• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter

Laces and Lattes

  • Home
  • About
    • Top Posts
    • Series
  • Races
    • 2015 Races
    • 2016 Results
    • 2017 Results
  • Favourites
  • Workouts
    • Training
  • Services
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
beet juice

Jul30

Beet Juice and Endurance Athletes

I visited my naturopath the other week to talk nutrition and training. I have never talked about this on the blog before, but I am an endurance athlete with Graves Disease which is an aggressive form of hyperthyroidism. Basically, while everyone else’s thyroid decides to slow down, mine wants to ramp into high gear which causes me to lose weight and muscle mass. I am going to do a full post on what exactly it is and how I manage it this August, but it is the reason I work closely with a naturopath and an endocrinologist to make sure I don’t have a thyroid storm in the middle of a marathon.

unnamed

More on that later, for now, my naturopath absolutely floored me when she mentioned that I was doing well with my nutrition. My long time readers know that I have a sister with severe anorexia, so as a result, I am VERY relaxed with my nutrition and probably eat more sugar and fat than the average female runner because my over all goal is balance and positivity towards food of all kinds and well, that whole thyroid thing.

One change that I have made in my nutrition while training is to remove an afternoon coffee which cuts me down to one a day. Hyperthyroidism puts everything into overdrive for me, so inflammation from training will be enhanced. One thing I have added in is beet juice for my long runs and I wanted to talk a bit about that.

unnamed

There was a study done by Andy Jones at the University of Exedor which showed that by adding beet juice to training increases the plasma nitrate concentration in the blood, reduces blood pressure, and made exercise feel easier.

Beets are a fabulous source of inorganic nitrate – just make sure you don’t use too much mouthwash before consuming them! The nitrate ends up in your saliva, where bacteria convert it to nitrite. Elsewhere in the body, it is converted to nitric oxide which aids in blood flow, muscle movement and brain transmission.

Here is a graph showing how levels of nitrate in your blood change after increasing amounts of beet juice:

wylie_beet_dose_response_1So the more beet juice you drink, the better the effect. It peaks at about 2-4 hours and tapers off at around 12 hours. As a result of these increases in beet juice, blood pressure dropped and the amount of energy needed to maintain a moderate level of exercise decreased after drinking the beets. Basically, it felt easier to run at the same pace than without the beet juice.

I tried it out myself this past weekend and although I had tired legs after a hard week of marathon training, I was flying for the last 10 KM of my 30 KM run. I am planning on continuing to play with it until my marathon in 3 weeks, but my only caution is to not drink more than 500 mL as beet juice has been proven to be synonymous with portapotty stops.

To make beet juice, take 2 large beets and put them in a blender or juicer. Add water or fruit as desired.

To make beet juice, take 2 large beets and put them in a blender or juicer. Add water or fruit as desired.

If you find it difficult to palate, mix in an apple or pear with water to dilute the mixture and add some sweetness. I will be honest, straight beet juice (which is how I took it down) tasted not unlike alcohol.

How about you? Ever tried beet juice for endurance events? What was the result?

If not, would you try it?

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google
  • LinkedIn

Related

Filed Under: Sports Nutrition, TrainingTagged With: Andy Jones, beet juice, endurance, Jessica Kuepfer, long run, Sports Nutrition, sports science, training, University of ExedorJuly 30, 2014

Comments

  1. M says

    July 30, 2014 at 7:13 am

    I take a concentrate – BeetElite – which I mix with 4-ish ounces of water and take my pre-long run/pre-race supplements with. My husband does the full up bottled Biotta beet juice, but I have a sensitive stomach and also don’t like taking in too much fluid ahead of time (try to avoid potty stops). BeetElite makes individual serving pouches which are great for races where you’re traveling/in a hotel, and they also make a canister (which is much cheaper per serving). I like the original flavor (maybe because I like beets!), but the canister only comes in black cherry, which my husband preferred when he tried it. (I’m not sponsored by them or an affiliate or anything, I just like it and use it, though I will say it’s pricey.) I also eat canned/fresh beets though sporadically. I might consider making that more a regular part of my diet in this training cycle to get even more benefits.

    (I’m hypothyroid – originally Hashimoto’s, now from having thyroid removed due to thyroid cancer, so I’m kept at quite low TSH, officially “hyperthyroid” most likely. I’ll be interested to hear how you manage it, sorry you have to deal with it.)

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      July 30, 2014 at 5:43 pm

      Hey! Thanks for letting me know. I am actually searching for a good powder replacement so I will check it out.
      Silly thyroid issues. I’d love to connect and hear how you manage yours as well.

      Reply
  2. Kristen says

    July 30, 2014 at 7:17 am

    does eating beets have the same effect? i have always wondered this, never found an answer.

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      July 30, 2014 at 5:42 pm

      I think it is hard to eat enough beets to have the effect and cooking can lessen their ability to lower blood pressure. Still very good for you, but better raw.

      Reply
  3. Krysten Siba Bishop (@darwinianfail) says

    July 30, 2014 at 8:31 am

    How did I not know this!? I love Beet Juice!! And I often add beets to my salad

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      July 30, 2014 at 5:41 pm

      You are born to be an endurance athlete!:)

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Friday Things x 2 - Laces and Lattes says:
    March 13, 2015 at 5:31 am

    […] 3. Do you eat beets? I have been adding them to every stirfry this week and my dinners have gone from meager to rockstar. Here is something else I wrote on why you should have some beets in your life. […]

    Reply
  2. Beets for Athletes and Nova Scotia - Laces and Lattes says:
    October 7, 2016 at 5:31 am

    […] I headed out, I wanted to talk a bit about beets. I wrote about the benefits of this veggies for endurance training here. In September, The Chopped Leaf (who is an awesome partner of mine who does provide compensation) […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MY NEXT RACE:

Seattle Half Marathon | Burlington, ON | November 2018

Hi, I'm Jessica and this is my endurance sport blog where I share my training, races and sports nutrition. New here? Feel free to learn more about me here and if you are looking for a place to start, check out my popular posts.

Top Posts

Why I am Grateful I Was Injured This Summer

Why I am Grateful I Was Injured This Summer

Mile 23: Why Social Media Dissatisfaction is Your Fault

Mile 23: Why Social Media Dissatisfaction is Your Fault

An Ironman or an Adventure Race – Which Is Harder?

An Ironman or an Adventure Race – Which Is Harder?

Stage 4 Cancer – My Sport Isn’t All I’m Crushing

Stage 4 Cancer – My Sport Isn’t All I’m Crushing

Mile 23: I’m Making You a Promise

Mile 23: I’m Making You a Promise

Fitspirit

Subscribe to Laces and Lattes by Email

* indicates required
I want to receive newsletters from Laces & Lattes *

Copyright © 2022