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Why Are Beet Shots Beneficial for Athletes

Aside from physical fitness, most athletes consume sports supplements before, during, and after their exercises. Understandably, most of them – be it bodybuilders, multisports athletes, marathon runners, or cyclists pay attention to their standard diets, which are in relation to their sports programs.


A healthy diet is high in vegetables and that athletes generally practice healthier eating habits, mainly due to their active lifestyle and intense training regime. There are various types of vegetables that offer rich nutrients to athletes. One of the most common and popular vegetables is beetroot.


Beetroots have been associated with numerous health benefits, including improved blood flow, lower blood pressure, and increased athletic performance. Packed with essential nutrients, beetroots are a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Many of these benefits are due to their high content of inorganic nitrates.



DIETARY NITRATE IN BEETROOT JUICE

Having said that, nitrate rich beetroot juice has become a popular sports supplement because of its proposed ergogenic properties.


Dietary nitrate is a molecule found naturally in the diet in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, rocket and beetroot. It is converted to nitrite by bacteria on the tongue, before predominantly becoming converted to nitric oxide (NO) in the stomach.


BUT HOW?

After the nitrate being readily taken up in the upper gastrointestinal tract, plasma nitrate levels rise and remain elevated. Once in the circulation, 25% of the nitrate load is actively absorbed and concentrated by the salivary glands in the mouth.


Following secretion of nitrate-containing saliva into the mouth, anaerobic bacteria on the tongue reduce nitrate to nitrite via nitrate reductases – an important step as mammalian cells cannot effectively metabolise this nitrate.


Nitrite is then swallowed in the saliva to enter the low acidic stomach, where it is rapidly converted to form nitric acid, which then decomposes via various reactions to form the effector molecule, nitric oxide (NO).


WHICH SPORTS SUPPLEMENT CONTAINS NITRATE

Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 is made from 98% of concentrated beetroot juice and 2% of lemon juice. It provides a 100% natural source of nitrate.


Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 is the only nitrate supplement to deliver a minimum of 400mg of natural nitrate per shot, and the natural nitrate is the optimal dose for sports performance.


HOW ATHLETES CAN BENEFIT FROM BEET IT SPORT NITRATE 400

The beneficial effects of Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 are related to its ability to increase the bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO), particularly in environments of low oxygen availability and low pH. NO regulates several physiological processes associated with exercises such as blood flow and muscle contraction.


Since high-intensity exercise creates an environment of low oxygen availability and low pH, it has recently been suggested that nitrate supplementation could be particularly beneficial for intermittent and repeated-sprint exercises, such as in team sports and sports of high intensity and short duration.


After consuming Beet It Sport Nitrate 400, some of the nitrates will be initially converted to nitrite in the mouth on the first pass. However, it is not stimulant like caffeine, so do not expect euphoric effects after consuming. Beet It Sport has been shown to increase time to task failure and improve the oxygen cost of exercise, resulting in improved performance times.


Blood plasma nitrate and nitrite have been shown to peak 1 to 3 hours post-ingestion of Beet It Sport Nitrate 400, remain elevated for 6 hours and gradually return to baseline at 12 to 24 hours post-ingestion. Thus athletes exercising for 4 to 6 hours or above, may gain a benefit from “topping up” plasma nitrate and nitrite during exercise.




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