Vegetable nitrates

Specific molecules

The nitrate of green leaves, transformed into nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels.

It is the only place in the app where the microbiota that counts is not the colon's.

Effects and benefits

The nitrate of green leaves and beets becomes, thanks to the bacteria of the mouth, nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels. In trials, beet juice lowered blood pressure by a few points within a few hours, and made exercise cost less oxygen.

The route is astonishing: nitrate is absorbed, then concentrated in saliva; on the tongue, bacteria turn it into nitrite; swallowed, this becomes nitric oxide in the stomach and the blood. The body thus routes half of the journey through the mouth (Lundberg et al., 2008).

A meta-analysis of trials found a drop in systolic pressure of about 4 points with dietary nitrates, beet juice above all (Siervo et al., 2013).

In athletes, it reduced the oxygen used for the same effort, a rare effect (Larsen et al., 2007; Bailey et al., 2009): hence the fashion for beet juice among endurance runners.

Vegetable nitrates come with vitamin C and polyphenols, which curb the formation of nitrosamines: that is what sets them apart from the nitrites added to cured meats (ANSES, 2022).

It is the bacteria of the MOUTH, not those of the gut, that do the first conversion. An antiseptic mouthwash suppresses it for several hours.

Sources: Lundberg et al., Nat Rev Drug Discov, 2008 · Siervo et al., J Nutr, 2013 · Larsen et al., Acta Physiol, 2007 · Bailey et al., J Appl Physiol, 2009 · ANSES, 2022

Vegetable nitrates

Effects and benefits

Where to find it (257)

Also, in smaller amounts (106)