In people with high blood pressure, beet juice lowered the top number (systolic) about 5 points at the doctor's office, but home and 24-hour readings mostly didn't drop when the trials were pooled.
Beet juice (beetroot juice) can lower some blood pressure readings. Some online videos promise it will get you off your blood pressure pills, and the studies don't support that.
It lowers the reading taken in a clinic. Readings taken at home or on a 24-hour monitor mostly didn't move, and that gap decides its grade.
The book's grade: PLAUSIBLE (mixed evidence). Office readings drop, but pooled home and 24-hour readings mostly don't. Priority: Optional extras, with beets as food first.
Does beet juice lower blood pressure, and by how much?
Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg), which most people call points.
- Top number (systolic), office readings: down about 5 points in people with high blood pressure. Two reviews, of 11 trials and 7 trials, both found about 5 points. The larger one rated its certainty as low (review of 11 trials; review of 7 trials). For example, from 145/90 to about 140/90 at the office.
- Bottom number (diastolic): no clear change in either review.
- Home and 24-hour readings: in 13 trials of adults with and without high blood pressure, the drop was "only significant when measured in resting clinical settings." Home and 24-hour readings didn't change (review of 13 trials).
The trials disagree
The best single trial points the other way. In 68 people with high blood pressure, a daily glass (250 mL) of beet juice for 4 weeks lowered the top number about 8 points on office, home and 24-hour readings alike. A look-alike beet juice with the nitrate removed did nothing (4-week beet juice trial).
Other trials found nothing:
- Older adults on blood pressure pills: in 15 people, nitrate-rich beet juice twice a day for 4 weeks didn't change 24-hour or home readings (trial in older treated adults).
- Nitrate pills without the beets: in 6 trials of mostly older adults, there was no significant drop (review of nitrate pills).
The gap between office and home readings matters. Home and 24-hour readings are more closely tied to heart and stroke risk than office readings (AHA statement on measuring blood pressure). When something lowers the office number and leaves the home number alone, I count that against it.
How does beet juice work?
Beets are rich in nitrate. Bacteria in your mouth turn nitrate into nitrite, and your body turns nitrite into nitric oxide, a gas that tells your arteries to relax and widen. In the best trial, blood levels of nitrate and nitrite rose on the beet juice. Whether that leads to a lasting drop over many months is still unknown.
Strong antibacterial mouth rinses kill those mouth bacteria. In a 2026 review of 9 human studies, 5 showed blood pressure rising with a rinse and 4 didn't, and the authors said "no firm conclusions can be drawn" (2026 mouthwash review). The book grades daily antibacterial mouthwash with no dental reason POSSIBLY HARMFUL (might raise blood pressure). Don't stop a rinse your dentist prescribed.
Do leafy greens work the same way?
Greens carry nitrate too, but eating more of them as a nitrate trick didn't work. In a 5-week trial of 243 adults aged 50 to 70 with a raised top number, greens with 300 mg of nitrate a day changed the 24-hour top number by about half a point, the same as low-nitrate vegetables (leafy greens trial).
Grade for leafy greens as a nitrate blood pressure trick: UNLIKELY TO HELP. Keep eating them anyway. Greens belong in a DASH-style eating plan, which has far better numbers behind it.
How much beet juice to drink, and the best beet juice to buy
- Dose studied: about 370 mg of nitrate a day in the best trial. The reviews covered 200 to 800 mg a day.
- Time to work: about 4 weeks, with no sign that the effect wore off during the trials.
- Read the label. Nitrate in vegetables and juices varies naturally, and the trials used juices with very different doses. A juice that lists nitrate in milligrams is the only way to match a trial.
- Powders and "beet chews" often don't list nitrate at all. Treat those as untested.
- Food first. Roasted beets are a fine vegetable whatever the juice does.
Is beet juice safe? Who should skip it
- Red or pink urine and stool are common and harmless.
- It adds to your pills. Anything that lowers blood pressure stacks on top of blood pressure medicine. If you feel dizzy when you stand, call your doctor, since dizziness can lead to a fall.
- Kidney stones. Beets carry oxalate. If you've had oxalate stones, ask your doctor before drinking beet juice daily.
- Potassium limits. The National Kidney Foundation lists beets and vegetable juices among high-potassium foods (NKF potassium guide). If you've been told to limit potassium, ask first.
- Erection pills. These carry a strong warning against nitrate heart medicines, because together they can drop blood pressure too far (sildenafil label). Beet juice isn't one of those medicines, but it works through the same nitric oxide path, so ask your doctor or pharmacist before combining them.
- Daily use over the long term. The best trial's dose was above the World Health Organization's acceptable daily intake for nitrate, a limit set over concerns about cancer and a rare blood problem, though that trial saw no sign of the blood problem. A review notes there's little research on the downsides of drinking beet juice every day (review of beet juice). I'd stay closer to food amounts, though nothing here is cause for alarm.
Can beet juice replace blood pressure pills?
No, and stopping your pills for it is dangerous. The book stamps that claim POSSIBLY HARMFUL. That stamp is about replacing medicine with beet juice. As an add-on, beet juice is still PLAUSIBLE (mixed evidence).
Blood pressure medicines have been tested against heart attacks and strokes in large trials, and no beet juice trial has measured either one. Without the pills, blood pressure can climb back up with no warning, since high blood pressure usually has no symptoms. Feeling fine tells you nothing.
Some blood pressure pills can make your pressure bounce back hard if stopped suddenly. Never stop or cut back a medicine on your own. Being on a pill isn't a life sentence, though. As habits change, lowering a dose or dropping a pill is common in my practice, and it's done with your doctor and a home cuff keeping watch.
How to test beet juice on yourself
Your home cuff measures the kind of reading the pooled studies questioned. With your doctor's blessing:
- Do a starting home week: two readings in the morning and two in the evening for 7 days. My guide to taking your blood pressure at home covers the steps.
- Change only one thing. Keep your food, activity and medicines the same.
- Drink a daily glass of a juice that lists its nitrate for 4 weeks.
- Do a second home week with the same cuff, the same arm and the same times of day.
- Compare the two weekly averages. A change of less than about 5 points may be noise. Keep the juice only if your average came down.
If your numbers are well above your goal, don't let a juice experiment delay treatment. The book uses 130/80 as its goal so the numbers stay consistent. Your doctor may use 140/90, and that isn't wrong either.
When to call your doctor
- A reading over 180/120: wait at least a minute and check again. If it's still that high and you have chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, a change in vision, a sudden severe headache or trouble speaking, call 911. With no symptoms, contact your doctor's office as soon as possible (the on-call line after hours). If you can't reach a person or get seen that day, go to urgent care.
Bottom line
Beet juice lowered the office top number about 5 points in people with high blood pressure, but pooled home and 24-hour readings mostly didn't drop. The best single trial found about 8 points on every kind of reading, so a home cuff is the fair way to see if it helps you. It's an optional add-on and never a replacement for your pills. If you try it, pick a juice that lists its nitrate and give it 4 weeks.
Questions people ask
Does beet juice lower blood pressure?
At the doctor's office, yes, by about 5 points on the top number in people with high blood pressure. Home and 24-hour readings mostly didn't drop when trials were pooled, which is why the book grades it PLAUSIBLE (mixed evidence).
How long does it take beet juice to lower blood pressure?
The trials judged it at about 4 weeks of daily juice, and the effect didn't seem to wear off.
How much beet juice should I drink for high blood pressure?
The best trial used a daily 250 mL glass with about 370 mg of nitrate. Reviews covered 200 to 800 mg of nitrate a day. Pick a juice that lists nitrate in milligrams, since the amount varies a lot.
Are beets good for blood pressure if I eat them instead?
The book gives beets as food the same grade as the juice, PLAUSIBLE (mixed evidence), though the trials tested juice and nitrate, not roasted beets. They're a good vegetable either way.
More from the book's supplement cards
Beet juice is one of the "worth a try" options in my upcoming book, Your Blood Pressure by the Numbers. The others on that short list include hibiscus tea, PLAUSIBLE (mixed evidence), with about 7 points off the top number in trials that disagree a great deal, and aged garlic extract, PLAUSIBLE (might help). Coenzyme Q10 and vitamin D, both popular, are UNLIKELY TO HELP. It's coming soon.
Next, read what magnesium does for blood pressure, or see the full ranked list of ways to lower blood pressure.