Beetroot juice has gone from a slightly odd health-food drink to something you'll find in gym bags, hospital diet charts and Instagram reels. Some of the claims around it are genuinely well-supported by research. Others are wishful thinking. This guide separates the two.
Short answer: the main benefit of beetroot juice is its dietary nitrate content. Your body converts those nitrates into nitric oxide, which relaxes and widens blood vessels. That is why beetroot juice is linked to modestly lower blood pressure (typically a few mmHg), better blood flow, and improved endurance during exercise. Roughly 250 ml a day is the usual amount studied. Its vitamin and mineral content is real but unremarkable — the nitrates are the actual story.
Key takeaways
- Beetroot juice is one of the richest common sources of dietary nitrate — that's the mechanism behind almost every real benefit.
- Studies consistently show a small but real drop in blood pressure, usually in the range of 3–5 mmHg systolic, with daily intake.
- For workouts, drink it 2–3 hours before exercise. Effects build up over several consecutive days.
- Pink or red urine (beeturia) is harmless and happens to roughly 10–15% of people.
- It is high in sugar and oxalates — a genuine caution for people with diabetes or a history of kidney stones.
- Using antibacterial mouthwash can cancel out the nitrate benefit, because oral bacteria do the first conversion step.
What does beetroot juice actually do in your body?
Beetroot is unusually high in naturally occurring nitrates. When you drink the juice, bacteria on your tongue convert those nitrates into nitrites. Your stomach and bloodstream then convert the nitrites into nitric oxide, a signalling molecule that tells the smooth muscle in your blood vessel walls to relax.
Wider vessels mean blood moves with less resistance. That single effect explains the blood pressure numbers, the stamina numbers and the blood-flow numbers. Everything else beetroot offers — folate, potassium, betalain pigments — is a supporting act.
One practical consequence people miss: because oral bacteria perform the first step, rinsing with antibacterial mouthwash shortly before or after drinking beetroot juice can blunt the effect substantially. If you are drinking it for blood pressure or performance, skip the mouthwash around it.
What are the proven benefits of beetroot juice?
Does beetroot juice lower blood pressure?
This is the best-supported benefit. Multiple pooled analyses of controlled trials have found that beetroot juice produces a modest reduction in systolic blood pressure — commonly cited in the range of about 3–5 mmHg, with a smaller effect on diastolic. The effect tends to be larger in people who start with higher readings.
To be clear about scale: this is meaningful at a population level and a useful addition to diet and exercise, but it is not a substitute for prescribed blood pressure medication. The effect also fades within a day or two if you stop drinking it — consistency matters more than quantity.
Does beetroot juice improve gym performance and stamina?
Yes, modestly, and this is where it has the strongest following. Nitric oxide improves the efficiency of your mitochondria, meaning your muscles use slightly less oxygen for the same work. In practice, studies report improved time-to-exhaustion and better performance in endurance efforts.
Two details decide whether you feel anything:
- Timing. Nitrate levels in the blood peak roughly 2–3 hours after drinking. Drinking it 10 minutes before a run does nothing.
- Loading. Effects are stronger after 3–6 consecutive days of daily intake than after a single dose.
Worth noting: benefits are clearest in recreational and moderately trained people. Highly trained elite athletes tend to see smaller gains, because their nitric oxide pathways are already efficient.
Does beetroot juice help blood flow, brain and focus?
There is reasonable early evidence that improved cerebral blood flow from dietary nitrate supports cognitive performance, particularly in older adults. It is a promising area but far less settled than the blood pressure findings. Treat any claim that beetroot juice is a brain booster as plausible rather than proven.
What about skin, liver, iron and weight loss?
Here is where marketing runs ahead of evidence. Beetroot contains betalains, the pigments responsible for its colour, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity in lab settings. That is a long way from proving that drinking beetroot juice clears acne, detoxes your liver or whitens skin.
On iron: beetroot is frequently recommended in India for anaemia, but it is not a good iron source — it contains only small amounts. It does supply useful folate, which genuinely matters for red blood cell formation, so the traditional advice isn't baseless, just misattributed. If you are anaemic, get your ferritin tested rather than relying on beetroot juice.
On weight loss: 250 ml of beetroot juice carries around 100 calories and roughly 20 g of sugar with almost no fibre, since juicing removes it. It is not a weight-loss drink. If fat loss is your goal, a blended smoothie that keeps the fibre is a smarter choice than juice.
Beetroot juice nutrition (per 250 ml, approximate)
Values vary with beet size, variety and how much water you add.
| Nutrient | Approx. per 250 ml | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | ~100 kcal | Drink it, don't sip it all day |
| Sugars | ~18–22 g | High — main caution for diabetics |
| Dietary nitrate | ~250–400 mg | The active ingredient |
| Potassium | ~700 mg | Supports the BP effect |
| Folate | ~150–250 mcg | Red blood cell formation |
| Fibre | Near zero (juiced) | Lost in straining — blend instead to keep it |
How do you make beetroot juice at home?
Beetroot is dense and hard, which is the one thing that trips people up. The fix is simple: cut small, add liquid first, and let the machine do short bursts rather than one long grind.
The 2-minute portable blender method
- Prep: 1 medium beetroot (about 150 g), peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes. Small cubes are non-negotiable — large chunks stall any compact motor.
- Liquid first: pour 150–200 ml of water or coconut water into the bottle before the beetroot. This lets the blades catch and circulate the pieces instead of jamming.
- Add the fixers: juice of half a lemon and a thin slice of ginger. Beetroot has a distinct earthy note that a lot of people dislike; acid and ginger cut through it completely.
- Blend in bursts: 3 or 4 short cycles rather than one long one. Shake the bottle between cycles.
- Strain or don't: strain through a fine sieve for a clean juice, or drink it as-is to keep the fibre. Keeping it is nutritionally better.
A 400–500 ml capacity bottle with a multi-speed motor handles raw beetroot far more comfortably than a single-speed unit. The NEWDRU HS-889 multi-speed portable juicer is the one we'd pick for hard vegetables, and the 6-blade portable juicer is the easier pick if you're mostly doing softer fruit. Both sit in our full portable juicers range.
If you want it sweeter and milder, add half an apple or a carrot — which is essentially how you arrive at carrot and beetroot juice, or the full ABC juice combination.
Beetroot juice vs beetroot smoothie vs raw beetroot
| Juice (strained) | Smoothie (blended) | Raw / cooked beet | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate dose | Highest — concentrated | High | Moderate; boiling leaches some out |
| Fibre | Removed | Retained | Retained |
| Blood sugar impact | Fastest spike | Slower | Slowest |
| Best for | Pre-workout, BP support | Daily, balanced option | Salads, everyday meals |
For a broader comparison of the two methods, see our guide on juicer vs blender.
How much beetroot juice should you drink per day?
Most research uses about 250 ml of juice, or a 70 ml concentrated shot, once daily. Going beyond that doesn't scale the benefit — it mainly adds sugar and oxalates. Start with 100–150 ml for the first few days if you're new to it, since beetroot can loosen stools initially.
Best time to drink it: for blood pressure, any consistent time works; morning is easiest to stick to. For training, drink it 2–3 hours before your session. Fresh juice is best consumed within 20 minutes of making it — the pigments and vitamin C degrade quickly on contact with air.
What are the side effects of beetroot juice?
- Beeturia. Pink or red urine and stools. It looks alarming the first time and is completely harmless. It's more common in people who are iron-deficient, so if it happens regularly it's a mild nudge to get your levels checked.
- Kidney stones. Beetroot is high in oxalates. If you've had calcium oxalate stones, this is a real reason to limit it and speak to your doctor.
- Blood sugar. Juicing strips the fibre that would otherwise slow sugar absorption. People with diabetes should prefer the blended version, keep the portion small, and pair it with a meal.
- Low blood pressure. If you already take antihypertensive medication, beetroot juice adds to the effect. Dizziness on standing is the warning sign.
- Digestive upset. Cramping or loose stools when you first start, usually settling within a week.
Who should avoid beetroot juice?
Speak to your doctor first if you have a history of kidney stones, chronic kidney disease (because of the potassium load), low blood pressure, or if you're on blood pressure medication or nitrate-based heart medication. People with diabetes should treat it as a sugary drink, not a health tonic. Otherwise, for most healthy adults, a daily glass is fine.
Blend it anywhere
Rechargeable, USB-C portable juicers and blender bottles built for real fruit and vegetables — including hard ones like beetroot.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I drink beetroot juice every day?
Yes, for most healthy adults about 250 ml daily is fine and is roughly what studies use. Consistency matters more than volume, since the nitric oxide effect fades within a day or two of stopping. Limit it if you have kidney stones or diabetes.
Why is my urine pink after drinking beetroot juice?
That's beeturia — the betalain pigments passing through unchanged. It affects roughly 10–15% of people, lasts a day or so, and is harmless. It's somewhat more common when iron stores are low.
Is it better to drink beetroot juice on an empty stomach?
Not necessarily. An empty stomach may slightly speed absorption, but it also makes the sugar hit and any digestive discomfort more noticeable. Whichever timing you'll actually stick with daily is the better choice — except before training, where 2–3 hours ahead is what matters.
Does beetroot juice increase haemoglobin?
Not directly. Beetroot contains very little iron. It does supply folate, which is needed to make red blood cells, so it can support the process — but it won't correct iron-deficiency anaemia on its own. Get tested rather than self-treating.
Can I make beetroot juice in a portable blender?
Yes, with the right technique. Cut the beetroot into 1 cm cubes, add liquid to the bottle first, and blend in short bursts. A multi-speed motor and a 400 ml or larger bottle make it considerably easier than a small single-speed unit.
This article is for general information and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified doctor or registered dietitian before making changes to your diet, especially if you have a medical condition or take prescription medication.