Beet Juice Improves Quality Of Life Of Heart Failure Patients

A new U.S. study on the health impact of beet juice finds that the nitrate it contains not only increases blood flow to skeletal muscles, improving athletic performance, it also boosts blood flow in heart failure patients. Nitrate is reduced in the mouth by bacteria into nitrite, and then reduced to nitric oxide when swallowed, which dilates the blood vessels, and allows blood to go where it needs to go. That increased blood flow makes it easier for wheelchair-bound heart patients to get up and move around, which speeds recovery and raises the quality of life.