How well your mouth bacteria convert nitrate to nitrite is related to how much your blood pressure drops after eating nitrate-rich food, even when accounting for your starting blood pressure.

Scientific Claim

Oral nitrate reductase activity is associated with the change in diastolic blood pressure following acute nitrate intake, with a p-value of 0.01 after adjusting for baseline blood pressure.

Original Statement

“Oral NaR activity was associated with both baseline diastolic BP (p=0.050) and change in diastolic BP following acute nitrate intake (p=0.01, adjusted for baseline BP).”

From study:Altered Oral Nitrate Reduction and Bacterial Profiles in Hypertensive Women Predict Blood Pressure Lowering Following Acute Dietary Nitrate Supplementation

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

association

Can only show association/correlation

Assessment Explanation

The study is observational and reports an association between oral nitrate reductase activity and blood pressure response to nitrate intake. The language 'was associated with' appropriately describes the correlational relationship.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Altered Oral Nitrate Reduction and Bacterial Profiles in Hypertensive Women Predict Blood Pressure Lowering Following Acute Dietary Nitrate Supplementation

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2023 Nov

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Altered Oral Nitrate Reduction and Bacterial Profiles in Hypertensive Women Predict Blood Pressure Lowering Following Acute Dietary Nitrate Supplementation

Score: 34

DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.123.21263

Similar Assertions

How well your mouth bacteria convert nitrate to nitrite is related to your resting blood pressure, though this relationship is only marginally significant.

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Women with high blood pressure tend to have slightly lower mouth bacteria activity for converting nitrate to nitrite compared to women with normal blood pressure, though this difference isn't quite statistically significant.

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When nitrite levels in the blood go up after taking nitrate supplements, blood pressure tends to go down more. The higher the nitrite increase, the bigger the blood pressure drop.

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When bacteria that help convert nitrate to nitrite in the mouth are reduced, blood pressure tends to go up by a small amount (2-3.5 mmHg for systolic and 2-2.2 mmHg for diastolic).

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When nitrite levels in the blood went down after using mouthwash, blood pressure went up, and this connection was strong enough to be statistically significant.

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