Daos
05-25-2010, 12:13 PM
Beetroot juice boosts stamina by making muscles more fuel-efficient, scientists have found.
The same researchers said last year that the red vegetable juice can increase physical endurance.
The study focused on men aged 19 to 38 cycling on exercise bikes.
Drinking half a litre of beetroot juice a day for a week enabled them to cycle 16 per cent longer before getting tired out.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-1279703-0607256E000005DC-41_233x290.jpg
Now the scientists believe they understand how the beetroot boost works.
They found that drinking beetroot juice doubled the amount of nitrate in the blood of volunteers, and reduced the rate at which muscles used their main source of energy.
Beetroot juice helped muscles work more efficiently and lowered their oxygen uptake.
Study leader Professor Andy Jones, from the University of Exeter's School of Sport and Health Sciences, said: 'Since our first study came out we have seen growing interest in the benefits of drinking beetroot juice in the world of professional sport.
'I expect this study to attract even more attention from athletes.'
Drinking beetroot was found to increase blood nitrate levels and reduce muscle usage of adenosine triphosphate, the body's chief energy source.
Oxygen uptake by muscles was also lowered, said the study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Prof Jones' team studied seven healthy men who were asked to complete a series of knee extension exercises while measuring their exertion levels.
At the same time, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner monitored what was going on in the volunteers' muscles.
The test was repeated several times, both after participants had drunk beetroot juice and after they had drunk blackcurrant cordial.
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1279703/Beetroot-juice-boosts-stamina-making-muscles-efficient.html)
The same researchers said last year that the red vegetable juice can increase physical endurance.
The study focused on men aged 19 to 38 cycling on exercise bikes.
Drinking half a litre of beetroot juice a day for a week enabled them to cycle 16 per cent longer before getting tired out.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-1279703-0607256E000005DC-41_233x290.jpg
Now the scientists believe they understand how the beetroot boost works.
They found that drinking beetroot juice doubled the amount of nitrate in the blood of volunteers, and reduced the rate at which muscles used their main source of energy.
Beetroot juice helped muscles work more efficiently and lowered their oxygen uptake.
Study leader Professor Andy Jones, from the University of Exeter's School of Sport and Health Sciences, said: 'Since our first study came out we have seen growing interest in the benefits of drinking beetroot juice in the world of professional sport.
'I expect this study to attract even more attention from athletes.'
Drinking beetroot was found to increase blood nitrate levels and reduce muscle usage of adenosine triphosphate, the body's chief energy source.
Oxygen uptake by muscles was also lowered, said the study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Prof Jones' team studied seven healthy men who were asked to complete a series of knee extension exercises while measuring their exertion levels.
At the same time, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner monitored what was going on in the volunteers' muscles.
The test was repeated several times, both after participants had drunk beetroot juice and after they had drunk blackcurrant cordial.
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1279703/Beetroot-juice-boosts-stamina-making-muscles-efficient.html)