The Study
High-nitrate vegetable diet increases plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations and reduces blood pressure in healthy women
This study showed that when young women ate more leafy greens like spinach and rocket for a week, their blood pressure went down a little and their body made more of a chemical that helps blood vessels relax. But it doesn't prove that eating these veggies will stop heart attacks or make everyone feel better — just that it had a small effect in this small group.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
This study gave young women lots of spinach, rocket, and lettuce for a week and saw what happened to their blood and blood pressure.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 566 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1A 4 mmHg drop in systolic blood pressure is meaningful—it’s similar to the effect of some blood pressure medications and could reduce stroke risk by about 23% in populations.
- 2After eating 180g of high-nitrate veggies daily for a week: plasma nitrate went up 150%, nitrite up 90%, and systolic blood pressure dropped by 4 mmHg.
- 3No change when they avoided those veggies.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Public Health Nutrition
Year
2015
Authors
A. Ashworth, K. Mitchell, Jamie R. Blackwell, A. Vanhatalo, A. Jones
Related Content
Claims (4)
Eating about 180 grams of high-nitrate vegetables every day for one week raises plasma nitrate levels by 150% and plasma nitrite levels by 90% in healthy young women, showing that nitrate from these vegetables is absorbed and converted to nitrite in the human body.
Eating about 180 grams of high-nitrate vegetables every day for one week lowers systolic blood pressure by an average of 4 mmHg in healthy young women.
When healthy young women stop eating high-nitrate vegetables for one week, their blood nitrate levels, nitrite levels, and blood pressure do not change.
Eating vegetables high in nitrates lowers systolic blood pressure in healthy young women but does not change diastolic blood pressure or mean arterial pressure.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.