Beetroot juice and nitrates: endurance through food, not a miracle pill

TLDR

• Beetroot (and beetroot juice) provides nitrates that in studies sometimes support endurance or exercise efficiency — effects vary from person to person.
• I treat it as food first, not a “pre-race capsule” that rescues bad pacing.
• It sits next to the basics: zone 2 (an easy endurance pace at which you can still talk comfortably), smart electrolytes vs water choices, and realistic gels/bars for amateurs.
• Red urine or a protesting stomach? Then it does not suit you — stopping is data too.

Somewhere I read “beetroot juice = free VO2max”. That sounds like marketing. What I do find interesting: nitrates from vegetables (beetroot, rocket, spinach) that, via nitric oxide pathways, can influence blood flow and the oxygen cost of exercise. No magic. But an experiment I would rather do with juice or vegetables than with an obscure shot carrying twenty claims on the label.

Food first, claims later

In research you more often see acute doses of beetroot juice before endurance exercise than “one tablet forever”. Results differ: trained athletes sometimes notice less, beginners sometimes more — or nothing. That is why I test it on an ordinary zone-2 or tempo ride, not on the one important race of the year. And I do not expect it to make up for too little zone-2 base.

Practical, no fuss

• Timing: often 2–3 hours before a longer ride/run if you want to try it (individual).
• Form: juice or a concentrated beetroot shot — or simply more nitrate-rich vegetables in the days around it.
• Not instead of: carbohydrates, fluid and salt stay more important on long days — see electrolytes vs water and gels/bars.

What I do not promise

No guaranteed PRs. No “detox”. And beetroot juice is still sugary fluid — handy around training, not a licence to sip it all day as if it were water. Using an antibacterial mouthwash just before can also disrupt part of the nitrate→nitrite pathway in the mouth; that is a detail I have remembered without turning it into an obsession.

Practical Engy tip

One easy endurance session: normal food + your usual hydration. Second session (similar duration/intensity): the same approach plus a serving of beetroot juice at a time your stomach tolerates. Compare feel and pacing — no lab needed. Not for you? Back to beetroot in the oven dish; the nitrates do not need to become a ritual.

Recommendations in bullets

• Nitrates via food/juice = experiment, not a miracle pill.
• Zone 2, fluids and fuel remain the foundation.
• Test on an ordinary ride, not on your A race.
• Crosslinks: zone 2, electrolytes, sports gels/bars.

Sources (selection)

• Reviews on dietary nitrates, beetroot juice and endurance exercise (sports nutrition).
• Practice: food sources first; individual tolerance and timing.
• Engy: zone-2-training-uitgelegd, elektrolyten-vs-water-duursport, sportgels-repen-amateur.