The effects of beetroot containing bread on arterial stiffness and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease

Despite initiatives to increase consumption, current fruit and vegetable intake is below recommendations. Novel interventions to increase consumption are therefore of considerable interest. Cardio-protective effects of beetroot have been attributed to its high nitrate content. Following ingestion, nitrate is reduced to nitrite by oral bacteria, and further to vasodilator nitric oxide (NOx) endogenously. To test the hypothesis that nitrate-rich beetroot containing bread improves arterial stiffness and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) a single-blind, randomised, controlled crossover, postprandial study was performed in twenty-four healthy men (mean age 32 (sd 9) years and body mass index 23.3 (sd 2) kg/m2).