Effects of dietary nitrate supplementation and exercise on blood pressure in persons with obesity.
Besity, exercise, blood pressure, post-exercise hypotension, nitric oxide, Beta vulgaris.
Beet juice has important benefits, especially for diseases characterized by chronic inflammation. However, studies with people who are obese, untrained, and at increased risk for cardiovascular disease are still scarce. The objective of this study is to verify the effect of previous ingestion of beet juice added to a physical exercise session on blood pressure in obese individuals. In a randomized, cross-over trial, 14 obese and male subjects underwent continuous moderate aerobic exercise under the influence of ingestion of beet juice, grape juice and water (control), with each beverage being consumed on a different visit to the laboratory. Plasma nitrite concentrations and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) were analyzed. For statistical analysis of the data, SPSS® software version 20 was used and a statistical significance of p <0.05 was considered. The results showed that the plasma NOx concentration increased significantly at the pre-exercise time in the beet juice condition (46.98 ± 4.54 μM, p value <0.001), but not after the control condition (11.18 ± 1.78 μM) and grape juice (15.10 ± 4.16 μM). In addition, the beet juice condition reduced the systolic and diastolic ambulatory blood pressure during the first six hours post exercise, which resulted in a reduction in mean values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the 24-hour period compared to the control condition. In conclusion, the beet juice condition significantly increased plasma NOx concentration and this condition induced post exercise hypotension ambulatory in greater magnitude for systolic blood pressure during the first 6 hours post-exercise in men obese and non-hypertensive.