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.

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

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.

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.

If you eat more foods rich in nitrate—like spinach or beets—your blood pressure might drop a little bit each day, and this effect is even stronger if you already have high blood pressure. It could be a natural way to help manage blood pressure without pills.

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).