Can Beet Root Extract Really Improve Endurance?
When discussing the product beet root concentrate with sports nutrition brands, finished-product factories and formulation teams, one core question is often raised again and again: can beet root extract significantly improve exercise endurance? The general consensus within the plant extract industry is that, when used as directed, beet root juice extract has a clear but limited effect on improving endurance.
If the answer is yes, what precise dosage design should finished beverages or supplements adopt so that, while ensuring efficacy, they can bring the most ideal experience to athletes and fitness enthusiasts? Behind this question lies both a thirst for scientific evidence and a deep reflection on the practical application value of the product. In high-intensity endurance training, can athletes use this natural extract to break through their physical limits and extend their continuous exercise time? On cold mornings or hot afternoons, when consumers drink functional beverages rich in beet root extract, can they quickly feel an injection of energy and relief from fatigue? As for dosage, they hope to find the golden balance point, avoiding unnecessary side effects caused by excessive intake and not missing the chance to improve performance because of insufficient dosage, so that every drop of the product carries scientific strength and sporting passion.
Second-hand claims on the internet vary widely, so I simply went through the PubMed studies on beet root juice (which essentially provides dietary nitrate) and endurance performance myself. Below are my reading notes: 9 specific cases, several counterexamples, and the conclusions I reached from the standpoint of a raw material supplier. Every figure in this article is taken from the original papers; I have kept the numbering, and the complete sources are listed at the end.
These Are the 9 Specific Cases I Found
| Study | Subjects and design | Supplementation protocol | Results reported in the paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bailey et al., 2009 [1] | Healthy men, double-blind crossover | beet root juice 0.5 L/day for 6 days (about 5.2 mmol/day) | The O2 cost of moderate-intensity exercise decreased by 19%; time to exhaustion at high intensity was 675±203 s versus 583±145 s with placebo |
| Vanhatalo et al., 2010 [2] | 8 healthy subjects, balanced crossover | 0.5 L/day (5.2 mmol/day), measured at 2.5 hours, 5 days and 15 days | Steady-state O2 uptake during submaximal exercise decreased by about 4%; after 15 days, peak power rose from 322±67 to 331±68 W and the gas exchange threshold from 89±15 to 105±28 W |
| Wylie et al., 2013 [3] | 10 healthy men, dose-response balanced crossover | 70 / 140 / 280 mL of concentrated juice (4.2 / 8.4 / 16.8 mmol), tested 2.5 hours after intake | 70 mL produced no change at all; 140 mL and 280 mL reduced submaximal O2 uptake by 1.7% and 3.0% respectively; time to exhaustion was extended by 14% and 12%; 16.8 mmol brought no additional benefit over 8.4 mmol |
| Cermak et al., 2012 [4] | 12 well-trained male cyclists (VO2peak 58±2 mL/kg/min), double-blind crossover | 140 mL/day of concentrated juice (about 8 mmol/day) for 6 days | 10 km time trial 953±18 s versus 965±18 s; mean power 294±12 versus 288±12 W; lower submaximal O2 uptake |
| Bond et al., 2012 [5] | 14 elite young rowers, randomized crossover | 500 mL/day for 6 days | Average performance over 6 x 500 m improved by 0.4%; the 4th to 6th trials (later stages) improved by 1.7% |
| Breese et al., 2013 [6] | 9 active individuals, double-blind crossover | 140 mL/day (about 8 mmol) for 6 days | Plasma nitrite from 65±32 to 348±170 nM; O2 uptake kinetics τ during high-intensity exercise from 46±13 to 36±10 s; exercise tolerance time increased by 22% (from 521±158 to 635±258 s) |
| Kenjale et al., 2011 [7] | 8 patients with peripheral arterial disease, randomized open-label crossover (clinical population) | A single dose of 500 mL | Walking time before the onset of claudication pain from 183±84 to 215±99 s; peak walking time from 467±223 to 533±233 s. The subjects were patients, so the results are not suitable for direct extrapolation to healthy athletes |
| Thompson et al., 2016 [8] | 36 male team-sport athletes, double-blind randomized crossover | 70 mL/day (6.4 mmol) for 5 days | 20 m, 10 m and 5 m sprint performance improved by 1.2%, 1.6% and 2.3% respectively; Yo-Yo IR1 distance increased by 3.9% (1422 versus 1369 m) |
| Rokkedal-Lausch et al., 2019 [9] | 12 well-trained cyclists, double-blind crossover, under both normoxia and simulated altitude | 12.4 mmol/day for 7 days | 10 km time trial improved by about 1.6%; no difference between normoxia and altitude |
After reading these 9 references, my deepest impression is that a slight difference in protocol makes a big difference in results. 70 mL produced no response at all, while 140 mL produced a response; yet when the dose was raised to 280 mL, the effect was no better than at 140 mL [3]. So this is not a story of “the more, the better”.
Counterexamples and Pooled Conclusions
A single trial is most likely to make people overly optimistic, so I deliberately looked at negative results and at meta-analyses that pool multiple studies.
Sousa et al. (2022) divided 30 endurance-trained men into three groups, combined the intervention with intermittent hypoxic training over 4 weeks, and supplemented nitrate 3 to 2.5 hours before each training session. The conclusion was blunt: nitrate supplementation brought no additional benefit at all [10].
Hoon et al. (2013) pooled 17 studies and found that nitrate had a moderate effect on “time to exhaustion at constant load” (ES 0.79, 95% CI 0.23-1.35, p=0.006), but the small effects on time trials (ES 0.11) and incremental load tests (ES 0.26) did not reach significance; the effects appeared more often in people ranging from infrequently exercising to recreationally active, and under conditions of supplementation on consecutive days [11].
Senefeld et al. (2020) pooled 80 studies and reported an overall effect size d of only 0.174, which is objectively small; in studies with women only, d was 0.116 (not significant), and in high-level endurance athletes with a maximal oxygen uptake of 65 mL/kg/min or above, d was only 0.021 (not significant) [12].
Two umbrella reviews point in the same direction. Poon et al. (2025) included 20 systematic reviews, 180 studies and 2,672 subjects, and found a significant effect on time to exhaustion (SMD 0.33), but a limited effect in well-trained populations and women, and noted that the methodological quality of the included reviews was mostly low to very low [13]; Tian et al. (2025) pooled 15 meta-analyses and reported an SMD of 0.16 for maximal oxygen uptake, 0.25 for time to exhaustion and 0.27 for Yo-Yo IR1, which were statistically significant but rated as “negligible” or “small” effect sizes, while the strength dimension had only an SMD of 0.08 [14].
From the standpoint of a raw material supplier, I believe that proactively explaining these limitations is more valuable than picking out only the impressive data. What customers ultimately face are end consumers and regulators; if the boundaries of the evidence are not clearly explained, market risks will sooner or later return to the supply chain.
What These 3 Patterns Mean for Our Specifications and Communication
First, dosage has a threshold, but going beyond the threshold is not better. 70 mL (4.2 mmol) was ineffective, 140 mL (8.4 mmol) took effect, and 280 mL (16.8 mmol) brought no additional benefit [3]; the common dosage in pooled studies is 300-600 mg of nitrate, and the effective conditions given by the umbrella reviews are no less than 6 mmol per day (about 372 mg) with supplementation for more than 3 consecutive days [11][13]. Therefore, I prefer to recommend that customers define the product in the specification by “the millimoles or milligrams of nitrate per serving” rather than simply writing “beet root juice concentrate”; once the finished product dilutes the effective dose, even the best raw material will not show any effect.
Second, the population determines the benefit. People ranging from infrequently exercising to recreationally active benefit the most; the more fully trained they are, the smaller the benefit, and in high-level endurance athletes and all-female samples no effect is often detected [11][12]. This directly affects where the claim should land: statements aimed at recreational exercisers are more easily supported by the data, while strong claims aimed at elite athletes currently lack a literature basis.
Third, the task type determines the effect size. Constant-load time-to-exhaustion tasks are the most stable (ES 0.79), while the effect sizes in time trials and incremental load tests are generally small (ES 0.11 and 0.26) [11]; specifically for time trials, the Cermak case showed about 1.2% [4] and the Rokkedal-Lausch case showed about 1.6% [9]. Therefore, I would position it in endurance and intermittent high-intensity scenarios, rather than in strength or pure explosive power.
One more point must be made clear to customers: all the above evidence comes from liquid concentrate; if it is switched to beet root extract powder or another dosage form, the equivalence needs to be re-verified by the customer, and I cannot answer on behalf of the literature [3][4].
How I Would Answer a Few Questions Customers Often Ask Me
Question 1: How should the nitrate content of this raw material be viewed?
I would recommend benchmarking against the literature dosage using mmol/100 mL or mg/serving as the basis, and explain that the threshold value comes from dose-response studies [3].
Question 2: Does the powder dosage form have the same effect as the concentrate?
I would truthfully explain that the existing evidence is based on liquid concentrate, and that a change of dosage form is a new verification question, so the conclusions cannot be directly carried over [3][4].
Question 3: Can “improves endurance” be written in the marketing of the finished product?
I would explain that the effect sizes in the literature are rather small and the differences between populations are obvious; the strength of the claim should match the evidence the brand itself can provide, and it should comply with the health claim rules of the target market [12][13].
Question 4: What should customers with professional athletes pay attention to?
I would remind them that the risk of prohibited substances mostly comes from contamination or adulteration; studies have detected higenamine in beet root-containing foods and it affects WADA-relevant testing, so third-party test reports, batch retention samples and supply chain transparency are all worth confirming in advance [15][16][17].
My Reservations and Boundaries
These 9 studies are mainly male and small-sample (mostly 8-14 people), with clearly insufficient data on women, so I cannot judge which population the end consumer will be closer to [12]; the effect sizes are generally small, and it is at most a supplement to training and diet and cannot replace the fundamentals; all protocols are tied to a specific dosage form, dose and supplementation duration, and extrapolation across dosage forms and populations should be borne by the customer’s own verification. I will write these premises into the materials provided to customers, rather than hiding them in footnotes.
References
[1] Bailey SJ, Winyard P, Vanhatalo A, et al. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2009. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00722.2009. PMID 19661447
[2] Vanhatalo A, Bailey SJ, Blackwell JR, et al. Acute and chronic effects of dietary nitrate supplementation on blood pressure and the physiological responses to moderate-intensity and incremental exercise. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2010. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00206.2010. PMID 20702806
[3] Wylie LJ, Kelly J, Bailey SJ, et al. beet root juice and exercise: pharmacodynamic and dose-response relationships. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2013. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00372.2013. PMID 23640589
[4] Cermak NM, Gibala MJ, van Loon LJC. Nitrate supplementation’s improvement of 10-km time-trial performance in trained cyclists. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2012. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.22.1.64. PMID 22248502
[5] Bond H, Morton L, Braakhuis AJ. Dietary nitrate supplementation improves rowing performance in well-trained rowers. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2012. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.22.4.251. PMID 22710356
[6] Breese BC, McNarry MA, Marwood S, et al. beet root juice supplementation speeds O2 uptake kinetics and improves exercise tolerance during severe-intensity exercise initiated from an elevated metabolic rate. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2013. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00295.2013. PMID 24089377
[7] Kenjale AA, Ham KL, Stabler T, et al. Dietary nitrate supplementation enhances exercise performance in peripheral arterial disease. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2011. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00071.2011. PMID 21454745
[8] Thompson C, Vanhatalo A, Jell H, et al. Dietary nitrate supplementation improves sprint and high-intensity intermittent running performance. Nitric Oxide. 2016. doi:10.1016/j.niox.2016.10.006. PMID 27777094
[9] Rokkedal-Lausch T, Franch J, Poulsen MK, et al. Chronic high-dose beet root juice supplementation improves time trial performance of well-trained cyclists in normoxia and hypoxia. Nitric Oxide. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.niox.2019.01.011. PMID 30685420
[10] Sousa A, Viana JL, Milheiro J, et al. Dietary Nitrate Supplementation Is Not Helpful for Endurance Performance at Simulated Altitude Even When Combined With Intermittent Normobaric Hypoxic Training. Front Physiol. 2022. doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.839996. PMID 35360239
[11] Hoon MW, Johnson NA, Chapman PG, Burke LM. The effect of nitrate supplementation on exercise performance in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2013. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.23.5.522. PMID 23580439
[12] Senefeld JW, Wiggins CC, Regimbal RJ, et al. Ergogenic Effect of Nitrate Supplementation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2020. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000002363. PMID 32936597
[13] Poon ET, Iu JC, Sum WM, et al. Dietary Nitrate Supplementation and Exercise Performance: An Umbrella Review of 20 Published Systematic Reviews with Meta-analyses. Sports Med. 2025. doi:10.1007/s40279-025-02194-6. PMID 40085422
[14] Tian C, Jiang Q, Han M, et al. Effects of beet root Juice on Physical Performance in Professional Athletes and Healthy Individuals: An Umbrella Review. Nutrients. 2025. doi:10.3390/nu17121958. PMID 40573069
[15] Leaney AE, Heath J, Midforth E, et al. Presence of higenamine in beet root containing ‘foodstuffs’ and the implication for WADA-relevant anti-doping testing. Drug Test Anal. 2023. doi:10.1002/dta.3383. PMID 36218291
[16] Mathews NM. Prohibited Contaminants in Dietary Supplements. Sports Health. 2018. doi:10.1177/1941738117727736. PMID 28850291
[17] Mallick M, Camacho CB, Daher J, et al. Dietary Supplements: A Gateway to Doping? Nutrients. 2023. doi:10.3390/nu15040881. PMID 36839238
