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.

Men tend to have bigger blood pressure drops than women when taking nitrate supplements, even though both groups get similar increases in nitrite levels in their blood.

Women tend to have more nitrite in their bodies than men when they're at rest, even though both have similar levels of nitrate—this suggests their bodies might process these chemicals differently just by being male or female.

Your mouth has good bacteria that turn nitrate from food into nitrite, and this process works differently in men and women, which might affect how well their blood vessels work.

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

The process where nitrate moves from blood to saliva and gets converted to nitrite by mouth bacteria is important for keeping nitrite levels stable in the blood.