As an endurance athlete you're always on the lookout for an edge of some kind, especially if you're older and can no longer rely on training harder than the competition. In order to offset the insidious effects of aging you have to train smarter. When you can discover that edge in something proven to be good nutritionally, a natural healthy substance and not likely to have any adverse side effects, that is where good news meets great news and the crossroads where cunning and guile can overcome youth and stamina.
So when I came across an obscure British study on the Internet, singing the praises of beet juice in significantly improving the endurance capacity of 6 cyclists, I thought I had discovered gold in a a tin mine. And for awhile the secret was mine alone. But then Dr. Michael Greger who publishes an excellent series of free videos on www.nutritionfacts.org ran an entire series on the wonders of beet juice. Turns out that the nitrates in beet juice are converted to nitric oxide in the body which then reduces the oxygen cost and enhances tolerance to high intensity exercise. Two cups of beet juice improves mitochondrial efficiency and increases ATP production. The British study produced a 16% improvement in endurance with less oxygen. 16% is HUGE. The typical obsessed runner will change his shoe laces before a marathon just to save a quarter ounce of weight, which might improve his time by what, 5 seconds?? So my secret was out, leaked to the masses, and I watched any advantage I'd gained slip through my beet juice stained fingers, or so I thought. Turns out that most endurance athletes are not watching the daily videos at nutritionfacts.org. Go figure. Maybe keeping up with the Kardashians occupies all their free time.
Researching nitric oxide (NO) led me to Dr. Louis Ignarro, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998 for his work with NO and its beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system. You gotta like the guy because once he saw what a difference NO made, he changed his lifestyle, started eating better, exercising more, became a runner and cyclist and has completed 13 marathons since 2004. Evidently you can't just take Nitric Oxide as a supplement as Nitric Oxide is produced by the body. NO is produced by the thin layer of cells that line the blood vessels, the Endothelium. He states NO is a vasodilator that reduces blood pressure, prevents stroke and reduces LDL cholesterol. His method to stimulate the body's ability to produce NO is to supplement with the amino acids, L-arginine and L-citrulline, along with Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Folic Acid. For those of you keeping score at home, the recommended doses are as follows: L-arginine, 4000-6000mg; L-citrulline, 200-1000mg; Vit C, 500mg; Vit E, 200 I.U.; Folic Acid, 400-800 mg.
Nowhere does he talk about beet juice. So the question in my mind is not only which approach is better, but in conjunction with that, would combining both approaches yield even better results? I would love to call him up, "Hey Louie, what if you combined your supplements with beet juice?" Funny, I don't have his home number. As of right now, since beet juice is definitely cheaper and I know it works, I'm sticking with it.
My advice is: try beets for one week. If you do not feel better, have more energy, or if you are an athlete and cannot run farther, swim faster, bike longer, or do whatever it is you do better than before, go back to your old routine, resume your previously slovenly habits, continue making poor dietary choices, and continue wearing out the springs in the La-Z-Boy (ha) no harm done.
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