Beetroot juice, tart cherry juice offer true benefits for athletes, osteoarthritis
“The good news about this is it does it through food and it actually works,” Stella Lucia Volpe, MD, of Drexel University, said during a presentation, comparing these juices to supplements and vitamins that have less scientific evidence as to their benefit.
Volpe explained that beetroot juice causes production of nitric oxide, which expands blood vessels in the body and improves blood flow, helping more oxygen and nutrients move through the body. “It’s been shown that beetroot juice improves this in a natural way,” Volpe said. One study showed that cyclists who drank beetroot juice increased their time to exhaustion during exercise.
Additionally, tart cherry juice helps reduce inflammation, whether it is caused by exercise, muscle damage or from illnesses such as osteoarthritis, she said.
In a randomized, double-blind, crossover study, Volpe showed 58 people with osteoarthritis received either tart cherry juice or placebo and then switched to the other option after a week washout period. Using the Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index and serum C-reactive protein measurements, researchers showed significantly lower inflammation levels after the tart cherry juice as compared with placebo. Walking times were also significantly greater with the tart cherry juice, Volpe said.
Similarly, 20 recreational marathon runners showed significantly faster isometric strength recovery and significantly lower levels of inflammation when consuming tart cherry juice as compared with placebo. Montmorency and Balaton cherries have the highest antioxidant capacities and the cherries remain high in antioxidants even after processing.
Source: healio.com