Beetroot acts through one ingredient: nitrate, which the body converts into a vessel-widening gas. Upper blood pressure falls a few points and holds for at least a month. Moderate effort costs less oxygen and fatigue arrives later, most visibly in active non-elite adults. Artery flexibility improves. Beyond that, evidence thins: blood fats and blood sugar do not move. (Full Review)
| Marker | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Home systolic/diastolic blood pressure | Below 120/75 mmHg | The primary outcome dosed against |
| Serum potassium | 4.0-4.5 mmol/L | Juice adds ~300 mg potassium per 100 mL |
| eGFR | Above 90 mL/min/1.73 m² | Kidney-disease threshold for avoidance |
| 24-hour urinary oxalate | Below 25 mg/24 h | Quantifies the stone risk beetroot adds to |
| hs-CRP | Below 1.0 mg/L | Inflammatory context the pigments are claimed to act on |
| HbA1c | 5.0-5.4% | Concentrated juice carries a real sugar load |
| Ferritin | 50-150 ng/mL (men), 30-100 ng/mL (women) | Low iron stores make beeturia more likely |
| TSH | 0.5-2.0 mIU/L | The thyroid question at high nitrate intake |
| Plasma or salivary nitrite | No established target — track change from own baseline | Confirms the conversion pathway works |
Cadence: Home blood pressure daily for two weeks, then weekly; kidney function and potassium at four weeks, then every six to twelve months; hs-CRP, ferritin and TSH annually; urinary oxalate at six months for stone formers.