Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Beetroot juice supplementation improves physiological efficiency (heart rate recovery, step test scores) at altitude but does not significantly change performance at sea level.
If you are operating at high altitude, consuming beetroot juice (high nitrate) can help maintain performance and heart rate recovery. It may not provide benefits at sea level.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Harvard Step Test: Scores declined as altitude increased in control group (p = 0.003), no decline as altitude increased (p = 0.26) in BRJ group. Heart rate recovery was prolonged in control group (p < 0.01), unchanged with BRJ (p = 0.61)
Why this rating
Small sample size (n=22), single study.
Source
Dietary Supplementation on Physical Performance and Recovery in Active-Duty Military Personnel: A Systematic Review of Randomized and Quasi-Experimental Controlled Trials
Jacie Harlow et al. · Nutrients · 2024
DOI 10.3390/nu16162746
systematic_reviewCited 9×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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