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The health benefits offered by drinking beetroot juice have been confirmed in a study made in the United Kingdom.
According to the research beetroot juice boosts stamina and could help you exercise for 16 per cent longer because the nitrate it contains reduces oxygen uptake which make exercise less tiring.
The researchers from the University of Exeter hopes that their finding will be of interest not only to athletes but also to elderly people and those with metabolic, respiratory or cardiovascular diseases.
Based on their study, Professor Andy Jones of the University of Exeter’s School of Sport and Health Sciences and colleagues found that drinking beetroot juice reduces oxygen uptake more than can be achieved by any other known means, including training.
Jones said their study is the first to show that nitrate-rich food can increase exercise endurance.
He said based on the result of their study they come to the conclusion that the reduced O2 cost of exercise following increased dietary nitrate intake has important implications for our understanding of the factors which regulate mitochondrial respiration and muscle contractile energetics in humans.

Drinking beetroot juice regularly offers health benefits to both men and woman.

The researchers revealed men were able to cycle for an average of 11.25 minutes or 92 seconds longer when they took beetroot juice which translates to about 2 per cent reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance.
Jones and colleagues aren’t sure how the nitrate in the beetroot juice boosts stamina, but they suspect it is because the nitrate turns into nitric oxide in the body (hence the measure for plasma nitrite), which in turn reduces the oxygen cost of exercise.
They now hope to do more tests to understand the effect of nitrate-rich foods on what happens in the body during exercise.
He said they were "amazed" by the effect of beetroot juice on oxygen uptake, especially as they know of no other means that can achieve this big a difference, even training.
He added professional and amateur athletes will be interested in the results of their research.
Jones said he is also keen to explore the relevance of the findings to those people who suffer from poor fitness and may be able to use dietary supplements to help them go about their daily lives.