Beeting the competition with fruits and veggies

A daily glass of beetroot juice could be the key to athletic performance according to a newly published study. University of South Australia researchers performed a meta-analysis — that is, an assessment of a large number of scientific studies — and have reached the conclusion that eating beetroot and other nitrate-rich foods can result in athletic performance gains.

The research looked at foods with various nutrients — specifically nitrate-rich ones (such as green leafy vegetables), foods that contain polyphenols (such as berries, cherries and cocoa), and those with L-Citrulline in them (which is found in watermelon) — and whether or not eating these foods would result in exercise advantages.

The analysis found that eating certain vegetables can give performance boosts and that there was a small but significant advantage specifically to eating beetroot; its high nitrate levels, which have previously been shown to boost blood flow and the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to muscles during exercise, gave athletes the ability to perform better more quickly.

Interestingly, the beneficial effects of eating beetroot were most distinctly seen in men who were not particularly fit and less so in men who were already athletes. On the other hand, women saw no performance benefit from eating beetroot whatsoever. The researchers pondered that this may be down to issues in how the previous scientific studies were performed, or physiological difference between genders. Other foods and nutrients such as the L-Citrulline in watermelon did not offer performance advantages.

Lead researcher and UniSA PhD candidate Noah D’Unienville said the findings of the study suggest that foods can be natural endurance enhancers.

“There’s a lot of interest in nitrate-rich and polyphenol-rich foods because of their potential to boost exercise performance, but just because they contain these elements, doesn’t mean this will translate into improved exercise performance,” D’Unienville said.

“While our study shows that beetroot (among other foods) can boost performance, other nitrate-rich foods such as red spinach, Swiss chard and rhubarb, did not show similar benefits.

“Also, while grapes, pine bark extract, and sour cherries can help athletes perform better and faster, we found no effects for other polyphenol-rich foods, including blackcurrant, cocoa, ginseng, green tea or raisins.”

The research was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. The researchers plan on pursuing further studies to develop protocols for eating certain foods to boost athletic performance.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/iMarzi