"Drinking beet juice increases blood https flow to the brain https in older people a finding that suggests the dark red vegetable may fight the progression of dementia https a new study shows. Beet roots contain high concentrations of nitrates which are converted into nitrites by bacteria in the mouth https And nitrites help open blood https vessels in the body increasing blood flow and oxygen to places lacking in oxygen. Previous studies have shown that nitrites  also found in high concentrations in celery cabbage and other leafy green vegetables like spinach  widen blood vessels but researchers say this was the first to find that nitrites also increase blood flow to the brain https Blood Flow to the Brain There have been several very highprofile studies showing that drinking beet juice can lower blood pressure https but we wanted to show that drinking beet juice also increases perfusion or blood flow to the brain https Daniel KimShapiro PhD director of the Translational Science Center at Wake Forest University says in a news release. There are areas in the brain https that become poorly perfused as you age and thats believed to be associated with dementia and poor cognition. Researchers from the Translational Science Center looked at how dietary nitrates affected  adults aged  and older over a fourday period. On day one subjects reported to a laboratory after a hour fast completed a health status report and had either a high or lownitrate breakfast https The highnitrate breakfast https included  ounces of beet juice. Then they were sent home with lunch dinner and snacks that conformed to their assigned diets. On the second day after another hour fast the participants returned to the lab and ate their assigned breakfasts. An hour later an MRI https scan recorded brain flow in each persons brain. And blood tests before and after breakfast confirmed nitrite levels in the body. On the third and fourth days researchers switched diets and repeated the process for each person. MRI scans showed that after eating a highnitrate diet the older adults had increased blood flow to the white matter of the frontal lobes which are the areas of the brain most commonly associated with the degeneration that leads to dementia and other cognitive conditions. Diets Rich in Fruits and Vegetables I think these results are consistent and encouraging  that good diet consisting of a lot of fruits and vegetables https can contribute to overall good health says senior investigator Gary Miller PhD an associate professor in Wake Forests Department of Health and Exercise https Science. Because beet juice doesnt exactly taste like a sugary soda Wake Forest has worked with a company to create a new beet juice beverage that is tastier than plain beet juice and a news release says the university is investigating ways to market this beverage. The researchers say that their study and future ones like it may lead to interventions that could improve cognitive and physical functional health in older adults. The findings are published online in Nitric Oxide Biology and Chemistry the peerreviewed journal of the Nitric Oxide Society."