Mixing nitrate (from beetroot juice) with vitamin C might help keep blood vessels healthy in young people, but more research is needed because this study was small.

Drinking beetroot juice with or without vitamin C didn't make a difference in blood vessel health measurements for healthy young adults.

Eating vegetables high in natural nitrates might help lower your blood pressure and make your blood vessels more flexible, because your body turns those nitrates into a substance that helps relax your blood vessels and reduce swelling.

Taking nitrate-rich supplements every day for a month can help people with high blood pressure have healthier blood vessels—making them more flexible and better at opening up to let blood flow smoothly.

Taking nitrate supplements for 16 weeks doesn’t seem to change cholesterol, good/bad fats in the blood, or inflammation markers in people with early high blood pressure—so it doesn’t help those things in this group.

If you eat a little more nitrate-rich food like spinach or beets each day, the amount of nitrate in your blood goes up by a predictable amount, which might help your heart by turning that nitrate into a substance that relaxes your blood vessels.