Beetroot
Beetroot benefits for men: what beetroot juice does and what it doesn't
You'll have seen beetroot called vegetable Viagra. There's a real mechanism behind the nickname, it just hasn't been put to the test. Here's what the research has actually measured, what it hasn't and when a GP is the better call.
What beetroot juice actually does for men
Beetroot is one of the richest food sources of dietary nitrate. Your body turns that nitrate into nitrite, then into nitric oxide and nitric oxide widens blood vessels.
That's the whole story. Every one of the beetroot benefits for men worth taking seriously runs through that single pathway.
What the research has measured: blood pressure and exercise performance. Both repeatedly, in proper trials.
What it hasn't measured: erections, libido or testosterone as outcomes. That's a different thing from being tested and failing. The trials that would settle it haven't been run.
Nitric oxide, in plain English
Nitric oxide is a gas your body makes. Its main job is telling the muscle around your blood vessels to relax, which widens the vessel and lets more blood through at lower pressure.
You make less of it as you get older. That's normal and it's part of why blood pressure tends to creep up with age.
Dietary nitrate gives your body another route to make it. According to the University of Queensland's public health school, the richest dietary sources tested in clinical studies are beetroot, rocket and spinach.
Beetroot got the attention because it's the easiest to concentrate into a drink you'll actually finish. That's the whole reason cold-pressed beetroot juice exists as a format. Nobody is eating 200g of raw beetroot before work.
The bit with the most evidence behind it
This matters more for men than most men think. High blood pressure is more common in men than women until around the age of 65 and it usually announces itself with nothing at all.
The University of Queensland puts the effect of beetroot juice at a systolic drop of roughly 2.73 to 4.81 mmHg in people who already have high blood pressure. Not a cure. Not a replacement for anything a doctor gave you. But a measured effect from a vegetable.
The trials behind those numbers used a concentrated juice shot with the nitrate printed on it, usually around 400mg a day. You can see the same figure repeated across the published trials on beetroot juice and blood pressure. Format matters here, which is why our range of beetroot juice runs from a concentrated 125ml through to everyday 250ml bottles.
If you're on blood pressure medication, talk to your GP before adding a daily nitrate source. We go into that in more detail in who should avoid beetroot juice and there's more on the numbers in what the blood pressure research shows.
Where the evidence is genuinely strong
If you train, this is the part worth your attention.
Beetroot juice has been studied more thoroughly for exercise than for anything else on this page. The research looked at how efficiently muscles use oxygen and how long people could keep going. Cyclists, runners, footballers.
Doses in those studies were similar to the blood pressure work, around 70ml to 140ml of concentrated juice. Timing matters too, since nitrate takes a couple of hours to peak in the blood.
If you train and want the ginger with it, beetroot and ginger juice is the fuller format. Power Beets is beetroot with carrot, apple, lemon and ginger, from £26.95.
We've covered that properly in beetroot juice and energy, including when to drink it before training.
The vegetable Viagra question
This comes up a lot, so it's worth going through properly.
The nickname isn't plucked out of thin air. Erections depend on blood flow, blood flow depends partly on nitric oxide and prescription ED drugs work on that same nitric oxide signalling. The pathway people point at is a real one, which is why the idea has stuck around.
Here's what's also true and it's the part that gets left out. The study hasn't been done. As the University of Queensland puts it, the enormous body of beetroot research simply hasn't measured libido or other aspects of sexual health.
Their conclusion is worth repeating properly, because it's more useful than either extreme. A modest link through better circulation is reasonable to suggest. Expecting it to transform your sex life is not.
That's a long way from beetroot failing a test. The question just hasn't been put to one yet. So when you see it sold as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, that's someone filling in a gap the evidence hasn't filled.
The Romans are said to have used beetroot as an aphrodisiac, which is a lovely bit of history and not a substitute for a trial.
One thing worth saying properly
If this is the section you came for, this is the most useful thing on the page.
Erectile dysfunction is often an early warning sign of cardiovascular disease. The blood vessels involved are small and they tend to show trouble before the bigger ones do. It can also point to diabetes, low testosterone or a side effect of medication you're already taking.
So it's worth booking an appointment. Not something to feel awkward about either, it's a symptom that gives a GP useful information about what's going on underneath.
Get that looked at first. Eating and drinking well helps with everything sitting underneath it and it works better alongside a proper answer than instead of one.
Does beetroot increase testosterone?
There's no good human evidence that beetroot raises testosterone and anyone selling you a beetroot supplement on that basis is going well beyond what's been shown.
The confusion comes from a real but different point. Nitric oxide plays a part in how testosterone influences blood flow. That's testosterone doing something with the help of nitric oxide, not beetroot producing testosterone.
If you think yours might be low, a blood test will tell you in a fortnight what no amount of juice can. Worth asking your GP.
How much beetroot juice should a man drink?
The research used roughly 400mg of nitrate a day, which came from about 70ml of concentrated juice.
One 125ml bottle of pure beetroot juice is pressed from around 200g of raw beetroot, which is two whole beets. Most people have one a day. If neat beetroot is too much, everyday beetroot juice is a lighter 250ml blend built to drink daily.
A few practical things. Expect pink or red urine, it's harmless and it's called beeturia. Beetroot is high in oxalates, so if you've had kidney stones, ask your GP first. And if you're taking nitrate medication for angina, speak to your GP before adding any nitrate source.
If a bottle a day is more than you want, cold-pressed beetroot shots are the smaller daily format. Ginger Beets is 60ml of beetroot with ginger, lemon and green apple, from £16.95 for seven.
Want to try both before committing? The beetroot juice bundle puts the bottles and the shots together from £34.95.
Capsules are a different question and mostly a disappointing one. We ran the numbers in beetroot capsules: do they actually work.
Beetroot benefits for men: what the research does and doesn't cover
| Claim you'll see | What the evidence says |
|---|---|
| Lowers blood pressure | Studied repeatedly. Around 2.73 to 4.81 mmHg systolic in people with high blood pressure |
| Helps exercise performance | The most studied effect. Oxygen efficiency and time to exhaustion |
| Widens blood vessels | The mechanism behind both of the above |
| Treats erectile dysfunction | Not tested as an outcome. The pathway is real, the trial isn't |
| Raises testosterone | No good human evidence |
| Works as an aphrodisiac | Roman tradition, not research |
Three ways to drink it
All pressed from whole vegetables and frozen straight after pressing. Never heated, never from concentrate. Have a look at the range of beetroot juice delivered frozen.
Frequently Asked
What are the benefits of beetroot for men?
The evidence sits in two places: blood pressure and exercise. Beetroot is rich in dietary nitrate, which your body turns into nitric oxide and that widens blood vessels. Both effects have been measured in proper trials. Claims about libido and testosterone haven't been.
Is beetroot good for erectile dysfunction?
No trial has measured it as an outcome. The nitric oxide pathway is real and it's the same one prescription ED drugs act on, but the research on beetroot has looked at blood pressure and exercise, not sexual health. More importantly, erectile dysfunction can be an early sign of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, so it's worth seeing a GP rather than self-treating.
Does beetroot increase testosterone?
No. There's no good human evidence for it. Nitric oxide plays a role in how testosterone affects blood flow, which is where the confusion comes from, but that isn't beetroot producing testosterone. If you think yours is low, ask your GP for a blood test.
How much beetroot should a man take a day?
The research used around 400mg of nitrate daily, which came from roughly 70ml of concentrated juice. A 125ml bottle of pure beetroot juice is pressed from about 200g of raw beetroot. Most people have one a day.
Is there a downside to drinking beetroot juice?
It'll turn your urine pink, which is harmless. Beetroot is high in oxalates, so anyone with a history of kidney stones should check with a GP. If you take blood pressure medication or nitrate medication for angina, speak to your GP before adding a daily nitrate source.
Are beetroot supplements for men worth taking?
Usually not, because most never tell you their nitrate content and the research is entirely about nitrate. We worked through the labels and the arithmetic in beetroot capsules: do they actually work.
The Bottom Line
The beetroot benefits for men that hold up are the unglamorous ones. A nitrate-rich vegetable with measured effects on blood pressure and exercise performance. That's a decent thing for a vegetable to be and it doesn't need the vegetable Viagra story bolted onto it.
If sexual health is what brought you here, the honest answer is that the research hasn't looked at it yet and a GP will tell you far more than any article can.
If your interest is blood pressure or training, drink the thing. One 125ml bottle of cold-pressed beetroot juice is two whole raw beetroot and takes four seconds. If earthy isn't your thing, beetroot and ginger juice rounds it out with apple and carrot.
Eat the vegetable. Or drink it. And book the appointment.
Related reading
- Beetroot juice benefits
- Beetroot juice and blood pressure
- Beetroot juice and energy
- Beetroot capsules
- Beetroot powder
- Best time to drink beetroot juice
- Who should avoid beetroot juice
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