New article: Drinking beetroot juice before exercise makes brain sharp read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/medical-news/item/3325-drinking-beetroot-juice-before-exercise-makes-brain-sharp

Scientists from Wake Forest University, said, drinking a beetroot juice supplement before working out makes the brain of older adults perform more efficiently, mirroring the operations of a younger brain.

W. Jack Rejeski, study co-author, said, we showed in this brief training study of hypertensive older adults was that, as compared to exercise alone, adding a beetroot juice supplement to exercise resulted in brain connectivity that closely resembles what you see in younger adults.

Rejeski said, this is the first experiment to test the combined effects of exercise and beetroot juice on functional brain networks in the motor cortex and secondary connections between the motor cortex and the insula, which support mobility.

In the study, 26 men and women age 55 and older who did not exercise, had high blood pressure, and took no more than two medications for high blood pressure. They drank a beetroot juice supplement, called Beet-It, three times a week for six weeks, one hour before a moderately intense, 50-minute walk on a treadmill. Half the participants received Beet-It contains 560 mg of nitrate, and others received a placebo Beet-It with very little nitrate.

 

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Beets contain a high level of dietary nitrate, when consumed, it converts nitrite to nitric oxide (NO). NO increases blood flow in the body, and several studies have shown it can improve exercise performance in people of various ages.

Rejeski, explains, when you exercise the brain's somatomotor cortex, which processes information from the muscles, sorts out the cues coming in from the body. Exercise should strengthen the somatomotor cortex. So, drinking beetroot juice before exercise delivers even more oxygen to the brain and creates an excellent environment for strengthening the somatomotor cortex.

Although people in the study have similar levels of nitrate and nitrite in the blood before drinking the juice, the beetroot juice group had much higher levels of nitrate and nitrite than the placebo group after exercise.

More information: [The Journal of GERONTOLOGY]