Beet Juice Reduces Blood Pressure in Healthy Men
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In two recent studies involving normotensive men (those with no blood-pressure issues), beetroot was found to reduce blood pressure. Researchers conducted two separate, randomly controlled, single-blind, cross-over, studies in 32 healthy individuals. Blood pressure was measured over 24 h following consumption of either beetroot juice, red beetroot- or white beetroot-enriched breads, or normal, unadulterated bread. Drinking beet juice lowered blood pressure compared to controls, as did bread products enriched with both forms of beetroot. Increasing your nitrate intake from eating more of these types of nitrate-rich vegetables would be a healthy, supplement-free strategy to help your cardiovascular health. However, for those of you with limited time who need a quick boost of “instant veg”, you may feel you need to supplement your diet with products such as beetroot juice, or even “greens powders” to support your intake of micronutrients.
http://www.yoursportsnutrition.com/health/green-drinks.html
“Blood pressure-lowering effects of beetroot juice and novel beetroot-enriched bread products in normotensive male subjects,” Hobbs DA, Kaffa N, et al, Br J Nutr, 2012 Mar 14:1-9. (Address: Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy, The University of Reading, Reading, UK. E-mail: j.a.lovegrove@reading.ac.uk ).
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Sugar not so sweet for fatty liver!
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High fructose corn syrup is now viewed as one of the evils of the world, bypassing the body’s regulatory steps in carbohydrate metabolism to go straight to the liver and deposit fatty tissue. However, eating too much ordinary table sugar has also been associated with obesity and cardiovascular disorders. This study compared the effects of sucrose-sweetened soft drinks with calorie-matched milk intervention, and a non-caloric soft drinks, on fat-mass and fat deposition in the liver and muscle tissue in 3 separate groups within a cohort of 47 Overweight subjects.
Soft drinks increased levels of blood fats, liver fat, muscle fat and belly fat more than the other groups – all the unhealthy forms of stored fat associated with disease. Drinking milk or diet cola reduced systolic blood pressure by 10-15% compared with regular cola (P < 0.05). Otherwise, diet cola had effects similar to those of water.
Reducing your sugar intake will increase health and performance for most individuals. Get carbs from healthy fruit and vegetable sources and learn how to cycle carbs with activity:
Maersk M, Belza A, Stødkilde-Jørgensen H, Ringgaard S, Chabanova E, Thomsen H, Pedersen SB, Astrup A, Richelsen B.; Sucrose-sweetened beverages increase fat storage in the liver, muscle, and visceral fat depot: a 6-mo randomized intervention study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Feb;95(2):283-9. Epub 2011 Dec 28.
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