Beet Juice Benefits Brain Health in Elderly

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.Older adults who drink a glass of beet juice every day may help slow the progression of dementia because the nitrate-rich beverage has been shown to increase blood flow in the brain, according to a new study published online in Nitric Oxide: Biology and Chemistry.

According to researchers at Wake Forest University, high concentrations of nitrates are found in beets, as well as in celery, cabbage and other leafy green vegetables like spinach and some lettuce. When you eat high-nitrate foods, good bacteria in the mouth turn nitrate into nitrite. Research has found that nitrites can help open up the blood vessels in the body, increasing blood flow and oxygen specifically to places that are lacking oxygen.

There have been several very high-profile studies showing that drinking beet juice can lower blood pressure, but we wanted to show that drinking beet juice also increases perfusion, or blood flow, to the brain," said Daniel Kim-Shapiro, director of Wake Forests Translational Science Center; Fostering Independence in Aging. There are areas in the brain that become poorly perfused as you age, and thats believed to be associated with dementia and poor cognition."

Translational Science Center researchers investigated how dietary nitrates affected 14 adults age 70 and older over a period of four days. On the first day, participants reported to the lab after a 10-hour fast, completed a health status report, and consumed either a high- or low-nitrate breakfast. The high-nitrate breakfast included 16 ounces of beet juice. They were sent home with lunch, dinner and snacks conforming to their assigned diets. The next day, following another 10-hour fast, participants returned to the lab, where they ate their assigned breakfasts. One hour after breakfast, an MRI recorded the blood flow in each subjects brain. Blood tests before and after breakfast confirmed nitrite levels in the body. For the third and fourth days of the study, the researchers switched the diets and repeated the process for each subject.

MRIs revealed that after eating a high-nitrate diet, the older adults had increased blood flow to the white matter of the frontal lobesareas of the brain commonly associated with degeneration that leads to dementia and other cognitive conditions.

I think these results are consistent and encouraging that good diet consisting of a lot of fruits and vegetables can contribute to overall good health," said Gary Miller, associate professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science and one of the senior investigators on the project.