Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news!

Subscribe I am already a subscriber

You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker).

As we provide the news for free, we are relying on revenues from our banners. So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.
Thanks!

Click here for a guide on disabling your adblocker.

Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news!

Subscribe I am already a subscriber

Beetroot juice, tart cherry juice offer true benefits for athletes, osteoarthritis

Juices such as beetroot and tart cherry juice offer benefits to both athletes and potentially to those with more chronic diseases, according to a presenter at the AACE 23rd Annual Scientific & Clinical Congress.

“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
Publication date: