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Sip Before Swimming

A daily glass of beetroot juice may boost the aerobic fitness of swimmers.

Beetroot juice is abundant in nitrate, a compound that may reduce oxygen uptake to subsequently  enhance exercise endurance.  Marco Pinna, from the University of Cagliari (Italy), and colleagues enrolled 14 moderately trained male master swimmers in a study in which the subjects underwent two swimming tests: one was at the start of the study, and the second occurred after six days of consuming 500 mL per day of an organic beetroot juice.  Observing that: “the present investigation provides evidence that [beetroot juice supplementation] positively affects performance of swimmers as it reduces the [aerobic energy cost] and increases the workload at anaerobic threshold,” the study authors submit that the data supports the utility of beetroot juice among competitive swimmers.

Marco Pinna, Silvana Roberto, Raffaele Milia, Elisabetta Marongiu, Sergio Olla, Andrea Loi, et al.  “Effect of Beetroot Juice Supplementation on Aerobic Response during Swimming.”  Nutrients 2014, 6(2), 605-615.

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