Tell High Blood Pressure to “Beet” It

Your doctor checks your latest reading and says, “You have mild high blood pressure.”

As he reaches for his prescription pad, he assures you it’s “just a part of aging” and he prescribes a high blood pressure medication.

If you haven’t already faced a similar scenario, you likely will in the near future. Afterall, nearly half of American adults are diagnosed with high blood pressure every year.

But what if high blood pressure isn’t inevitable—and what if it starts in your mouth not your heart? Weird, right?

Even stranger, what if a humble root vegetable could start to turn things back around within two weeks?

When it comes to beets, most people either love them or hate them.

Personally, I love them.

But no matter how you feel about them, you’ll LOVE knowing they fight the leading cause of heart disease… which could help reduce heart attacks, heart failure, and stroke in the process.

Research shows beetroot supplements can lower blood pressure in people with hypertension by 4.5 mmHg. This seemingly small number represents big benefits for your heart, since every 5 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure translates to a…

• 10 percent reduced risk of developing major heart disease, and
• 13 percent lower risk of stroke and heart failure.

But it appears beets are especially protective for older adults—and the reason why is remarkable.

In a recent study, researchers compared the effects of drinking beetroot juice daily for two weeks in younger adults (under 30) and in older adults (in their 60s and 70s). Each group drank a nitrate-rich beetroot juice for two weeks, and a placebo beet juice (that had the nitrates removed) for two weeks.

While there was no change in in the younger group, the older adults saw real improvements in their blood pressure. And you’ll never guess the cause…

Turns out, beetroot juice significantly improved the oral microbiome in the older group. This included reductions in harmful Prevotella bacteria (which have been linked to metabolic issues) and increases in beneficial Neisseria.

You see, the reason why beets are beneficial for blood pressure is because they contain an abundance of nitrates. Your body converts nitrates into nitric oxide, which widens blood vessels and improves blood flow.

The problem? Too much bad mouth bacteria—common with age—slows the conversion of nitrates to nitric oxide.

It’s also why beets can improve blood pressure—especially in older adults. By improving the health of your oral microbiome, more of the nitrates in beet juice get converted into blood-pressure-lowering nitric oxide.

It’s just one more reason why your diet is so critical for every aspect of health. Everything is connected.

P.S. Discover the sleep fix that stops heart disease in its tracks.

View Sources

Vanhatalo, A., L’Heureux, J. E., Black, M. I., Blackwell, J. R., Aizawa, K., Thompson, C., Williams, D. W., Van der Giezen, M., Winyard, P. G., & Jones, A. M. (2025). Ageing modifies the oral microbiome, nitric oxide bioavailability and vascular responses to dietary nitrate supplementation. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2025.07.002