Drink beet juice when high altitude gets you down, study says

If you ever wanted to climb Mount Everest, but were worried about developing acute mountain syndrome, these scientists may have the cure for you. And even if you aren’t quite that ambitious, it still might make your next plane trip a little less exhausting.

Norwegian and Swedish scientists decided to see if nitrate-rich beet juice might affect acclimatization to higher altitudes (and therefore less oxygen). They performed the experiment with some test subjects and a 39-day expedition to Kathmandu, and at 3,700 meters elevation in Nepal’s Rolwaling Valley.

One of the keys to acclimatization is having enough nitric oxide in your blood to ensure your blood vessels can adequately deliver oxygen to your body. However, nitric oxide needs oxygen. And there is less oxygen at high altitudes.

Beets are high in nitrate though, and the body can convert that into nitric oxide. And the study shows that drinking beet juice restores normal blood vessel function and oxygen delivery at high altitudes.

Next time you catch a plane or climb a mountain, don’t forget the beet juice.

Source:

Gemini.no