Sodium nitrate trials found no clear blood pressure reduction
Pooled results did not establish lower blood pressure or resting heart rate compared with placebo, and longer-term effects remain uncertain.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Across the included trials, sodium nitrate did not significantly lower systolic or diastolic blood pressure compared with placebo. Resting heart rate also showed no significant reduction. The estimates remain uncertain: their confidence intervals allow for lower or higher values. These results establish neither a blood pressure benefit nor equivalence to placebo.
Only a small number of trials were available. This abstract-based assessment cannot resolve longer-term effects because individual study durations and results by duration are not provided.
What researchers found
Mean difference in systolic blood pressure
Sodium nitrate versus placebo across trials lasting at least 1 week; 95% CI -10.05 to 2.43 mm Hg.
What was tested
The review focused on sodium nitrate supplements and excluded beetroot juice interventions. Its findings therefore address the supplement studied and should not be read as a test of beetroot juice.
Understanding the uncertain estimate
The systolic estimate favored a decrease, but its confidence interval also allowed an increase. The pooled evidence was therefore compatible with different directions of effect and did not establish a reliable blood pressure reduction.
The original publication
Effects of chronic nitrate supplementation on blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.
Forster D, Waclawovsky G, Stefani GP
Nutr Res · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41619653
- Record checked
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