SuperBeets may offer a modest benefit for blood pressure, but the evidence is weaker than the marketing suggests. The product relies on a real biological mechanism (dietary nitrates from beetroot converting to nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels), but SuperBeets doesn’t disclose how much nitrate is actually in each serving, making it hard to know if the dose is enough to matter.
How Beetroot Lowers Blood Pressure
The science behind beetroot and blood pressure is legitimate. When you consume nitrate-rich foods like beets, about 25% of the nitrate gets transported to your salivary glands, where bacteria in your mouth convert it to nitrite. Once you swallow, your stomach acid converts that nitrite into nitric oxide, a gas that passes freely through cell membranes and signals blood vessels to relax and widen. This vasodilation reduces the pressure your heart has to pump against.
Research published in American Heart Association journals confirms this effect is dose-dependent: more nitrate means more nitric oxide, which means a bigger drop in blood pressure. In studies, doses ranging from about 250 mg to 750 mg of nitrate produced measurable reductions, with higher doses producing stronger effects. Beetroot juice has been shown to lower blood pressure in healthy individuals within three hours of consumption, and daily use over four weeks sustained the effect.
The Problem With SuperBeets Specifically
SuperBeets is a concentrated beetroot powder made by the company HumanN. One teaspoon (5 grams) supposedly delivers the nitric oxide equivalent of three whole beets. That sounds impressive, but there’s a catch: the company doesn’t provide a quantifiable measurement of the nitrate content per serving. Without knowing the actual milligrams of nitrate, you can’t compare SuperBeets to the doses used in clinical research that demonstrated real blood pressure reductions.
This matters because dose is everything. AHA-published research shows the blood pressure effect scales directly with the amount of nitrate consumed. A dose of 248 mg produced a smaller response than 744 mg. If SuperBeets contains less than the threshold studied in trials, the effect on your blood pressure could be negligible. The lack of transparency makes it impossible to evaluate.
Powder vs. Juice: Does the Form Matter?
One reasonable question is whether a dried, concentrated powder delivers nitrate as effectively as whole beetroot juice. Research comparing beetroot juice to isolated nitrate supplements found that blood levels of nitrate and nitrite were essentially identical between two and four hours after ingestion, regardless of the form. Bioavailability appears similar, so powder isn’t inherently worse than juice for getting nitrate into your system.
That said, whole beetroot juice contains additional compounds, including potassium, antioxidants, and other plant chemicals, that may contribute to cardiovascular benefits beyond nitrate alone. Some researchers have noted that beetroot juice outperformed isolated nitrate supplements in exercise performance studies, suggesting these extra compounds play a role. A processed powder stripped of some of those elements may not deliver the full benefit of whole beets or fresh juice.
What the Blood Pressure Research Actually Shows
The clinical evidence for beetroot (not SuperBeets specifically) and blood pressure is moderately encouraging. Studies using 250 to 500 milliliters of beetroot juice daily have consistently shown reductions in systolic blood pressure in both healthy adults and people with hypertension. Effects appear within three hours and can persist with regular daily consumption over several weeks.
No major cardiology guidelines from organizations like the American Heart Association or European Society of Cardiology currently recommend beetroot as a standard treatment for hypertension. The WHO and similar bodies focus their dietary recommendations on reducing sodium and increasing potassium intake. Some researchers have proposed nitrate-rich vegetable concentrates like beetroot as a practical alternative strategy, particularly for people who struggle to meet traditional dietary goals for salt and potassium. But “promising research direction” is a long way from “recommended treatment.”
Oxalate Risk With Concentrated Beetroot
One concern that rarely appears in SuperBeets marketing is oxalate content. Beetroot contains 800 to 1,000 mg of oxalic acid per 100 mL of juice. For context, a normal dietary oxalate intake is estimated at 50 to 200 mg per day. Roughly 80% of kidney stones are calcium oxalate stones, formed when excess oxalate in the body binds to calcium and crystallizes in the urinary tract.
If you’re taking a concentrated beetroot product daily, especially on top of other oxalate-rich foods like spinach, almonds, or chocolate, you could be pushing your oxalate intake well above typical levels. European Commission research has flagged that frequent consumption of beetroot products in their current form is “very likely to have strong negative effects on consumer’s health on the long term.” This is particularly relevant if you have a history of kidney stones or are at elevated risk.
Is It Worth the Money?
SuperBeets costs significantly more per serving than buying whole beets or even bottled beetroot juice. A canister typically runs $35 to $40 for about 30 servings. A comparable amount of beetroot juice, which has stronger clinical backing and contains the full spectrum of beneficial compounds, costs less at most grocery stores.
If you want the blood pressure benefits that beetroot research supports, whole beets or beetroot juice are cheaper, better studied, and more transparent about what you’re actually getting. You can buy beetroot juice with nitrate content listed on the label, letting you match the doses used in clinical trials. SuperBeets doesn’t give you that information, which means you’re paying a premium for a product that may or may not contain an effective dose.
For anyone with clinically high blood pressure, beetroot in any form is a supplement to proven interventions like dietary changes, exercise, and medication, not a replacement. A teaspoon of flavored powder is unlikely to be the difference between controlled and uncontrolled hypertension.