Beetroot juice improves peripheral blood flow, endothelial function and anti-inflammatory status in individuals with Raynaud's phenomenon. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Beet the cold: Beetroot juice improves peripheral blood flow, endothelial function and anti-inflammatory status in individuals with Raynaud's phenomenon.
J Appl Physiol (1985). 2019 Jul 25. Epub 2019 Jul 25. PMID: 31343948
Anthony Ian Shepherd
Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is characterised by recurrent transient peripheral vasospasm and lower nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability in the cold. We investigated the effect of nitrate-rich beetroot juice (BJ) supplementation onNO-mediated vasodilation,cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) and skin temperature (T) following local cooling andsystemic anti-inflammatory status. Following baseline testing, twenty-three individuals with RP attended four times, in a double-blind, randomized crossover design, following acute and chronic (14 days) BJ and nitrate-depleted beetroot juice (NDBJ) supplementation. Peripheral Tand CVC were measured during and after mild hand and foot cooling, and during transdermal delivery of acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside. Markers of anti-inflammatory status were also measured. Plasma [nitrite] was increased in the BJ conditions (<0.001). Compared to the baseline visit, thumb CVC was greater following chronic-BJ (Δ2.0 flux·mmHg-,= 0.02) and chronic-NDBJ (Δ1.45 flux·mmHg-,= 0.01) supplementation; however, no changes in Twere observed (>0.05). Plasma [interleukin-10] was greater, pan endothelin and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) were reduced, and forearm endothelial function was improved ,by both BR and NDBJ supplementation (<0.05). Acute and chronic BJ and NDBJ supplementation improved anti-inflammatory status, endothelial function and BP. CVC following cooling increased post chronic-BJ and chronic-NDBJ supplementation, but no effect on Twas observed.