The Impact of Inorganic Nitrate-Rich Beetroot Juice on Microvascular Blood Flow, Cognitive Function, and Other Hemodynamic Outcomes in Postmenopausal Women †
1
Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, School of Chemistry, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AP, UK
2
Department of Psychology, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AL, UK
3
Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course and Population Sciences, Faculty of Life Science and Medicine, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, Belgrade, Serbia, 14–17 November 2023.
Proceedings 2023, 91(1), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091123
Published: 17 January 2024
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023)
Abstract
:Background: Inorganic nitrate found in beetroot and green leafy vegetables has been demonstrated to reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors, including reducing blood pressure (BP) and the stiffness of blood vessels by increasing levels of nitric oxide (NO). The most beneficial effects of inorganic nitrate have been observed in young, healthy populations, whereas its impact on at-risk populations, such as postmenopausal women, is currently unknown. Objective: the primary aim of the trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of nitrate-rich beetroot juice in enhancing microvascular blood flow and cognitive function in postmenopausal women. Methods: We conducted a double-blind, three-armed, randomised, and controlled crossover trial with 24 postmenopausal women (aged 45 or older and having not had a period for over one year). The interventions were beetroot juice (BJ), nitrate-depleted BJ (NDJB), or NDBJ supplemented with potassium nitrate (0.4 g) to concurrently test if betalains, as well as nitrate, play a role in the vascular and cognitive effects. Cognitive tasks (episodic memory: Rey auditory verbal learning test; executive function: Stroop task, digit span backward and forward) and microvascular function (Laser Doppler Imaging (LDI) with iontophoresis; endothelium-independent and -dependent) were measured in participants before and 2.5 h after ingestion of the intervention. In addition, BP was measured in triplicate every 15 min from the baseline for 2.5 h. Results: The baseline characteristics of the participants recruited to date are as follows (mean and standard deviation)—age (years): 60 ± 5, BMI (kg/ m2): 23.8 ± 3.1, systolic BP (mmHg): 120 ± 14, and diastolic BP (mmHg): 75 ± 8. Early results indicated no significant difference between the groups with respect to SBP or DBP. A statistical analysis of the full data set, including endothelium-dependent and -independent microvascular function and cognitive tests, will be presented. Discussion: the results of this trial will help shed further light on the impact of dietary nitrate and the phytochemicals present in beetroot on human vascular and cognitive function.
Keywords:
beetroot; nitrate; NO; microvascular reactivity; LDI; cognition; RAVLT; post-menopause; RCTAuthor Contributions
The study was designed by B.C., C.M. and J.S., B.C. conducted the research, analysed the data, and wrote the manuscript. N.A. contributed to the conduct of the research. D.L. provided advice for cognitive test design and statistical analysis. All authors read, modified, and approved the final manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This study was funded by the Ministry of National Education of Türkiye.
Institutional Review Board Statement
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the School of Chemistry, Food, and Pharmacy Research Ethics Committee (REC 05/2023).
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement
Data sharing not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Celik, B.; Spencer, J.; Lamport, D.; Argomaniz, N.; Mills, C. The Impact of Inorganic Nitrate-Rich Beetroot Juice on Microvascular Blood Flow, Cognitive Function, and Other Hemodynamic Outcomes in Postmenopausal Women. Proceedings 2023, 91, 123. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091123
AMA Style
Celik B, Spencer J, Lamport D, Argomaniz N, Mills C. The Impact of Inorganic Nitrate-Rich Beetroot Juice on Microvascular Blood Flow, Cognitive Function, and Other Hemodynamic Outcomes in Postmenopausal Women. Proceedings. 2023; 91(1):123. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091123
Chicago/Turabian StyleCelik, Begum, Jeremy Spencer, Daniel Lamport, Noa Argomaniz, and Charlotte Mills. 2023. "The Impact of Inorganic Nitrate-Rich Beetroot Juice on Microvascular Blood Flow, Cognitive Function, and Other Hemodynamic Outcomes in Postmenopausal Women" Proceedings 91, no. 1: 123. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091123
