The human organic structure does not take well to a sudden modification inaltitude , as travelers and mountain climbers know . If you usually live near sea level but fly to a urban center like La Paz , Bolivia ( elevation : almost 12,000 feet ) , you might begin to get headaches , feel nauseous or dizzy , or become easily fatigued , due to the variety atmosphere pressure levels and the body ’s now - circumscribed ability to take in O . In its uttermost incarnations , the experimental condition can be deathly .
In the Andes , visitant routinely drink coca tea to cure altitude sickness . Somemedicationscan assist prevent its onset , and oxygen treatment can ease the symptoms . But those who are determined to chatter the highest points in the world might have a new option : beet juice .
At higher aggrandizement , the blood vessel declaration . But a new field in the journalNitric Oxidefinds that the etymon veggie juice can effectively restore blood vessel whose function has been impaired by the low air press in high ALT , helping the body distribute O .
A study subject booze beet juice near Mt. Everest . Image Credit : Harald Engan , Mid Sweden University
The body needs a compound called nitric oxide to keep up blood vas social function , but it ca n’t make it without O . However , common beet juice is naturally high in nitrate , which the body can turn into nitric oxide .
In a 39 - day dispatch to Kathmandu and the Himalayas , 11 unpaid worker — four woman and seven men — drank beet juice with mellow nitrate degree , and a placebo beet juice with no nitrate . In a double - unsighted trial , the volunteers had their blood vessels train by ultrasound , then they drink one of the juice . Their roue vessel use was tested again . Then the next day , they tried the other succus to see how the nitrate feign the body . After drinking the gamey - nitrate beet juice , their blood vessels were more relaxed than after drinking the placebo juice .
Beet juice may not be enough to get you to the top of Mt. Everest withoutsupplemental oxygen , but it might at least make you feel a picayune better on your mountain vacation .
