A recent placebo-controlled study has suggested Bio-gen Extract's TruBeet can enhance performance and speed muscle deoxyhaemoglobin kinetics during the end-sprint of prolonged moderate-intensity exercise test. The product is a natural extract of red beetroot containing >6% of inorganic nitrate. This high nitrate concentration significantly reduces the volume of an effective dose, the company says, which has positive implications for ease of use, cost per dose and supply chain management for supplement manufacturers.
The study recruited 12 healthy subjects who consumed either 8 mmol of nitrate or a nitrate-depleted placebo (<1 mmol). Results indicated all participants consuming the supplement had a higher peak power during the end-sprint of the exercise compared to the placebo group. The findings point to the product's potential to improve endurance performance, possibly through an increase of the muscles’ oxygen carrying capacity.
Typically, beetroot-based products cause some amount of gastric distress. However, participants in the clinical trial were free from such effects, the company reports, a critical factor in performance-based settings.
Based on the study outcomes, the company has developed a multi-year programme to determine the supplement's effects on a wider range of health outcomes.
