The Study
Dietary nitrate ingested with and without pomegranate supplementation does not improve resistance exercise performance
This study tested if drinking beetroot juice or adding pomegranate powder helps people jump or lift heavier. It found that beetroot juice didn’t make them stronger, and adding pomegranate actually made one type of jump slightly weaker—but only once out of many tests. So it doesn’t prove anything works, but it does hint that mixing them might not help.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave guys beetroot juice (which has nitrate) and pomegranate powder to see if it made them jump or lift better.
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 574 / 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 3% drop in jump power is small but measurable — it might matter for athletes trying to maximize explosive movements, but not for casual exercisers.
- 2Beetroot juice alone didn't make them jump higher or lift heavier.
- 3But when they added pomegranate powder, they jumped 3% lower in power than with beetroot juice alone.
- 4Pomegranate powder had almost no nitrate.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Nutrition
Year
2023
Authors
Rachel Tan, Katherine M Price, Lauren E. Wideen, Isabella G. Lincoln, Sean T Karl, Jacob P. Seals, Keonabelle K. Paniagua, Dylan W. Hagen, Isaac Tchaprazian, S. Bailey, Adam Pennell
Related Content
Claims (5)
Raising plasma nitrite levels through beetroot juice consumption does not correspond to better performance in explosive resistance exercises, meaning nitric oxide bioavailability by itself cannot be used to predict performance gains in this type of physical activity.
Drinking beetroot juice with 11.8 mmol of nitrate before exercise does not increase peak power, speed, or force during explosive movements like jumps, push-ups, or squats in recreationally active men, compared to a placebo with no nitrate.
When 1,000 mg of pomegranate powder is taken with 11.8 mmol of nitrate from beetroot juice, peak power output during vertical jumps is 3% lower than when beetroot juice is taken alone.
Pomegranate powder at 1,000 mg contains almost no nitrate and does not increase nitrate or nitrite levels in the blood compared to a placebo.
Dietary nitrate sometimes improves resistance exercise performance and sometimes does not, depending on factors like how hard the exercise is, which muscles are used, and individual biological differences.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.