Opinions on beet juice powder?

[Baz]

OK I finally succumbed to all the propaganda on the beet juice powder products and bought some from Amazon made by The Synergy Company.


I put a little in my OJ/Banana/Honey smoothie this morning and will start incorporating it into my daily diet. I also bought the Kale powder and will do the same.

I think this is the same product as "Superbeets" but not sure.

Anyone else dabbling in the veggie powder supplements?

I've never really had a problem with eating beet root - I actually like the flavor - but thought the powder would be something I could use in a more creative fashion.

[stomachmonkey]

I got nuthin on the beet powder cept to say I start every day with a protein shake.

Been doing it a year now and one of the easiest things I've undertaken to maintain health.

I was never a breakfast guy.

I've become addicted to the shakes.

The day just does not seem to start right without one.

[flatbutt]

I use "traditional" protein powder in my smoothie along with fruits. These new super foods have not impressed me at all. YMMV

[M.D. Holloway]

Always wondered about the shake thing. I thought the first part of the digestion process was chewing with saliva in order to breakdown some of the simple sugars and also to begin the absorption process within your mouth primarily under your tongue? Don't certain veggies require this to establish the greatest efficacy?

[john70t]

The base ingredient is usually soy powder, which some people are allergic to.

[Laneco]

We use Beetelite in the black cherry flavor. It has zero soy in it. Both of us feel generally better and I have more endurance on the bicycle.

I noticed on the label it says not to mix with "bottled juice." Not sure why. We mix it with water and dry wheat grass powder.

angela

[greglepore]

Lots of discussion of this in the endurance athlete community. While it has its adherents, the science isn't very convincing.

[Evans, Marv]

I just eat beets with lunch or dinner on fairly frequent basis - a couple of times a week maybe. I like them. It actually doesn't take a lot of time to peel & slice them and cook them in some water with a couple of table spoons of vinegar. I put them in the fridge in a container to have when I want. That way you get the real thing along with the fiber, etc. Plus if you buy the real beets in bunches, you get the additional benefit of the greens. I don't subscribe to the idea of eating something with every meal or on a daily basis.

[Craig T]

Penn State:

To beet or not to beet? Researchers test theories of beet juice benefits
By Marjorie S. Miller
January 19, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Athletes who down beet juice before exercising to increase blood flow and improve performance may be surprised at the results of a recent study conducted at Penn State's Noll Laboratory. While beetroot juice rich in nitrates did not enhance muscle blood flow or vascular dilation during exercise, researchers found that it did "de-stiffen" blood vessels under resting conditions, potentially easing the workload of the heart.

Endurance athletes have been known to consume the crimson supplement based on the belief that it may improve blood and oxygen flow in their muscles during training and competition. Some strength and power athletes consume it in hopes that it can improve their ability to withstand muscle fatigue during repeated bouts of high intensity exercise. Now, some patients are asking their doctors if they should drink the juice to lower their high blood pressure.

Those potential benefits are what prompted David Proctor, professor of kinesiology and physiology at Penn State, to test the ability of the juice to enhance blood flow to exercising muscles.

Proctor, with other researchers, found that the widely held belief regarding improved muscle blood flow did not hold up to their test. They report their results in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.

Proctor and his colleagues gave subjects either a placebo drink containing beetroot juice minus the nitrate or a relatively high dose of nitrate-rich beetroot juice. They found that the latter did not enhance the natural rise in blood flow to the forearm muscles during graded handgrip exercise.

"Beetroot juice also had no effect on the dilation (widening) of the brachial artery in these volunteers," said lead author and Penn State physiology graduate student Jin-Kwang Kim.

Nitrates, found in highest concentrations in leafy green vegetables such as spinach and beetroot, are converted naturally in the body to nitric oxide, a molecule that relaxes and widens blood vessels and affects how efficiently cells use oxygen. A number of manufacturers have found ways to liquefy beetroots and concentrate the nitrate into beetroot juice "shots."

"Although several studies have reported indirect evidence of improved muscle oxygenation during exercise after consuming nitrate-rich supplements such as beetroot juice, none of these studies directly measured blood flow to the contracting muscles," Proctor said. "Our study was the first to directly test this possibility in humans."

"The absence of any direct effect on forearm muscle blood flow or artery dilator function was not due to a lack of absorption of the supplement into the blood stream," Proctor added.

"Measurements of the breakdown product of the nitrate in the participants' blood indicated that these participants absorbed the nitrate from the drink and converted it to nitrite, the precursor to nitric oxide," Proctor said.

The investigators also observed a direct correlation between nitrite levels in the blood and the slowing of participants' arterial pulsation velocity, an indication that the supplement did indeed have a biological (artery de-stiffening) effect.

"However, there are circumstances unique to our experimental design that should be considered, as with any study, before drawing any broad conclusions," Proctor said. "We speculate that the null effects on muscle blood flow observed in this first study resulted from two factors."

"Subjects were young individuals with blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the 'very healthy' range, he noted. "Therefore, the lack of improvement in muscle blood flow and vessel function following nitrate supplementation could result from the fact that these subjects had well-preserved vascular endothelial function to begin with."

"A second contributor could be the relatively small range of forearm exercise intensities we examined in this study."

"It is possible that any blood flow enhancing effect of dietary nitrate will only be apparent during higher intensity and fatiguing work intensities; conditions within the muscle that favor the conversion of nitrite to nitric oxide," Proctor said.

Building on this study, Proctor and his colleagues are currently conducting an investigation of the effects of beet juice/nitrate supplementation on vascular function in older adults, including those with elevated blood pressure and impaired muscle blood flow during exercise.

Penny Kris-Etherton, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, contributed to the study, as did Ann C. Skulas-Ray, research associate in nutritional sciences. Additional authors include David J. Moore, of Penn State's Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Physiology; David G. Maurer, a graduate student in Penn State's Department of Kinesiology; Michael P. Flanagan, of Penn State Hershey College of Medicine; and Swati Basu and Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro, professors in the department of physics at Wake Forest University. The Social Sciences Research Institute at Penn State funded this study.

[impactbumper]

Everything has potential benefits. Not in a powder form. I do not eat fruits, too much sugar in them. But I eat lots of greens, which supply me my needed vitamins.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

I got nuthin on the beet powder cept to say I start every day with a protein shake.

Been doing it a year now and one of the easiest things I've undertaken to maintain health.

I was never a breakfast guy.

I've become addicted to the shakes.

The day just does not seem to start right without one.

Scott: I would appreciate if you could elaborate a bit on some specifics of your process.

I too have been going that route (liquid breakfast).....using my Ninja blender with OJ as my base ingredient, along with some other fruit(s) such as banana or pineapple and whatever else I might toss in.

I have also gone the milk based route but try to stick with the juice as much as I can.

Thanks for any input....and thanks to all who have responded thus far!

[masraum]

We had a nutribullet. the nutribullet had an outline of ways to make shakes that we thought were very good.

put a pretty thick layer of greens in the bottom of the blender, maybe 3-4"

Add a banana if you like sweet or maybe avocado if you don't want/need as much sweetness.

Add some other sweet fruit like berries, apples, oranges, whatever. Sometimes a few nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc...) is also good.

We went through a time where were were having 1 or 2 smoothies a day for a few years. We then went through another period where we made juice using a juicer.

In both the smoothies and the juices, we found that keeping it simple with 2-5 ingredients was usually the best way to end up with good juice or smoothies.

[Baz]

Hi Steve...thanks for your post. I agree keeping it simple is key.

[Tobra]

Beet powder, really?

Generally, the less processed something is, the more nutritive value it will contain. I do the smoothie thing. Yogurt, frozen blueberries, frozen bananas and whatever juice was on sale last time I went to the store. Braun hand mixer that I have had for so long it was not made in China.

Variety is what you want in your diet. I am fortunate to live somewhere that fresh produce is easy to come by. If I have a yen for some citrus, there is almost always something hanging out in the yard, ready for picking.

I don't care for beets much. I would not eat brussel sprouts if you paid me to.

[Hugh R]

[VincentVega]

funny, I thought of the other one first

[dan88911]

I just drink the juice why bother with powder.
Biotta Juices Beet Juice - Biotta Juices

[jyl]

The main benefit of beet juice, IMO, is that in sufficient quantity, it is well proven to lower blood pressure, albeit only temporarily. Nitrates in the beets dilate blood vessels. I don't know if beet juice powder does that.

[Jim Richards]

Beets are vile.

[Rodsrsr]

Originally Posted by john70t

The base ingredient is usually soy powder, which some people are allergic to.

If by soy you mean soy protein, that's a big no unless your a female. Soy protein can raise estrogen levels. Men should always take Whey protein. Not sure if thats what you were referring to.