News Archive

UWA PhD candidate Georgie Kent and researcher Peter Peeling were recently involved in a new Journal of Sports Sciences paper which investigated the effect of beetroot juice on performance during cycling in the heat.

Beetroot juice has long been touted as a sports supplement. However, the investigation found that 3 days of beetroot juice supplementation provided to endurance-trained cyclists did not significantly improve cycling time trial performance in the heat.

Despite this, the consumption of beetroot juice was not detrimental to performance, and there was no increase in thermal strain, as has been previously reported.

There is still a chance that beetroot juice could be relevant during a race, but further studies are needed to properly examine its use.

The paper advised that the potential cardiovascular and metabolic effects of beetroot juice on exercise in the heat needs to be “examined during fixed work-rate cycling with measures of skin and muscle blood flow considered” before conclusions can be made.

Read the full paper here

Media references

Louis Humberstone

Graduate Officer, UWA Sport Marketing, Communications, and Events

[email protected]

6488 3768