Two small studies have linked beets with lower blood pressure. A study from the University of Reading, in England, served beet-fortified bread or bread without beets to 23 healthy men. Those that ate the fortified bread experienced reduced diastolic blood pressure and less artery stiffness during the six hours afterwards.

Australia’s Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute studied 15 women and 15 men, divided randomly into groups that consumed either 500 grams of a placebo juice or beets with apple juice. During the 24 hours after consumption, the researchers noted a statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure of four to five points among the men drinking the beet juice.