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Four Foods Studied for Healthy Blood Pressure and Circulation, and a Daily Supplement
Healthy blood flow depends on nitric oxide, a gas the body makes on its own, and one route to it starts in the mouth. A paid page from the makers of Vigor Jelly on four foods studied for this pathway.
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Most people never think about the inside of their blood vessels. The body handles that quietly, and a small molecule called nitric oxide is part of how it does it. Some everyday foods feed one of the routes the body uses to make it, and researchers have tested several of them in human trials. Here is what that research looked at, and why the makers of Vigor Jelly decided to make a daily supplement.
How blood flow relies on nitric oxide
Blood vessels are lined with a thin layer of cells called the endothelium. Those cells make nitric oxide, a short-lived gas that signals the muscle in the vessel wall to relax. A relaxed vessel widens a little, which is one of the normal ways the body adjusts blood flow from moment to moment.
The body produces nitric oxide all the time, from an amino acid called arginine. Studies have found that this production tends to decline with age, which is one reason researchers have become interested in other ways the body can make it. It is a normal part of getting older, and many adults simply want to support the systems they already have.
A route that starts in the mouth
The second route begins with food. Leafy greens and beets are rich in nitrate, a compound that is harmless on its own. After a meal, some of that nitrate is concentrated in saliva. Bacteria living on the back of the tongue convert nitrate into nitrite, and when that saliva is swallowed, the body can turn nitrite into nitric oxide.
The mouth’s role turned out to matter. In a 2008 study by Webb and colleagues, volunteers drank beet juice and saw their blood pressure dip modestly over the next few hours. When the same volunteers spat out their saliva instead of swallowing it, the rise in blood nitrite and the blood-pressure effect largely disappeared (Webb 2008).
Small studies have also found that strong antiseptic mouthwash reduces the tongue bacteria that do this conversion. That is not a reason to skip brushing, flossing or any mouthwash a dentist has recommended. If you have questions about it, ask a dentist.
Four foods studied in human trials
These four foods have been tested in controlled trials with adult volunteers. The results are modest averages, the studies are about the foods themselves, and the amounts used in trials are usually larger than a typical home portion.
Beets
Beets are one of the richest common sources of dietary nitrate. A 2013 meta-analysis pooled 16 trials, mostly using beet juice or nitrate supplements, and found systolic blood pressure was about 4 mmHg lower on average (Siervo 2013). Most of those trials used concentrated juice doses, not a side of roasted beets.
Spinach and arugula
Leafy greens such as spinach and arugula are also high in nitrate. In a study of 30 healthy adults, a single nitrate-rich spinach meal improved flow-mediated dilation, a standard measure of how well an artery widens (Bondonno 2012). It was a short-term study of one meal, so it shows an acute effect rather than a long-term one.
Natural cocoa
Cocoa contains flavanols, plant compounds that appear to act on the vessel lining. A 2012 meta-analysis of 42 short-term trials found cocoa and chocolate products were associated with better artery widening (Hooper 2012). Natural cocoa matters here: Dutch-processed (alkalized) cocoa loses most of its flavanols, and sweetened chocolate brings sugar along with it.
100% pomegranate juice
Pomegranate is rich in polyphenols. A 2017 meta-analysis of 8 trials found systolic blood pressure was about 5 mmHg lower on average with pomegranate juice (Sahebkar 2017). The trials used 100% juice, not juice blends with added sugar.
Our editorial team has looked at these foods separately: see our review of beet and cocoa claims and our guide to food and blood flow. If you want to try all four in one glass, there is a beet and cocoa smoothie recipe on the site that combines them.
Why the makers of Vigor Jelly made a daily supplement
Eating beets, a big plate of greens, natural cocoa and pomegranate juice every day is a lot to keep up, and the trial amounts are hard to match at home. The makers of Vigor Jelly say that is why they created a daily supplement the maker formulated around the nitric oxide pathway.
According to the maker, Vigor Jelly is formulated to support healthy circulation and normal nitric oxide production. That is the maker’s description, not a finding from the research above. The studies cited on this page were done on the foods, not on Vigor Jelly. Vigor Jelly has not been tested in those trials, and none of their results should be read as results for the product.
Before buying, check the full label and ingredient list on the maker’s site, and compare it with anything else you take.
See Vigor Jelly on the maker’s site
Who should ask a doctor first
Foods and supplements that act on blood vessels can interact with medicines and some health conditions. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before trying Vigor Jelly, or before adding large amounts of the foods above, if any of these apply:
- You take medicine for blood pressure.
- You take a nitrate heart medicine.
- You take any prescription medicine.
- You have a heart condition or a kidney condition.
Vigor Jelly is intended for adults 18 and older.
Sources
- Siervo M, et al. Inorganic nitrate and beetroot juice supplementation reduces blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Nutrition, 2013. PubMed
- Webb AJ, et al. Acute blood pressure lowering, vasoprotective, and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate via bioconversion to nitrite. Hypertension, 2008. PubMed
- Bondonno CP, et al. Flavonoid-rich apples and nitrate-rich spinach augment nitric oxide status and improve endothelial function in healthy men and women. Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 2012. PubMed
- Hooper L, et al. Effects of chocolate, cocoa, and flavan-3-ols on cardiovascular health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2012. PubMed
- Sahebkar A, et al. Effect of pomegranate juice on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Pharmacological Research, 2017. PubMed