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Drinking This Veggie Juice Can Improve Your Workouts and Ward Off Muscle Cramps

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Pre-workout drinks are meant to help you burn more fat and calories, but often the ones you find at the store are loaded with added sugars and ingredients that we should steer clear of to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Thankfully, new research suggests that beet juice is a great option for a pre-workout sip that will protect your muscles and lead to a better exercise overall.

A recent review of studies published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition looked at the positive effects of drinking beet juice before a workout. Researchers noted that this drink is loaded with inorganic nitrate, a small gaseous molecule that increases blood nitric oxide concentrations. This helps promote healthy blood flow and circulation. Considering how this bodily function is necessary to complete physical activities, they wanted to examine how nitrate-rich beet juice can be an effective pre-workout sip. They ultimately reviewed nine research articles discussing this topic before revealing their findings.

The study authors found that sipping beet juice two hours before exercise had an ergolytic effect for participants. Essentially, the juice helped boost their physical performance to then exert more energy and focus into the workout. Also, they noticed that there was a faster turnaround time for post-workout muscle recovery thanks to this drink. This led to the researchers concluding that beet juice is a worthy pre-workout sip for protecting muscle health and improving one’s overall physical performance.

You can find beet juice at the store and online. Be sure to check the labels to get the most natural variety possible. An eight ounce glass of a brand like R. W. Knudsen Organic Beet Juice (Buy at Walmart, $5.28) contains 80 calories and is made with only beets and lemon juice. Alternatively, you can try a concentrated version like Dynamic Health Beetroot Dietary Supplement (Buy on Amazon, $16.03). Mix one to two tablespoons of the concentrate into an eight ounce glass of water and enjoy before getting your daily exercise in.

Not a fan of beet juice? Don’t worry your morning cup of Joe can offer the same perks for helping with fat burning and warding off post-workout muscle cramps!

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