In the study, people who drank this juice rich in nitrates saw a reduction in their blood pressure.
High blood pressure is a main risk factor for cardiovascular accidents such as infarction or stroke. Lowering your tension is crucial, especially when aging. Makeing it in just two weeks seems to be too beautiful to be true. However, a team from the University of Exeter has just shown that a natural drink could really have this effect, especially after 60 years. The study, published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicineattracts attention because it highlights a mechanism still little known, linked not directly to the heart or blood vessels, but … in the mouth.
For several years, scientists know that certain foods rich in nitrates can help reduce blood pressure. But they had not yet elucidated why this effect was observed more markedly in the elderly. To understand this, British researchers have recruited 75 volunteers, including 39 adults under the age of 30 and 36 in sixties and seventies. All followed the same instructions: consume a drink rich in nitrates every day for two weeks, then a placebo without nitrates for the following two weeks.
In both groups, the oral microbiome was changed after the drink rich in nitrates, but only elderly participants saw their tension decrease. The drink in question was beet juice, taken in the form of two shots a day, morning and evening. Thanks to genetic sequencing analyzes, the researchers observed a reorganization of the oral microbiome. Certain potentially harmful bacteria, as Prevotellafell, while others, beneficial, as Neisseriadeveloped. This rebalancing of the oral flora favored the conversion of nitrates into nitric oxide, a molecule that helps blood vessels to remain flexible and to regulate the pressure. The elderly produce less nitric oxide with age and also tend to have higher blood pressure.
“This study shows that foods rich in nitrates modify the oral microbiome in a way that could lead to a decrease in inflammation and a decrease in blood pressure in the elderly” commented Professor Andy Jones, co-author of the study. “Encourage these people to consume more vegetables rich in nitrates could have significant beneficial effects on long -term health” supported Pr Anni Vanhatalo, who led the study. For those who don’t like beets, know that there are alternatives rich in nitrates like spinach, arugula, fennel, celery and curly cabbage. For those over 60, regularly incorporating these foods can simply improve vascular health, in addition to prescribed treatments.
