Free entry from The Complete Supplement Guide
Beetroot / Dietary Nitrates
Graded Strong · Performance & Strength · free to read
Beetroot is one of the most evidence-backed whole food performance tools available.
The form that actually absorbs, the purity red flags and what not to stack it with are in the guide.
Get The Complete Supplement Guide →Last reviewed September 2026
The verdict
Is Beetroot worth taking?
Beetroot is one of the most evidence-backed whole food performance tools available. It raises nitric oxide through a pathway completely separate from citrulline, making the two genuinely additive when stacked. Take 500 mg standardized nitrate extract or 70 ml concentrated beetroot juice two to three hours before training. Critical note: avoid antibacterial mouthwash on training days as it kills the oral bacteria responsible for converting nitrate to nitric oxide and eliminates the entire performance effect.
What it does
What Beetroot does in the body
Nitric oxide production, blood flow, oxygen efficiency, endurance performance, blood pressure reduction, and cardiovascular protection. Beetroot and other dietary nitrate sources work through a fundamentally different pathway to citrulline. Dietary nitrates are converted to nitrite by oral bacteria and then reduced to nitric oxide in the bloodstream, particularly in low-oxygen environments such as working muscle tissue during exercise. This means beetroot and citrulline act through complementary mechanisms and genuinely add to each other rather than duplicating the same effect.
The evidence
What the research actually shows
Dietary nitrate is among the most consistently evidenced ergogenic aids for endurance performance. Multiple trials confirm improvements in VO2 max efficiency, time to exhaustion, and time trial performance. Blood pressure reduction effects are also well replicated.
Food first
Getting Beetroot from food
Beetroot is the standout food source and one of the clearest food-first wins in this category. Two to three whole beetroots or 70 ml of concentrated beetroot juice provides the research-validated dose without supplementation. Rocket, spinach, celery, radishes, and swiss chard are also high-nitrate vegetables.
What the guide adds
The part that is not on this page
Everything above is the assessment. What the guide adds for Beetroot is the protocol:
- Optimal Form
- Bioavailability
- Purity Red Flags
- Stack With / Avoid
147 entries across nine categories, every one graded against the clinical literature the same way.
About the author
Who graded this
Daniel Edlund is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained private chef in Los Angeles, a certified personal trainer and strength coach, and an internationally licensed massage therapist. Thirty years of strength training and fifteen years cooking in private estate kitchens. He is the author of The Complete Supplement Guide, which grades 147 entries against the clinical literature, and of The EASY Way to Organic Cooking, first published in 2013.
This page is information, not medical advice. Supplements interact with prescription medication and with each other, and the right answer depends on your own bloodwork and history. Talk to your doctor before starting anything, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, managing a health condition, or already taking medication.
Also in Performance & Strength
Related entries
- Horny Goat Weed (Epimedium / Icariin) — Emerging evidence
- Tribulus Terrestris — Overhyped
- D-Aspartic Acid (DAA) — Moderate evidence
- Taurine — Strong evidence