First of all I would like to start this article by stating that I went into this experiment as an all out sceptic. I normally need extensive scientific evidence to back up any clam before I will give it a go. It all started about four months ago when I saw on a television program on which a researcher was calming that drinking Beetroot Juice can increases an athlete’s stamina. Shortly after this statement I lunged across the sofa reaching for my tablet to see if I could find any scientific evidence regarding this statement. The Name that seemed be associated with this research is a Dr Stephen Bailey from the university of Exeter. He claims by drinking 0.5 Litre of beetroot juice a day the high levels of nitrite found in beetroot juice reduces the cost of oxygen by up to 10% during exercise which means the energy demand at a particular work rate is lower. Further tests were taken where athletes were asked to exercise to exhaustion, on average the time to exhaustion is extended by between 15 to 20% by drinking 0.5Litre of beetroot juice.
A few days passed and I found myself doing the weekly shop at a well known supermarket where I spotted Beetroot juice on the shelf next to the fruit juices. I pondered over buying a carton for a moment before thinking “hey it’s worth a go just for a bit of fun”. On arriving home I filled up a glass and knocked it back, first impressions were that of confusion it seemed weird to have the taste of something that I associate with a solid food stuff normally found swimming around in a jar of pickle. Second impression was that this is defiantly something I has prepared to try. And so the personal test had started.
Day two I started the day as normal with breakfast with the addition of a glass of beetroot juice followed by my morning visit to the bathroom before heading off out to work. On using the facilities within the bathroom I became aware that my urine was not its normal colour instead it was a strong pink colour. This was aforementioned as a side effect on both the carton of beetroot juice and in some of the documentation that I had found online. After work I went for my usual one hour cycle, I returned home feeling a tired as I would normally feel after the same training exercise without being on beetroot juice but still willing to give this experiment a bit of time I re hydrated with another glass of beetroot juice. I was now hitting the magical 0.5liter daily allowance where I should start to see an effect.
Day three again the same ritual but this time while out for my training cycle I did feel different especially at the hill sections there was just a feeling that I still had a bit more fuel in my tank. But I still did not really acknowledge the effect as this could have simply been down to wind direction or generally having a better day.
Day four once again my normal morning ritual and again while I was out cycling I felt like I had more energy on the hill sections and on returning home I did not feel a tired as I would normally feel. This experiment was looking like it might actually be working.
Day five by this time I’m sure you have gathered I am a creature of habit and follow the same ritual every morning. But this time rather than doing my normal one hour training run I thought I would take my mountain bike for a long cycle 72miles to be exact. Once again while out I felt a noticeable feeling of more energy and by the time I had passed out the west side of Perth I noticed that I was a whole 15min faster than I would normally be. On returning back home my legs did not have that normal wobbly feeling as they would normally have after such a cycle instead they felt relatively normal. The time in which I had completed the cycle route I was a whole 25min faster than I had ever achieved before. It was at this point I was convinced that Beetroot juice does work as a means of improving stamina and I was satisfied that there was some truth in the statements made by Dr Stephen Bailey. I continued to drink beetroot juice for another week before I finally stopped drinking beetroot juice. The main reason that I have not continued for drink beetroot juice is mainly down to the taste, it was a taste that I personally could not get used to long term and latterly did not enjoy drinking. From my experience there is defiantly an effect and that it could be used as a training aid and perhaps as an aid in a competition to try and give you a competitive edge and I highly recommend others to try it but the taste simply was not something I could endure long term.
So coming back to the title of this article could Beetroot turn you into a superhero... well probably not literally unless you call having pink urine a super power but from my experience it does appear to give the feeling of having more energy. I recommend to anyone reading this article that is looking to boost their energy levels while training to give beetroot juice a go, if you can tolerate the taste you might be surprised by the effects.
