If you’ve heard of nitric oxide and what it can do for your health, chances are you’ve heard of nitrates, but what are they and what can nitrates do for your health?
Nitrates actually offer some significant benefits, yet, most of us don’t get enough and our health, including blood pressure, often suffers as a result.
Related: What can Beetroot Really Do For Your Blood Pressure
What are Nitrates?
Nitrates are inorganic compounds made up of nitrogen and oxygen. They can be found in nature and in several foods we eat. Vegetables are the biggest dietary source. Beets, celery, leafy greens, parsley, leeks, endive, cabbage and fennel contain the most, but all plants contain some nitrates.
Plants pick them up from water, soil, nitrogen-based fertilizer and nitrogen in the atmosphere.
Getting Nitrates in Food
When you consume nitrates, the bacteria in your mouth and enzymes in your body turn them into nitrites. They are then absorbed and stored in your cells until they’re converted into nitric oxide.
Nitrates are often preservatives and color fixatives in cured meats. Nitric oxide creates a chemical reaction with the proteins found in the meat, and this reaction changes the color. The use of nitrites is how cured meat stays pink or red, because otherwise it would turn brown and be unappealing to purchase or eat. Nitrites are also beneficial at preventing botulism, which is a dangerous bacteria that can cause paralysis or death Beware that when cooking meat treated with nitrites at high temperatures, compounds created by the extreme heat can be carcinogenic.
Nitrates and nitrites are not harmful unless you consume them in massive quantities. The reason that these naturally occurring nitrates are generally not harmful to you is because the vitamin C in fruits and vegetables naturally prevents negative nitrosamines from forming. Nitrosamines are carcinogens that can potentially cause cancer.
However, the key benefit to nitrates is the nitric oxide production. By improving the amount of nitric oxide available, nitrates help dilate and expand the blood vessels. The discovery of nitric oxide has revolutionized cardiovascular care, blood flow treatment, and improvements in circulation care.
Without healthy levels of nitric oxide, our health suffers significantly.
Support Healthy Blood Pressure
Nitric oxide is a short-lived gas that has various functions in the body. It travels through your artery wall and sends signals to the tiny muscle cells around the arteries, telling them to relax. When these cells relax, your blood vessels dilate and lower your blood pressure. Studies* have shown that supplements that include beetroots or beetroot juice can reduce blood pressure by up to 4-10 mm/Hg.
Support Endurance and Stamina During Exercise
Some studies suggest nitrates can enhance physical performance during high intensity or endurance exercises. One study** has shown that beetroots or beetroot juice can reduce the oxygen cost of exercise by 5.4%, increase time until exhaustion when running by 15% and improve sprinting performance by 4%.
Increasing Your Levels of Nitrates
To significantly increase the available nitrates in your body through your diet, you might have to increase your vegetable consumption by more than 100 times. But there’s a better formula now available with HeartBeet Complete.
HeartBeet Complete is an all-natural formula packed with beetroot powder to increase the amount in the body. It’s also going to provide the key amino acids l-arginine and l-citrulline to help further promote natural nitric oxide production.
And to enhance the benefits you see from HeartBeet Complete even further, you also get CoQ10 and Turmeric along with key vitamins and minerals. This natural formula is absolutely the best way to add more nitrates to your diet.
Learn more about what HeartBeet Complete can do for you.
Studies
*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17635415
**https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17635415
