Eating foods with inorganic nitrate might change the bacteria in your mouth in a way that helps your body make more nitric oxide, which could be helpful for people with type 2 diabetes.

Eating foods with inorganic nitrate might change the bacteria in the mouths of people with type 2 diabetes—making some helpful bacteria grow more and others shrink—which could help their bodies make more nitric oxide, a molecule that helps blood flow.

Eating foods with inorganic nitrate, like beets or leafy greens, might help people with type 2 diabetes make more nitrite in their saliva and better use nitric oxide in their body, which could be good for their health.

People with type 2 diabetes might have less acid in their mouth if they consume inorganic nitrate, because it could slow down the bad bacteria that make acid — helping protect their teeth.

Taking inorganic nitrate supplements might help lower the bad bacteria in the mouth that cause tooth decay and gum disease in people with type 2 diabetes.

When you eat foods with natural nitrates, like spinach or beets, bacteria in your mouth turn them into nitrite, which then travels through your blood and becomes nitric oxide—a molecule that helps your blood vessels relax.