Impact of Beetroot Supplementation in Athletes

Impact of Beetroot Supplementation on Sports Performance, Prooxidant-antioxidant Balance and Sleep in Athletes

Several previous studies observed a positive effect of beetroot supplementation on sports performance in athletes, mainly in endurance performance. However, less attention has been paid to its effects on short-duration performance, especially in youth athletes. Moreover, only a few previous investigations performed biochemical analyses, including pro-oxidant balance assessments. It is especially important because chronic nitrate intake might directly cause the production of reactive nitrogen species and reactive oxygen species in other subcellular compartments, leading to more oxidative stress. Additionally, no previous study verified the impact of beetroot intake on sleep.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Beetroot juice supplementation or placebo

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Poland
  • Kraków, Poland, 31-571
    • University School of Physical Education in Cracow

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• male
• good general health assessed by physician
• highly trained
• written consent to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

• medication or dietary supplements used within the previous month, which could potentially impact the study outcomes
• history of sleep nor neurological disorders
• chronic use (6 months) of any antibacterial mouthwash products.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Placebo group; Athletes received 7 days of placebo (2 × 70 mL of water with beetroot powder with negligible nitrate content).	Dietary supplement: Beetroot juice supplementation or placebo; Athletes received 7 days of beetroot juice supplementation with nitrate supplementation (2 × 70 mL of beetroot juice ∼12.9 mmol NO3-; Beet It, James White Drinks, Ipswich, UK) or placebo (2 × 70 mL of water with beetroot powder with negligible nitrate content).
Experimental: Beetroot group; Athletes received 7 days of beetroot juice (2 × 70 mL of beetroot juice ∼12.9 mmol NO3-; Beet It, James White Drinks, Ipswich, UK).	Dietary supplement: Beetroot juice supplementation or placebo; Athletes received 7 days of beetroot juice supplementation with nitrate supplementation (2 × 70 mL of beetroot juice ∼12.9 mmol NO3-; Beet It, James White Drinks, Ipswich, UK) or placebo (2 × 70 mL of water with beetroot powder with negligible nitrate content).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Performance test	yo-yo intermittent recovery test level 1	7 days after treatment
Changes in nitrates	Blood plasma will be obtained to measure nitrate concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in nitrites	Blood plasma will be obtained to measure nitrite concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in prooxidant status	Blood plasma will be obtained to measure total oxidative status	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in antioxidant status	Blood plasma will be obtained to measure total antioxidant capacity	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in oxidative stress index	The oxidative stress index will be calculated as the ratio of plasma prooxidant to antioxidant status	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in nitrooxidative stress markers	Blood plasma will be obtained to measure 3-nitrotyrosine concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in protein oxidation	Blood plasma will be obtained to measure advanced protein oxidation products concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in nucleic acid oxidation	Blood plasma will be obtained to measure ox-8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in lipids oxidation	Blood plasma will be obtained to measure thiobarbituric acid reactive substances concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in exercise-induced metabolic acidosis	Arterialized blood will be obtained to measure lactate concentration	1) Before the performance test 2) 3 minutes after the performance test 3) 10 minutes after the performance test 4) 20 minutes after the performance test
Objective Sleep - Time in bed	Total time spent in bed during the night assessed by sleep radar	nights 1 - 7 during treatment
Objective Sleep - Sleep-onset latency	The time it takes from when the athlete intends to go to sleep and actually starts to sleep assessed by sleep radar	nights 1 - 7 during treatment
Objective Sleep - Total sleep time	Total sleep time obtained from sleep onset to time at wake-up assessed by sleep radar	nights 1 - 7 during treatment
Objective Sleep - Light sleep	Total amount of time in light sleep assessed by sleep radar	nights 1 - 7 during treatment
Objective Sleep - Deep sleep	Total amount of time in deep sleep assessed by sleep radar	nights 1 - 7 during treatment
Objective Sleep - REM sleep	Total amount of time in REM sleep assessed by sleep radar	nights 1 - 7 during treatment
Objective Sleep - Sleep efficiency	The percentage of total sleep time to lights off and leaving bed assessed by sleep radar	nights 1 - 7 during treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Countermovement jump height		7 days after treatment
Ball speed velocity		7 days after treatment
Sprint test (0-20m)		7 days after treatment
Agility T-test		7 days after treatment
Maximal isometric handgrip strength		7 days after treatment
Flanker task		7 days after treatment
Changes in muscle damage markers	Blood serum will be obtained to measure myoglobin concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in muscle enzymes activity	Blood serum will be obtained to measure creatine kinase activity	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in inflammation markers	Blood serum will be obtained to measure C-reactive protein concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in blood count	Whole blood will be obtained to measure leukocyte count	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in anabolic hormones	Blood serum will be obtained to measure testosterone concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in catabolic hormones	Blood serum will be obtained to measure cortisol concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in kidney function markers	Blood serum will be obtained to measure creatinine concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in the purine metabolism marker	Blood serum will be obtained to measure uric acid concentration	1) baseline - 2) 7th day of treatment - before the supplementation, 3) 7th day of treatment - before the performance test, 4) 7th day of treatment - immediately after the performance test
Changes in hemoglobin concentration	Arterialized blood will be obtained to measure hemoglobin concentration	1) Before the performance test 2) 3 minutes after the performance test 3) 10 minutes after the performance test 4) 20 minutes after the performance test
Changes in hematocrit	Arterialized blood will be obtained to measure hematocrit	1) Before the performance test 2) 3 minutes after the performance test 3) 10 minutes after the performance test 4) 20 minutes after the performance test
Changes in plasma volume	The change in plasma volume will be calculated using the hemoglobin and hematocrit results	1) Before the performance test 2) 3 minutes after the performance test 3) 10 minutes after the performance test 4) 20 minutes after the performance test

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University School of Physical Education, Krakow, Poland
• Collaborators: University of Bergen
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Aleksandra Filip-Stachnik, Phd, University of Physcial Education in Cracow

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 23, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 16, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): October 16, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 5, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 14, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): September 21, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): February 1, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 31, 2024
• Last Verified: January 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: AWF_MSIT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No