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.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled RCT in adults with diagnosed type 2 diabetes, where participants receive either a daily inorganic nitrate supplement (e.g., 6.4 mmol sodium nitrate) or a placebo for 4 weeks, with salivary nitrite measured via saliva samples and systemic nitric oxide bioavailability assessed via plasma nitrite/nitrate levels, vascular reactivity (e.g., flow-mediated dilation), and exhaled NO measurements at baseline, week 2, and week 4.

A prospective cohort study following 200 adults with type 2 diabetes over 6 months, tracking habitual dietary intake of inorganic nitrate (via food frequency questionnaire and urinary nitrate excretion) and measuring salivary nitrite and systemic nitric oxide bioavailability (plasma nitrite, nitrate, and NO-dependent vasodilation) at baseline and 6 months, adjusting for confounders like medication use, BMI, and physical activity.

A case-control study comparing 50 individuals with type 2 diabetes who consume high dietary inorganic nitrate (e.g., >500 mg/day from vegetables) to 50 matched controls with low intake (<100 mg/day), measuring salivary nitrite and systemic nitric oxide bioavailability at a single time point, controlling for age, sex, BMI, and medication use.

A cross-sectional analysis of 100 adults with type 2 diabetes, measuring self-reported dietary nitrate intake and correlating it with single-time-point measurements of salivary nitrite and plasma nitric oxide metabolites.

An in vitro study exposing human salivary gland epithelial cells or endothelial cells to physiologically relevant concentrations of inorganic nitrate and measuring intracellular nitrite production and nitric oxide synthase activity.