Keywords: red beet juice, dietary supplement, nitrate, professional sports, performance

“Dietary nitrate and sports performance”

The intake of nitrate from vegetables or dietary supplements that contain red beet juice can reduce blood pressure and improve sports performance. This dissertation focused on how nitrate supplementation can be optimised to improve sports performance and the extent to which nitrate supplementation can be used in professional sports. Nitrate-rich vegetables such as red beets, arugula and spinach proved to be the most effective sources of nitrate. Performance improvement following nitrate intake is primarily seen in extremely high-intensity sports, such as repeated sprints, and after multi-day nitrate intake, even among professional athletes. Together with NOC*NSF, we are currently working on sport-specific guidelines for nitrate supplementation to improve the athletic performance of professional athletes.