I just spent the last three days at the SCAN Symposium. SCAN is a group of Dietitians that are experts in nutrition for athletic performance, fitness and weight management, cardiovascular health, wellness, and in the prevention and treatment disordered eating and eating disorders. I won’t bore you with the details of talks discussing lipid oxidation and what happens to mitochondria when subjected to 90% maximal output training, although it is fascinating (you can’t spell nerd without RD!) I thought I’d go ahead and scoop Dr Oz for once about something that I’m sure you will hear about in the future when it hits the media at some point. Beets!

My friend and fellow RD Marcia has already blogged about beetroot juice and after hearing more about it this weekend I thought I’d share it with you here as well. Nitrates get a bad rap when they are added to processed foods like bacon and hot dogs (and rightly so), but have been known for years to also work to lower blood pressure because they are vasodilators. Many people do not realize that some fruits and vegetables contain high amounts of nitrates and are confused to hear that they can be beneficial. There have now been a handful of studies done on beets and beet juice specifically, and the role that they may play in helping athletes to improve performance. If you regularly read this blog, I think you already know that I am not a fan of calling foods ‘superfoods’, so please don’t misunderstand my point of this post. There are other high nitrate foods that probably give the same benefits but they have not yet been studied specifically.

I want to stress that these studies are all very new, but the evidence is quite interesting so far. Athletes and untrained subjects showed less perceived exertion, less fatigue, more speed and greater endurance after consuming beets or beet juice than the group that had a placebo. Many studies still need to be done in order to figure out the best way to utilize this new information. Which athletes will most likely benefit? Is this something that works better only on game or race day than during training? Is this something that will help non-atletes to begin an exercise program because they will find it easier to work harder? These questions and many many more still need to be answered, but when it comes to a real food item like beets I say – go ahead and eat them!

I think beets are delicious simply peeled and roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper. If you are a little nervous cooking them for yourself the first time you can always buy them canned, pre-cooked, or try beet juice. I’m going to give beets a try before my next half marathon and I’ll let you know the results.