I finally got my beets powder for the upcoming hiking trip! My plan is to get a “serving” (see the BeetElite box) every day for the 2 weeks preceding the trip.
So, what does beets have to do with hiking you say? Well, I’m hiking in altitude (Mt Massive 14,421ft elevation) and Nitrates are a powerful vasodilator which will help shuttle more oxygen throughout the body. There’s more to it though: supplementing with Nitrate is helping in generate energy while using less oxygen. How much? Well somewhere around 19% according to this article from the US National Library of Medicine (NML): Dietary Nitrate Supplementation and Exercise Performance
In this article from the same publication:
It says that “NO3 supplementation is emerging as a promising nutritional aid, with potentially beneficial applications for the wide variety of individuals ascending to altitude each year.”
It does have its limitations. In this other article from Scientific American:
Beet Juice Could Help Body Beat Altitude
The researcher concludes by saying “If I had a bottle of beets around I would take it for sure. But that won’t bring you to Mount Everest just by drinking beetroot.”
So, it’s not all Voodoo mumbo jumbo, it’s an actual biohacking trick!
Here’s some more articles that I found:
How Does Beet Juice Improve Athletic Performance?