Beetroot Powder and its Effects: How Does it Help Bodybuilders and Athletes?
- Beetroot Powder and its Effects: How Does it Help Bodybuilders and Athletes?
- What is Beetroot Powder?
- Benefits of Beetroot Powder for Athletes and Bodybuilders
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What is Vasodilation? And How Does Beetroot Help?
Beetroot powder has a slightly sweet taste that can be described as “earthy”. You can use it in your recipes to boost its nutrient content—that is, if you are a fan of all-natural ingredients. If you missed our earlier article, "Everything You Wanted To Know About Beetroot & Beetroot Powder" it's worth a read.
Just add a few teaspoons of the powder to your salad dressings or sauces. You can even use it as an alternative food coloring for your cupcakes, to give them a beautiful color.
Since beetroot powder has so many wonderful applications, it’s good to know what it does for your body exactly, especially if you are conscious about your health. Athletes, bodybuilders, and cross-fitters could benefit from having beetroot powder in their diet—and today we’re going to talk about how it helps boost your performance.
What is Beetroot Powder?
Cooked beets have a lot of health benefits. And the powder version is no different.
Beetroot powder is made with dehydrated beets, which are then ground into a powder. All the protective nutrients of ripe beets are retained in the powders, making them naturally rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as nitrates. If you are not getting enough of your daily nutrition from food-which is almost all of us- then try one of our multivitamins.
It’s also a good sign when your ingredients have no harmful additives in them. Beetroot powder has none. Save for the b 12 vitamins- hence the name beet12!
Beetroot powder, just like regular beets, is rich in antioxidants and dietary fiber. Its nitrate content can help improve blood flow—which we will discuss further later on. It can lower your blood pressure, which significantly improves your health.
Beetroot powder can make it easier for the heart to pump blood by widening the blood vessels. One study noted that patients who consumed beet juice had a lower systolic blood pressure for 24 hours after drinking the juice. The same could not be said for patients who did not consume beetroot juice.
This improved blood flow can benefit the body in many different ways. For example, increased brain blood flow can help those who are suffering from degenerative diseases related to aging.
A high nitrate diet can increase the blood flow to the frontal lobe in older adults. This helps cognitive function for those who are already susceptible to cognitive decline.
And of course, for athletes, the primary benefit of beetroot powder is increased endurance. Beet powder can help improve a person’s stamina. This helps you workout for longer. Sure, mental fortitude and determination can go a long way, but you’ll be accomplishing way more if you have extra stamina.
Benefits of Beetroot Powder for Athletes and Bodybuilders
Athletes, cross fitters, and bodybuilders sometimes drink smoothies or protein shakes to improve their performance. But have you ever considered consuming beetroot?
The nitrate-rich juice made from beetroot powder can enhance your stamina, strength, and endurance.
With beetroot juice in your system, you can easily maintain your energy for a significantly longer time. Studies suggest that the benefits increase depending on how much beet root juice you consume.
The findings revealed the beetroot supplement had a small effect on how far the men could go, but improved the energy needed to maintain their speed by 5 percent. Meanwhile, the women’s team improved their overall performance by 1.7 percent. The more beetroot juice was consumed the better the athletes’ physical performance.
Small changes in an athlete’s body can help give them the edge in a competition. Even the slightest improvements can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Or a new PR and well not getting a new PR. Imagine how successful you'll be if you harnessed the potential of certified organic food items like raw beets, fish oils, green drinks, goat cheeses, and coconut oil.
The nitrates contained by beetroot powder improve the efficiency of certain processes deep within our cells. These processes that occur in the mitochondria are enhanced by the nitrates, allowing it to produce more energy. By drinking this juice, you can lessen the amount of oxygen you need during exercise and even during pre-workouts. Ultimately, it helps you accomplish more.
Whether you are lifting heavier weights, or running greater distances, or trying out exercises you’ve never done before, you will need extra energy for these activities. You will need stamina and endurance. And no matter how strenuous the exercise is, if you’re consuming less energy, then you’ll be able to keep grinding.
And the more you exercise, the healthier your heart becomes. Beetroot powder can also have positive effects on your heart health.
This natural ingredient can lower the risk of heart disease as well as metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome involves high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol. You can normalize these and establish healthy blood pressure levels by simply drinking a bit more beetroot juice.
You'll be able to reduce the risk of heart failure, and you'll even lose weight! Fresh beets are good for men's health and women's health, and the same can be said for the powder form.
Take advantage of this gift from nature. Reap its maximum benefits and bring out the best version of you. The only known side effect is that it may make your urine and bowels produce a red color (you are consuming a natural food coloring after all). But this is also known to be harmless.
Do take note that beetroot powder is not recommended for those who have oxalate kidney stones, because beets are also high in oxalates. You may need to start looking for a better alternative.
What is Vasodilation? And How Does Beetroot Help?
Since we’re on the topic of heart health and beets, let’s talk a little bit about vasodilation. This is actually the process of widening the blood vessels—it happens naturally through consumption of certain nitrate-rich foods. And yes, we’re talking about red beets.
Nitrate-rich foods relax the smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls. It affects the large arteries, the smaller arterioles, and the large veins called venodilators.
When blood vessels dilate, the flow of blood is increased. At the same time, vascular resistance is decreased. It lowers your blood pressure in the process. The effect may or may not be localized to a specific organ—depending on what is being worked out.
This process helps your heart pump more blood more easily.
In general, athletes need this because they need stamina, energy, and endurance. But everyone needs to keep their blood pressure at healthy levels. So drinking beetroot juice can actually benefit everyone—even those who aren’t really into sports.
So there’s no harm in trying out beetroot powder. Just don’t be alarmed if your urine goes a little bit red. And remember, your diet choices and your exercise habits are just as important as consuming specific food items like this, so be mindful of that. Try drinking some beet juice. It has a lot of health benefits. If you want to boost your overall health and athletic performance then check out our beet12 organic beetroot powder!