In recent years, beets have been gaining in popularity for its potential health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and increasing exercise performance. Previous studies have also shown that physical activity can have positive effects on the brain, particularly among the older population. Now, research developed by the Department of Health and Exercise Sciences at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (USA) has discovered that these effects on the brain can be reinforced, simply by drinking beet juice Before exercising.
The results of the experiment showed that older adults who consumed beet juice before doing moderately intense exercise demonstrated greater connectivity in brain regions associated with motor function , compared to adults who did not drink it.
The benefits of beets are given thanks to its high content of nitrates; Nitrates are converted to nitric oxide when consumed, which science has shown can lower blood pressure and increase blood flow to the brain.
The study aimed to find out if beet juice could increase the brain benefits of physical activity. To do this, they had the participation of 26 adults 55 years of age or older and with high blood pressure. None of the participants exercised regularly, and they were taking up to two medications to help lower their blood pressure.
In the experiment, all volunteers did 50 minutes of moderately intense exercise on a treadmill three times a week for 6 weeks. One hour before each session, half of the participants took a beet juice supplement containing 560 milligrams of nitrates, while the remaining participants consumed a placebo.
After 6 weeks, the researchers measured the brain function of the participants using magnetic resonance imaging, finding that those who took the beet juice supplement before exercise showed a structurally stronger somatomotor cortex (a region of the brain that helps control body movement), compared to participants who took the placebo.
In addition, the subjects who drank the juice also showed increased connectivity between the somatomotor cortex and the insular cortex, a brain region associated with motor control, cognitive functioning, emotions, and other brain functions.
“We knew that many studies had shown that exercise has positive effects on the brain, but what this short training study of hypertensive older adults showed was that, compared to exercise alone, adding a beet juice supplement to exercise It turned out that brain connectivity looks a lot like what we see in younger adults, “explains W. Jack Rejeski, leader of the work.
The study has been published in the journal Journals of Gerontology: Series A.
