Q: I read the article on beetroot juice and inorganic nitrate that lowers blood pressure. I’ve also read that sodium nitrate is unhealthy. What is the difference between inorganic nitrate and sodium nitrate?
A: In the study that looked at the blood pressure lowering quality of beetroot juice, the inorganic nitrate was potassium nitrate(KNO3).
Potassium nitrate is also known as saltpeter. It is a different nitrate than sodium nitrate (NaN03). Both are used to preserve meats, and can be used in fertilizer and pesticides. Sodium nitrate is felt to be the better food preservative so is now used more frequently than potassium nitrate. There is some concern that eating large quantities of sodium nitrate might increase the risk of cancer.
Read the abstract about blood pressure lowering and beetroot juice.
A less scientific version from Science Daily.
What the environmental protection agency has to say about sodium nitrate, including health risks.
(Links to a PDF document)
(9 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
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This answer is laughable. Fresh beet juice, including root, bulb, and stalks, along with carrot juice and celery juice, are the way that I start out every morning to help naturally control my blood pressure. Beet juice offers wonderful support for your blood, including blood pressure. Celery is a natural diuretic and goes a long way toward replacing drugs such as hydrcholorthiazide, and I juice 6 celery stalk with my morning juice every day. But don’t you dare take natural foods and supplements…take those poisonous pharmaceuticals instead!! Otherwise, you might get cancer!! Ludicrous!!!
hi Carestia,
I would love to start juicing my own fruits/veggies. But I need a more description of how many of each you do every morning…thank you
Hi Dianne,
You wouldn’t believe how much juice comes out of just one beet! I think you’ll only need 2 beets to get to 250ml per day, but read my comment below. Pure beet juice is good by itself is pretty strong. However, you should buy a juicer. Fresh carrot and applet juice is the ultimate.
As a chemist I can say that inorganic nitrates are salts such as potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate and others. They do not contain carbon atoms. Organic nitrates contain carbon. Sodium nitrate falls into the category of inorganic nitrates.
So is it helpful to drink beetroot juice for high blood pressure?
It will lower your BP and give you more energy. I like Apple, carrot, and celery juice. I also like beet, celery, carrot, and tomato. All delicious
Howdy Doc,
How about using “L-Arginine” as a supplement to increase Nitirc Oxide? And am I correctly reading these news items that Nitric Oxide will help relax blood vessels? Is that true for folks with advanced heart disease? Thanks!
PS: Please email me any reposnes to this – the issue is very important to me.
This is an encouraging study, but I have a follow-up question. I heard of the original study 2 years ago that found that “just” 500mg of beet juice lowers BP. To my knowledge they didn’t mention KNO3 at the time. I got myself a good juicer and started buying beets like crazy. While I love adding some beet juice to carrot and apple juice, beet juice by itself is VERY strong, and 500mg is a lot! Though I still love juicing veggies I quickly came to the conclusion that I just could not consume this much beet juice per day. The new study is saying the 250mg is enough, but even this is quite a bit of beet juice to drink on a daily basis.
I just did a quick search of Potassium Nitrate(KNO3). I don’t see people using this as a dietary supplement (it seems that it’s used to make bombs and remove tree stumps!)My question is, is there a Potasium Nitrate suppliement out there that is safe and commonly used for the purpose of lowering blod pressure?
thanks,
andrew
Sorry, I meant millileters (ml) in my post above – not mg!
the answer is deceptive: anyone reading this can become concerned that drinking beet juice is going to give them a lot of saltpeter (saltpeter is what was put in soldier’s food to lower their sex drives). undoubtedly, however, drinking beet juice will not lower sex drive as the potassium nitrate is in synergistic relationship with other compounds and not concentrated like the saltpeter put in soldier’s food.
Beet juice is great for you and will lower your BP. I wouldn’t get caught up in how many ounces of BJ to have. Just juice a beet, small, medium or large and take your BP in a few hours and hours later.
I’m not being a chemist and do not care what is in this or that, if it helps then GREAT.
Here is a great free website.
http://www.juicingbook.com/vegetables/beet
I juiced 4 stalks of celery for my mom last night because I read it would help lower bp. I measured her bp before she drank it and it was around 154/100. After she drank the juice I measured again and it had risen to 160/104. What the hell happened??
There is a lot of salt in celery. Perhaps that raised nr’s mom’s blood pressure.
Andrea I know exactly how you feel, you actually think your foot is really slim until you try to get into shoes, I am now 6 months post surgery and still have difficulty getting shoes, I wear the same size but wide and only certain types fit, I currently wear a red lace up, looks great with Jeans but not able to wear a dress or skirt. and yes I still have swelling if I am walking more than normal I was told it takes up to a year for full recovery. I still have problems with pain in my big toe and if I try to walk fast limp, but I guess it is getting there, keep your chin up and try for shoes perhaps in another 6 wks.
Thank you for this web site.
My BP was 150/100 and when I read the articles on this site, I juiced one beetroot, one carrot, one cucumber every day, taking about 250mg once for about three days. When I went for check up at our clinic my pressure was found to have dropped to 110/70. Beetroot works. Glory to God.