Does beetroot juice lower blood pressure?
Yes — across randomised human trials, drinking beetroot juice lowered systolic blood pressure by about 4–5 mmHg, most clearly in people who already have high blood pressure. The effect is dose-dependent, and it comes from the whole-vegetable juice — not just its nitrate.
What the evidence supports
- ✓ Lower systolic BP ~4–5 mmHg — clearest in people with high blood pressure1
- ✓ Dose-dependent — a larger drop near 500 mL than at 70–140 mL
- ✓ It's the whole-vegetable juice — the effect is partly nitrate-independent
- ✓ Also aids exercise and muscle performance — a separate, well-studied effect
What it doesn't do
- ✗ Reliably move diastolic (the bottom number) — that effect is small and inconsistent
- ✗ Replace medication — it's a modest food effect, not a drug
- ✗ Work as a one-off — the trials dosed it daily
Where this comes from
- Why it works
- Beetroot is rich in dietary nitrate, which the body converts to nitric oxide — the signal that relaxes and widens blood vessels. But a 22-trial review found the pressure drop is partly independent of nitrate, so it is not simply a nitrate salt in disguise; the whole juice carries the effect, which is why it passes a food standard rather than a supplement one.
- What the human evidence shows
- The confirmed 2022 meta-analysis pooled 7 randomised trials in 218 adults with hypertension, using 70–250 mL of juice a day for 3 to 60 days.1 Systolic pressure fell 4.95 mmHg (95% CI −8.88 to −1.01; GRADE moderate). Diastolic pressure moved only −0.90 mmHg and was not significant (p=0.06) — so the claim stays systolic. A broader mixed-population meta cited alongside it found a smaller systolic drop of about 3.55 mmHg, and the 22-trial review (Bahadoran, Advances in Nutrition, 2017) showed the dose-response: roughly 4.8 mmHg at 500 mL versus 2.4 mmHg at 70–140 mL.
- Where the evidence stops
- The trials are beetroot juice or concentrate; whole cooked-beetroot food trials are far fewer, so the confident claim is specifically about the juice. The effect is largest in people with raised blood pressure — in those already in the normal range it is smaller. And it is a systolic effect: anyone told they have a diastolic problem should not read this as the answer to it.
Why the juice, not a "shot" or a nitrate capsule: the human evidence is built on beetroot juice, and part of its benefit does not come from nitrate at all — so an isolated nitrate supplement is a different thing, not a shortcut to the same result. We recommend no supplement, shot or brand. Beetroot juice is a food; that is the whole point of citing it.
At a glance
Sources
- Nitrate derived from beetroot juice lowers blood pressure in patients with arterial hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2022. frontiersin.org
Corroborated by a 22-trial dose-response review (Bahadoran et al., Advances in Nutrition, 2017) and earlier pooled analyses (Siervo et al., 2013).
Bottom line for you
Beetroot juice genuinely lowers the top number — about 4–5 mmHg — and the benefit is greatest if your blood pressure runs high. Around 140–250 mL a day, taken regularly, is the food-level amount the trials support; more gives a somewhat larger effect. Expect harmless red urine.
Read it as one honest lever, not a cure. It works best on systolic pressure, it needs to be a habit rather than a one-off, and it does not replace medication or the bigger levers — weight, salt, exercise and alcohol. If you're on blood-pressure medicine, raise it with your clinician rather than swapping anything yourself.
Get the evidence, not the hype
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Educational information based on peer-reviewed human studies. Not medical advice — do not start, stop or change blood-pressure medication without your clinician. AntiAgingGreens never sells or recommends supplements. We report what the evidence shows — and where it stops.