A few years ago, my friend Nori Ko (owner of sunshine juice in Tokyo) informed me that he knows a long distance runner that consumes 1 liter of beet juice per day for 5 days before a race. Since then, I’ve heard of other athletes consuming beet juice as part of their nutritional plan as well.
There have been several studies done on the subject. The summary is that consuming beet juice increases the production of Nitric Oxide in a person’s blood while active, which increases endurance and athletic performance.
The study that I found most insightful is the study performed on swimmers in Italy in 2014. The study had swimmers consume 0.5/l per day of organic beetroot juice for five days, compared to swimmers that didn’t consume the juice.
The “results show that workload at anaerobic threshold was significantly increased” in the group that consumed beetroot juice. There’s a fairly comprehensive article on the subject at verwellfit.com if you’re interested in learning more about the various studies done on beet juice for athletes.
Could Beet Juice Be the Next Major Juicing Trend?
There’s a general increase in athletes’ knowledge about nutrition and how it affects their performance. With more publicity around plant based diets, including the 2018 Netflix documentary “The Game Changers“, which documents the positive effects of a plant based diet for athletes, there is a general trend towards better nutrition in professional athletic sports.
I think if we get a good champion to promote the consumption of raw beet juice for athletes, that it could very well be the next major juicing trend.
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About The Author
Charlie Wettlaufer
President and CMO - Goodnature
Host - Cold Pressed Truth and Goodnature Radio
Creator - JuiceCon
I’ve been around juicing all my life. My Dad built his first hydraulic juice press in 1976 and founded the company Goodnature Products, Inc. I have incredible memories of having “cider parties” when we would invite all the people in our rural neighborhood over to make apple juice. To this day, when I taste apple juice made on a Goodnature press, a rush of nostalgia runs through my body.
I pride myself on guiding our clients into the world of cold-pressed juice and showing them how much fun this industry can be. I love talking business, technology, and marketing. My missions is to carry on my Dad's goal - one day make Goodnature a house-hold name.
Comments
My Co-Worker juice is what started me into juicing and has remained a staple on my menu since I started my juicing company (many of my customer that don't love beets still love this juice). I think beet juice could be a huge trends for athletes and the average Joe/Jane!
Great article, I've been using a beetroot, carrot, spinach & ginger juice mix as a pre-workout before long runs and have found that it easily helps me increase endurance by 33%. First time I tried it I hit an all-time best distance. Definitely a secret weapon.
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