Why Beets, Celery, Spinach and Arugula Are Must Haves in My Diet

Levels of key molecules start to naturally decline around the age of 40. 

Your genetics, healthy habits and environment (food, air, water & your relationships) will determine the symptoms you experience. 

 A deficiency in nitric oxide can have the following symptoms…

• elevated heart rate and blood pressure
• slow workout recovery
• fatigue
• decreased cognitive function and memory
• decreased blood flow to sexual organs
• chronic gas, bloating and microbiome issues in the gut
• increased intra-ocular pressure in the eye
• decreased resilience to infections 
• difficulty adjusting to bio-identical hormones or balancing them

Arugula, beets, celery and spinach are rich in nitrates.

Nitrates are a precursor to nitric oxide in the body. 

Nitric oxide relaxes your blood vessels to allow blood to flow easily through the body. 

The vessel dilating effect of nitric oxide has the potential to lower blood pressure.

I believe nitric oxide decline combined with poor stress management are at the root of most blood pressure issues. 

When beet powders and juices became a fad a few years ago I was thrilled but they were quickly tossed to the side for the next must have like Irish Sea Moss or something. 

With the media throwing miracle superfoods at you each week – I get it. 

How do you REALLY know what’s a trend and what’s legit?

You ask an old school weight lifter who’s tried everything on the market to enhance their performance. 

Hard core weight lifters are the original bio-hackers!

Don’t know one?

Make friends with the older guy or gal at your gym that’s made working out their religion and loves to talk about what concoction they are sipping on each time you see them. 

These folks are all about optimizing their ability to lift more weights as much as they are about looking and feeling good. 

They are a goldmine of info – even if you’re not into lifting weights – trust me on this one – they are solid friends to have!

I’ve learned the most from my fellow gym rat friends (shout out to Tony at Vigor for being the ultimate biohacker).

I digress….

Nitrate rich foods and supplements do get results. 

I first started using beet powder in water as a pre-workout drink back a decade or so ago. 

Then as the natural medicine industry caught on there were saliva tests I offered in my office to check nitric oxide levels. 

Everyone was deficient. 

I thought it was a scam till I dove deeper into nitric oxide production.

Dietary nitrates from beets, celery, arugula and spinach are converted in the saliva to the nitrate molecule the body uses to convert to nitric oxide. 

Amino acid supplementation with l-arginine and citrulline have also been used to boost nitric oxide production…

…however I’ve not found them to be as effective as the foods, beet powders or using a supplement from the company Berkeley Life’s  Professional line 

Because I’m all about getting what you can from food vs pills – if you’re up for eating these veggies – rotating which ones you eat or mixing in some beet powder you can support nitric oxide production with food. 

Granted the supplements give you more nitrates in two capsules a day than in eating a few cups of the veggies so I get it if supplements are preferred. 

While everyone is different – on average I’ve found you do have to eat at least 3 cups of these veggies a day to see results (but you can use a saliva test to figure your own dose). 

Incase you’re wondering – the cup is a raw vs cooked measurement.

Note – because someone is going to email me on this anyway I better mention it… 

…arugula, celery, beets and spinach contain oxalates and can be problematic for someone with oxalate kidney stones or someone who has a yeast overgrowth causing them to store oxalates in the muscles. 

Kick those issues to the curb before you load up on these veggies.

Supplementation with nitrates should not have an impact on oxalate issues. 

Nitrate supplementation and foods can help enhance healthy habits you already have in place – they like anything else are not a miracle stand alone cure!

Think of nitrate rich foods as a way to boost the good things you’re already doing for your body to help them work even better!

Want to skip the veggies and go to the supplement – click HERE and you’ll find the Berkeley Life Professional product on Fullscript.

In my nitric oxide boosting plan I include the test strips I once thought were a scam as they are incredibly helpful for you to see if the supplements are working and if you can flex between supplements and nitrate rich veggies. 

I used the test strips to help me determine the amount of veggies I needed to boost my nitric oxide and sustain it. 

Got questions – hit reply – I’m happy to answer anything.

Here’s to boosting nitric oxide and slowing the aging process,

Dr. J

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