- Drinking beetroot juice before exercise can improve brain function in older adults with high blood pressure, finds a new study.
- Beetroot juice contains nitrates that convert to nitric oxide, which improves exercise performance.
- Combining beetroot juice with exercise supplies more oxygen to the brain and strengthens the somatomotor cortex.
Effect of Beetroot Juice and Exercise in Older Adults
The study group involved 26 men and women aged over 55 years who did not follow a daily exercise regimen. All the participants had high blood pressure and took two anti-hypertensive drugsThe findings showed that drinking beetroot juice before exercise resulted in brain connectivity that closely resembles the brain of a younger adult.
How Beetroot Improves Exercise Performance?
Beetroot contains high levels of nitrate, which is converted to nitrite and nitric oxide when consumed. Nitric oxide increases blood flow in the body. Studies have shown that nitric oxide can improve exercise performance in people of various ages."Nitric oxide is a powerful molecule. It goes to the areas of the body which are hypoxic or needing oxygen, and the brain is a heavy feeder of oxygen in your body," said W. Jack Rejeski, a study co-author.
The brain’s somatomotor cortex, which processes information from the muscles, sorts out the cues coming in from the body during exercise. Thus, exercise strengthens the somatomotor cortex.
The findings of the study suggest that combining beetroot juice with exercise delivers more oxygen to the brain and strengthens the somatomotor cortex.
"We knew, going in, that a number of studies had shown that exercise has positive effects on the brain," said Rejeski. “This is the first study to test the combined effects of exercise and beetroot juice on functional brain networks and secondary connections between the motor cortex and the insula, which support mobility,” said Rejeski, Professor, and Director of the Behavioral Medicine Laboratory at the Department of Health & Exercise Science.
Reference:
- Meredith Petrie, W. Jack Rejeski, Swati Basu, Paul J. Laurienti, Anthony P. Marsh, James L. Norris, Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro, Jonathan H. Burdette. Beet Root Juice: An Ergogenic Aid for Exercise and the Aging Brain.The Journals of Gerontology (2017). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glw219
Source-Medindia