Taking nitrate supplements makes more nitrite in your blood, and the more you take, the more nitrite you get.

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.

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.

When people take a supplement called inorganic nitrate, women’s bodies turn more of it into nitrite than men’s do — so women end up with higher levels of nitrite in their blood.

If your body gets better at using natural compounds from vegetables like beets to make a helpful gas called NO, it might help your metabolism, heart, and kidneys work better.

Taking nitrate supplements increases cGMP in the blood, which is a sign that nitric oxide is being produced and working in the body.