Why girls' bodies make more nitric oxide from veggies than boys'
Sex differences in the nitrate‐nitrite‐NO• pathway: Role of oral nitrate‐reducing bacteria
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When people eat nitrate-rich foods, bacteria in the mouth turn it into nitrite, which becomes nitric oxide—a molecule that helps blood vessels relax. Girls' mouth bacteria do this better than boys', even if they have the same kinds of bacteria.
Surprising Findings
Females have higher oral nitrate-reducing activity than males, even though their oral microbiome composition is identical.
It’s commonly assumed that different health outcomes stem from different microbial species—but here, the same bacteria work more efficiently in women, challenging the 'more bugs = better' assumption.
Practical Takeaways
Women may benefit more from nitrate-rich foods like beets, spinach, or arugula for vascular health; men might need higher doses or different strategies.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When people eat nitrate-rich foods, bacteria in the mouth turn it into nitrite, which becomes nitric oxide—a molecule that helps blood vessels relax. Girls' mouth bacteria do this better than boys', even if they have the same kinds of bacteria.
Surprising Findings
Females have higher oral nitrate-reducing activity than males, even though their oral microbiome composition is identical.
It’s commonly assumed that different health outcomes stem from different microbial species—but here, the same bacteria work more efficiently in women, challenging the 'more bugs = better' assumption.
Practical Takeaways
Women may benefit more from nitrate-rich foods like beets, spinach, or arugula for vascular health; men might need higher doses or different strategies.
Publication
Journal
Free Radical Biology and Medicine
Year
2018
Authors
V. Kapil, Krishnaraj S. Rathod, R. Khambata, M. Bahra, S. Velmurugan, A. Purba, David S. Watson, M. Barnes, W. Wade, A. Ahluwalia
Related Content
Claims (6)
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.
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.
Women’s mouths have bacteria that turn nitrate into something else more efficiently than men’s, whether or not they’ve taken nitrate supplements—and this isn’t because their mouth bacteria are different kinds.
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.
When women take nitrate supplements, their blood vessels become more flexible, but men don’t see the same change—so nitrate might help women’s blood vessels more than men’s.