Carrot and Beetroot Juice Benefits: Nitrates, Blood Pressure and What Juicing Costs
Published on 15 September, 2026
Carrot and beetroot juice is the most popular vegetable juice combination there is, and the two are paired for a good reason: they do completely different jobs. Carrot brings an enormous amount of beta-carotene and sweetness. Beetroot brings dietary nitrate, which is where the blood pressure research sits.
There is also something genuinely surprising about how that nitrate works, which affects whether you get any benefit at all.
What Is in the Glass
Figures from the United States Department of Agriculture. Carrot juice is shown per cup; beets are shown raw, per 100 grams, which is roughly one small beet.
| Nutrient | Carrot juice, per cup (240 g) | Beets, raw, per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 96 kcal | 43 kcal |
| Vitamin A | 2,294 mcg (255% daily value) | 2 mcg |
| Beta-carotene | 22,320 mcg | 20 mcg |
| Folate | 10 mcg | 109 mcg (27% daily value) |
| Potassium | 700 mg (15%) | 325 mg (7%) |
| Vitamin C | 20.4 mg (23%) | 4.9 mg (5%) |
| Fiber | 1.9 g | 2.8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 22.3 g | 9.6 g |
The two profiles barely overlap, which is exactly why the combination works.
Carrot Juice and Vitamin A
A cup of carrot juice supplies well over twice the daily requirement of vitamin A, delivered as beta-carotene. Very few foods come anywhere near this.
Because the body converts beta-carotene to vitamin A only as needed, it does not carry the toxicity risk that high-dose preformed vitamin A supplements do. What it can cause, at high intakes sustained over weeks, is carotenemia—a harmless orange-yellow tint to the skin, most visible on the palms and soles. It fades when intake drops and needs no treatment, though it is worth recognizing rather than worrying about.
Beta-carotene is fat-soluble, so a little fat with the juice—a handful of nuts, a spoon of yogurt, a few drops of oil blended in—measurably improves how much you absorb. Juice drunk entirely on its own delivers less of it.
Beetroot, Nitrate and Blood Pressure
Beetroot is one of the richest dietary sources of inorganic nitrate, and this is the best-researched thing about it.
The pathway is worth understanding because the rest of the section depends on it. Nitrate from food is absorbed, concentrated in saliva, and converted to nitrite by bacteria living on the tongue. That nitrite is then converted in the body to nitric oxide, a molecule that relaxes and widens blood vessels. Lower resistance in those vessels means lower blood pressure.
A 2024 meta-analysis pooled eleven randomized controlled trials covering 349 people with diagnosed hypertension. Beetroot juice reduced clinical systolic blood pressure by 5.31 mmHg compared with placebo—a meaningful figure for a vegetable juice.
Three honest qualifications belong with that number. There was no significant effect on diastolic blood pressure, and none on 24-hour blood pressure monitoring. The trials varied considerably in their results. And the authors themselves graded the certainty of the evidence as low. Beetroot juice looks like a genuine and useful addition alongside treatment. It is not a substitute for it, and nobody should adjust medication on the strength of it.
The Mouthwash Problem
This is the part almost nobody mentions, and it may be the single most practical thing here.
The conversion of nitrate to nitrite depends entirely on bacteria living on the surface of the tongue. Those bacteria are ordinary, harmless residents of a healthy mouth. Antibacterial mouthwash kills them along with everything else.
A systematic review in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition examined exactly this, and confirmed that antibacterial mouth rinses clear the oral cavity of the nitrate-reducing bacteria the pathway depends on, with consequences that extend beyond the mouth to blood pressure regulation.
In practical terms: if you are drinking beetroot juice for your blood pressure and using an antibacterial mouthwash twice a day, you may be undoing much of the effect. Leave a good gap between the two, or reconsider the routine mouthwash if a dentist has not specifically recommended it.
Exercise Performance
The same nitric oxide pathway is why beetroot juice became a staple in endurance sport. Wider blood vessels mean better oxygen delivery to working muscle, and there is a substantial body of research on nitrate supplementation and exercise capacity.
The effects are real but modest, and they show up most clearly in recreational athletes rather than elite ones, and in efforts lasting a few minutes rather than very short or very long ones. Timing matters: studies generally give the juice around two to three hours before exercise, since nitrite levels in the blood peak somewhere in that window.
What Juicing Takes Away
Juice is not the same as the vegetable, and it is worth being clear about the trade.
- Fiber goes into the pulp. A cup of carrot juice has under two grams of fiber; the equivalent whole carrots have several times that.
- Sugar concentrates. It takes a lot of carrots to make a cup of juice, and all their sugars come with it, without the fiber that would normally slow absorption.
- It stops filling you up. Whole vegetables occupy the stomach in a way juice does not, which is why juice rarely replaces a meal successfully.
- Nutrients survive well. Vitamin A, folate and potassium come through juicing largely intact, so what you keep is genuinely valuable.
A sensible position: juice is a good way to get concentrated nutrients and nitrate, and a poor substitute for eating vegetables. Blending, which keeps the pulp, sits somewhere between the two.
Pink Urine Is Normal
Beetroot turns urine and stools pink or red in a substantial minority of people. It is called beeturia, it is harmless, and it is down to how efficiently your body handles betalain pigments, which varies from person to person.
It is worth knowing about simply so it does not alarm you. The one useful caveat is that if you have not eaten beetroot and you see red in the toilet, that is a different matter and needs a doctor.
How to Make It
- A workable ratio is three or four carrots to one medium beetroot. Beetroot is earthy and dominates quickly.
- Add half an apple or a squeeze of lemon if it is too earthy for you, and a small piece of ginger if you like heat.
- Scrub rather than peel where you can, since a good deal sits just under the skin.
- Drink it fresh, since nutrients and flavor both degrade within hours and juice is not a keeping product.
- Eat something containing fat alongside it to absorb the beta-carotene properly.
For blood pressure specifically, consistency matters more than quantity. The trials used daily intake over weeks, not an occasional glass.
Who Should Be Careful
- Kidney stones. Beetroot is among the highest-oxalate foods there is. Anyone prone to calcium oxalate stones should be cautious with beetroot juice in particular, since juicing concentrates it.
- Blood pressure medication. The effect is modest, but if you are already on treatment, mention regular beetroot juice to your own doctor rather than adding it silently.
- Diabetes. A cup of carrot juice carries over 22 grams of carbohydrate with very little fiber to slow it. Whole vegetables are the better choice here.
- Kidney disease. Both juices are high in potassium, which matters on a restricted diet.
- Low blood pressure. If you already run low and feel light-headed, large daily quantities may not suit you.
Where This Juice Fits in a Wellness Routine
Carrot and beetroot juice earns its reputation on two specific things: an exceptional amount of beta-carotene, and dietary nitrate with real if modest evidence behind it for blood pressure and exercise capacity.
It works best treated as a concentrated addition to a diet that already contains whole vegetables, rather than as a replacement for them—and, if blood pressure is the reason you are drinking it, without an antibacterial mouthwash canceling it out.
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FAQs
Q: Does beetroot juice really lower blood pressure?
A: In people with hypertension, pooled trial data show a reduction in systolic blood pressure of around 5 mmHg. There was no significant effect on diastolic pressure, and the authors rated the certainty of the evidence as low. It is a useful addition alongside treatment, not a replacement for it.
Q: How much carrot and beetroot juice should I drink?
A: A cup a day is a sensible amount. For blood pressure, the trials used daily intake over several weeks, so regularity matters more than volume.
Q: When should I drink it for exercise?
A: Two to three hours before, which is roughly when blood nitrite levels peak. Drinking it immediately before a session is unlikely to help.
Q: Why did my urine turn pink?
A: That is beeturia, a harmless effect of beetroot pigments that affects a substantial minority of people. If you see red in the toilet and have not eaten beetroot, see a doctor.
Q: Is juice as good as eating the vegetables?
A: Not quite the same. Juicing keeps the vitamins, potassium and nitrate but leaves most of the fiber in the pulp and concentrates the sugars. It is a good addition to a diet with whole vegetables in it, not a replacement.
Q: Can carrot juice turn my skin orange?
A: It can, at high intakes over several weeks. Carotenemia is a harmless orange-yellow tint most visible on the palms and soles, and it fades once intake drops.
Q: Does mouthwash really stop beetroot juice working?
A: It genuinely does interfere. The nitrate in beetroot has to be converted by bacteria on your tongue before your body can use it, and antibacterial mouthwash removes those bacteria. Leave a gap between the two if you are drinking the juice for blood pressure.
Q: Can diabetics drink carrot and beetroot juice?
A: In small quantities and with care. A cup carries over 22 grams of carbohydrate with almost no fiber to slow absorption, so eating the vegetables whole is the better route.
Q: Should I peel the carrots and beets?
A: Scrubbing is usually enough, and a good deal of what you want sits just beneath the skin. Peel only if the skin is damaged or you dislike the flavor.
Q: Is bottled beetroot juice as good as fresh?
A: Bottled juice retains most of its nitrate, which is the part that matters for blood pressure, and many of the trials used commercial concentrates. Check for added sugar, and expect less vitamin C than in fresh.
Sources
- United States Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central, SR Legacy: Carrot juice, canned; Beets, raw
- Gronroos R, Eggertsen R, Bernhardsson S, Praetorius Bjork M. Effects of beetroot juice on blood pressure in hypertension according to European Society of Hypertension Guidelines: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2024. PMID 39069465
- Benjamim CJR, et al. Nitrate derived from beetroot juice lowers blood pressure in patients with arterial hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2022. PMID 35369064
- Senkus KE, Crowe-White KM. Influence of mouth rinse use on the enterosalivary pathway and blood pressure regulation: a systematic review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2020. PMID 31542940
- Cai C, et al. Effectiveness of beetroot juice on aerobic and anaerobic exercise performance: systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2026. PMID 42445795
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