You can enhance the effect of exercise on the brain, drinking beetroot juice before exercise.
Study co-author Jack Rejeski (Jack Rejeski) from the Department of health and physical Sciences Wake forest University (Wake Forest University), USA, and his colleagues argue that the level of brain activity in adults who drink beet juice prior to exercise, comparable to those in young adults.
The study is published in the journal “Journals of Gerontology: Series A”.
The researchers found that the elderly who consumed beet juice prior to exercise showed higher levels of brain activity associated with motor function, compared with those who did not drink beet juice prior to exercise.
The study included 26 participants aged 55 years and older with high blood pressure. None of the participants were not engaged in regular physical exercise, and each took up to 2 medicines to lower blood pressure.
All subjects had to participate in 50-minute workout at moderate intensity on a treadmill 3 times a week for 6 weeks. One hour before each session half of the participants were using Supplement of beet juice containing 560 ml of nitrate, while the remaining participants consumed a placebo with a low content of nitrates. At the end of the 6th week, the researchers measured the brain activity of participants using MRI.
A team of scientists found that participants who consumed the Supplement beet juice prior to exercise, marked by a more pronounced function of somatomotor cortex region of the brain that helps control body movement, compared to volunteers who received a placebo. It was also noted better communication between the roots of the plant bark and cortex in people taking the Supplement. The cerebral cortex is responsible for motor control, cognitive functioning, emotions and other functions. The connection was as strongly expressed as in young age.
Although further studies are needed to confirm the obtained results, the researchers believe that their study is important for further treatment of degenerative and movement disorders in the elderly.
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