of another new study that showed how shots of the root vegetable’s juice boosted running times in athletes with a range of abilities.
Oliver Shannon, a researcher in the School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University, looked at the effects of nitrate-rich beetroot juice on treadmill running performance at high altitude. Participants in the six-week trial performed a number of physical tests in an altitude room, known as a normobaric hypoxic chamber, set to a simulated altitude of 2500m.