Effects of short-term dietary nitrate supplementation on blood pressure, O2uptake kinetics, and muscle and cognitive function in older adults

Nov 24, 2012American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology

Short-term dietary nitrate and its effects on blood pressure, oxygen use, muscle strength, and thinking in older adults

AI simplified

Longevity & Aging on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Nitrate supplementation reduced resting systolic blood pressure from 120 ± 6 mmHg to 115 ± 9 mmHg in healthy older adults.

Plasma nitrite levels significantly increased following dietary nitrate supplementation.
Diastolic blood pressure decreased from 73 ± 5 mmHg to 70 ± 5 mmHg with nitrate supplementation.
Nitrate supplementation improved the speed of oxygen uptake response time during exercise from 28 ± 7 seconds to 25 ± 7 seconds.
No changes were observed in functional capacity, muscle metabolic response to low-intensity exercise, or cognitive function.
The findings suggest dietary nitrate may enhance cardiovascular health in older adults.

AI simplified

Dietary nitrate (NO(3)(-)) supplementation has been shown to reduce resting blood pressure and alter the physiological response to exercise in young adults. We investigated whether these effects might also be evident in older adults. In a double-blind, randomized, crossover study, 12 healthy, older (60-70 yr) adults supplemented their diet for 3 days with either nitrate-rich concentrated beetroot juice (BR; 2 × 70 ml/day, ∼9.6 mmol/day NO(3)(-)) or a nitrate-depleted beetroot juice placebo (PL; 2 × 70 ml/day, ∼0.01 mmol/day NO(3)(-)). Before and after the intervention periods, resting blood pressure and plasma [nitrite] were measured, and subjects completed a battery of physiological and cognitive tests. Nitrate supplementation significantly increased plasma [nitrite] and reduced resting systolic (BR: 115 ± 9 vs. PL: 120 ± 6 mmHg; P < 0.05) and diastolic (BR: 70 ± 5 vs. PL: 73 ± 5 mmHg; P < 0.05) blood pressure. Nitrate supplementation resulted in a speeding of the Vo(2) mean response time (BR: 25 ± 7 vs. PL: 28 ± 7 s; P < 0.05) in the transition from standing rest to treadmill walking, although in contrast to our hypothesis, the O(2) cost of exercise remained unchanged. Functional capacity (6-min walk test), the muscle metabolic response to low-intensity exercise, brain metabolite concentrations, and cognitive function were also not altered. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduced resting blood pressure and improved Vo(2) kinetics during treadmill walking in healthy older adults but did not improve walking or cognitive performance. These results may have implications for the enhancement of cardiovascular health in older age.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text ↗

Effects of short-term dietary nitrate supplementation on blood pressure, O2uptake kinetics, and muscle and cognitive function in older adults

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the longevity & aging brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the longevity & aging brief