It’s common knowledge that garlic helps lower blood pressure, but it seems that another root crop has been reported to have the same benefits. ScienceDaily.com reports that beetroot (remolatsa in Tagalog), which contains dietary nitrate, may also help lower blood pressure to healthy levels.

Banking on the effects of dietary nitrate, researchers from the The Barts and The London Medical School in London conducted an experiment involving eight women and seven men who had a systolic blood pressure (the measure of the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats) of 140 to 159 mm HG (millimeters of mercury), and who did not have cardiovascular or general health problems.

They were given either a glass of beetroot juice or a glass of water mixed with a small amount of nitrate and were observed for the next 24 hours.

Results showed that the participants who drank the beetroot juice had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure (the measure of pressure in the arteries between heart beats) compared with those who drank the placebo. While the effects were strongest three to six hours after drinking the juice, researchers confirmed that the effects were still present 24 hours later.

"Our hope is that increasing one's intake of vegetables with a high dietary nitrate content, such as green leafy vegetables or beetroot, might be a lifestyle approach that one could easily employ to improve cardiovascular health,” says lead study author Amrita Ahluwalia.

(Photo by Jeremy Keith via Flickr Creative Commons)