Beetroot
Beetroot capsules: do they actually work?
A tub that says 3,500mg on the front doesn't contain 3,500mg of beetroot. Here's what that number really means, how much you'd need to match the research and why it's all a lot of effort for a vegetable you can pull out of the ground.
Do beetroot capsules work?
It depends on the dose. And most tubs don't tell you what the dose is.
All the interesting beetroot research is about one thing: nitrate. The studies used between 310mg and 560mg of it a day.
Most beetroot capsules, tablets and extract products never mention nitrate on the label. The few that do are usually miles below that number.
So some might work. Most you can't judge either way. Here's how to tell them apart and what a bottle of cold-pressed beetroot juice tells you that a tub doesn't.
What 3,500mg on the front really means
Not 3,500mg of beetroot. Nowhere near it.
What is actually in the capsule is 700mg of concentrated beetroot powder. The maker boiled down five grams of beetroot to make one gram of that powder, so they multiply by five and print 3,500mg on the tub.
It's a bit like selling a stock cube with the weight of the chicken on the box.
And even taking 3,500mg at face value, that's 3.5 grams. A medium beetroot weighs about 100 grams. So the big number on the front is around a thirtieth of one beet.
For comparison, a 125ml bottle of pure beetroot juice is pressed from about 200g. Two whole beets and the ingredient list is two words long.
You would need about seventy capsules
One UK beetroot capsule actually prints its nitrate content. Good on them, most don't. It works out at 5.76mg per capsule.
The research used around 400mg a day.
That's to match one dose from a study.
Another beetroot capsule on sale in the UK says it has about 100mg per capsule. Same shelf, same two words on the front, seventeen times the strength. Neither's lying. They're just completely different products.
And most tubs say nothing at all, so you can't even do the sum.
Some capsules guarantee the colour, not the nitrate
This one's worth knowing.
A popular 3,500mg beetroot capsule promises on its label that it contains 0.3 percent betanin. Betanin is the pigment. It's the stuff that turns beetroot red and stains your chopping board.
So the label guarantees how red it is. It says nothing about the nitrate, which is the part every study was actually measuring.
Our piece on beetroot powder covers the same gap in a product that hasn't been concentrated at all.
Two ways to get beetroot into your body
Here's what has to happen for beetroot to reach you as a capsule.
Grow it. Dig it up. Wash it, slice it, dry it out, grind it to powder. Concentrate the powder down, five to one or ten to one or fifty to one.
Test it for a percentage of something. Mix in an anti-caking agent so it doesn't clog the machine. Seal it inside a shell made of something called hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. Print a number on the front that means something other than it looks. Ship it. Swallow it with water.
Or, option two: pull the beetroot out of the ground.
Every step in that first list is fixing a problem the second one doesn't have.
Two whole beetroot, four seconds, no chewing
We've made option two even easier.
One 125ml bottle of cold-pressed beetroot juice is pressed from around 200g of raw beetroot. That's two whole beets. You drink it in about four seconds.
Two bottles and you've had four raw beetroot before breakfast. Nobody sits down and eats four raw beetroot. Anyone can drink them.
Want it milder? Everyday beetroot juice is beetroot with apple, carrot, celery, cucumber, spinach, red pepper and lemon. Eight whole fruits and vegetables in one bottle and it drinks smooth and naturally sweet rather than earthy.
Nobody had to prove it does anything
Most people assume supplements get approved before they hit a shelf. They don't.
In the UK they're treated as food, not medicine. NHS guidance on food supplements puts it plainly: they can go on sale without telling a regulator, without proving they work, without proving they're any good and nobody checks up on them afterwards.
The same guidance adds the bit that matters here. Because supplement makers don't have to hit medicine-level standards, the amount of an ingredient can vary a lot between batches and even within the same batch.
Same rules apply to us, by the way. Juice is food, not medicine and we're not claiming ours treats anything. The difference is that a bottle of pressed beetroot contains beetroot.
What the studies actually used
The research that made beetroot interesting used a concentrated juice shot with the nitrate printed on it. Usually 70ml giving about 400mg.
You can see that number over and over in the published trials on beetroot juice and blood pressure. One study compared 70ml, 140ml and 280ml and found more nitrate did more.
That matters. The research isn't about beetroot in general. It's about a measured amount of nitrate. If a tub won't tell you its nitrate, you can't compare it to any of that.
There's more on this in what the blood pressure research shows.
Three things capsules do better
No taste. Beetroot is earthy and plenty of people hate it. A capsule tastes of nothing at all.
No freezer. A tub sits in a drawer for two years. Ours needs freezer space and wants drinking within 48 to 72 hours once it's thawed.
Cheaper. Per day it isn't close. Capsules win.
Worth knowing there's a middle option though. If it's the size and the faff putting you off rather than the taste, cold-pressed beetroot shots come in 60ml, drink in one go and still tell you exactly what went in. Ginger Beets is beetroot with ginger, lemon and green apple, from £16.95 for seven.
And if a capsule really is the only version you'll actually take, take it. Just find one that prints its nitrate, because most won't.
How to read a beetroot supplement label
Beetroot capsules, beetroot tablets and beetroot extract turn up in Holland and Barrett, Tesco, pharmacies and all over Amazon. If you'd rather skip the label-reading entirely, our beetroot juice range is delivered frozen and has nothing to decode. Otherwise, four things to look for.
Does it give you nitrate in mg? This is the only number that connects to the research. No nitrate, no way to judge it.
Is there a ratio like 5:1 or 10:1? If so, the big mg number on the front has been multiplied up. It isn't what's in the capsule.
What does it promise a percentage of? Betanin is the colour. Nitrate is the thing studied.
What else is in there? Anti-caking agents, magnesium stearate, capsule shells, bulking agents. All normal, all listed on the back. So read the back.
Beetroot capsules vs cold-pressed beetroot juice
| Capsules and tablets | Cold-pressed juice | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Concentrated beetroot powder in a shell | Whole beetroot pressed, frozen straight away |
| The number on the front | Multiplied up from a ratio | How much is in the bottle |
| Tells you the nitrate | Rarely | No, but there are two ingredients |
| What else is in it | Shell, anti-caking agents, bulking agents | Beetroot and a squeeze of lemon |
| Raw beetroot per serving | Often a fraction of one beet | Around 200g, or two whole beets |
| Storage | Drawer, about two years | Freezer, 48 to 72 hours thawed |
| Best for | Cheap, no taste, no freezer | Knowing what you've had |
Or just drink the vegetable
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
Do beetroot capsules actually work?
It comes down to the dose. The research used 310mg to 560mg of nitrate a day. Most capsules never mention nitrate and one UK product that does gives 5.76mg per capsule, so you would need about seventy to match a study. If the tub doesn't print its nitrate, there's no way to compare it.
How much beetroot capsules per day should I take?
Go by the tub, because strengths vary hugely. Most say one or two a day. Check with your GP first if you're on blood pressure medication or nitrate medication for angina, or if you've had kidney stones.
What does 3,500mg mean on a beetroot capsule?
Not 3,500mg of beetroot. The capsule holds 700mg of concentrated beetroot powder, made by boiling five grams down into one, so the maker multiplies by five for the front of the tub. Even taken at face value, 3.5 grams is about a thirtieth of a medium beetroot.
Are beetroot capsules better than beetroot juice?
Capsules are cheaper, taste of nothing and live in a drawer. Juice tells you what you've had. A 125ml bottle of pure beetroot juice is pressed from around 200g of raw beetroot, which is two whole beets and the ingredients are beetroot and lemon.
What is the difference between beetroot capsules, beetroot tablets and beetroot extract?
Mostly the shape. Capsules use a shell. Beetroot tablets are pressed together with binders. Beetroot extract is the concentrated powder that goes inside either one. The same four label checks apply to all three.
Are beetroot supplements tested before they go on sale in the UK?
Not the way most people think. In the UK they count as food, not medicine. NHS guidance says food products can go on sale without telling a regulator, without evidence they work and without proving quality. Medicines need a licence first. Supplements don't.
The Bottom Line
Dried, ground, concentrated ten to one, tested for a percentage of red pigment, mixed with an anti-caking agent, sealed in a shell you can't pronounce and labelled with a number that means something else entirely.
Or you could pull it out of the ground.
We've gone one better and taken the chewing out of it. A 125ml bottle of cold-pressed beetroot juice is two whole raw beetroot. Four seconds. Two bottles is four beetroot before breakfast.
Or take everyday beetroot juice and get eight whole fruits and vegetables in one go. You'd never eat eight before work. You can drink them in under a minute.
Prefer a bit of heat with it? Beetroot and ginger juice is beetroot with carrot, apple, lemon and ginger, from £26.95.
Not sure which suits you? The beetroot juice bundle has the bottles and the shots in one box from £34.95.
Eat the vegetable. Or drink it. Everything in between is a lot of effort to solve a problem a vegetable doesn't have.
Related reading
- Beetroot powder
- Beetroot juice benefits
- Is juicing good for you
- Beetroot juice and blood pressure
- Beetroot juice and energy
- Which beetroot blend for your goal
- Who should avoid beetroot juice
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