Beetroot juice is used as a supplement by several athletes who do endurance sports such as running and cycling. In addition to its high content in vitamins, minerals, polyphenolic antioxidative substances, it is a concentrate of nitrates extremely useful to our body and essential to combat fatigue. Several studies reported  his ability to increase sports performances.

One of the proposed mechanisms is, in fact, linked to the intake of nitrates contained in the juice,  converted into nitrogen monoxide (NO) reduce the blood pressure and the amount of oxygen necessary during a physical exercise improving athletic performance. NO in addition to regulating blood flow, stimulates muscle contraction, glucose and calcium homeostasis and mitochondrial respiration.

A study just published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure, 2018 showed that supplementation with beet juice improves exercise capacity in patients with heart failure. The study examined the impact of food nitrate introduced with beet juice on the ability to exercise in eight patients with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction, a condition in which the heart muscle does not contract effectively and can’t get sufficient oxygen-rich blood  to the body.  Reduced ejection fraction represents almost 50% of the problem of heart failure.
The study concluded that beet juice causes a significant increase in training time, peak power and peak oxygen uptake while exercising.

Andrew R. Coggan et al.Dietary Nitrate Increases VO 2 peak and Performance but Does Not Alter Ventilation or Efficiency in Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction. Journal of Cardiac Failure, 2018; 24 (2): 65 DOI: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2017.09.004