Research
Mixed
Dietary nitrate supplementation does not improve performance in highly trained endurance athletes during cycling or running, likely due to higher baseline nitric oxide bioavailability.
If you are an elite endurance athlete, stop wasting money on beetroot juice for running or cycling; it won't help you. Focus on training.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
no improvement in economy or TT performance during cycling... or running... exercise was found after the acute consumption of NO3−... Furthermore, studies have shown that prolonging the supplementation period... does not elicit an improvement in economy or TT performance during running... or cycling... when subjects are well trained.
Why this rating
Consistent negative findings across multiple studies in elite cohorts.
Source
Dietary Nitrate and Physical Performance
Andrew M. Jones et al. · Annual Review of Nutrition · 2018
DOI 10.1146/annurev-nutr-082117-051622
narrative_reviewCited 194×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Dietary nitrate supplementation (typically via beetroot juice) improves exercise efficiency by reducing the oxygen cost of submaximal exercise and enhances muscle power/sprint performance, primarily through the nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway.Good
- Dietary nitrate supplementation improves performance in highly trained athletes engaged in upper-body dominant sports (kayaking, rowing) or intermittent sprint sports.Moderate
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