Beetroot Supplementation as a Nutritional Strategy to Support Post-Exercise Autonomic Recovery in Postmenopausal...

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Cardiovascular Health
• Nutritional Science

Background:

• Beetroot is rich in inorganic nitrate, potentially enhancing nitric oxide bioavailability.
• Nitric oxide plays a role in cardiovascular recovery post-exercise.
• Postmenopausal women may experience altered cardiovascular and autonomic responses to exercise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate beetroot supplementation's effects on post-exercise cardiovascular and autonomic recovery in postmenopausal women.
• To synthesize evidence from systematic review and meta-analysis.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines.
• Searches in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases.
• Inclusion of ten trials with postmenopausal women, assessing cardiovascular, autonomic (HRV), and performance outcomes.
• Data extraction, risk of bias, and certainty of evidence assessment using GRADE.

Main Results:

• Beetroot supplementation significantly improved RMSSD (root mean square of successive differences), indicating enhanced parasympathetic reactivation (mean difference: 6.68 ms; p=0.02).
• No significant effects were found for HF (high-frequency power) or SDNN (standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals).
• Moderate to very low certainty of evidence was observed across HRV outcomes, with substantial heterogeneity.

Conclusions:

• Beetroot supplementation shows potential for improving post-exercise autonomic recovery in postmenopausal women, particularly via RMSSD enhancement.
• Further high-quality trials with standardized protocols and larger sample sizes are necessary.
• Clarification of beetroot's impact on broader HRV, cardiovascular function, and clinical outcomes requires additional investigation.