Review: BeetActive Concentrated Beetroot Juice – Performance Supplement

I’ve been using beetroot juice for several years now. Essentially I believe it makes me run/bike/swim faster, for longer.

That’s really all you need to know! Give it a go.

You could buy a new aero wheel for your bike for many hundreds of pounds that may, or may not, make a 1% difference to the performance you get from your existing wheel.

From my experience I get more than 1% improvement to my performance from beetroot juice and a single shot is less than £2.

It REALLY is THAT simple. But you’re still reading so I’ll waffle on for a few minutes and explain a bit more about the theory and the consumption protocols (how much, how often).

The Theory 

Beetroot juice contains nitrates. These are vaso-dilators – they make your arteries bigger and your blood pressure lower.

For some people with diagnosed heart problems, they may be medically prescribed something akin to Glycerine Tri-Nitrate (GTN) spray. GTN does broadly the same sort of thing but, apparently, working in a different way over a much shorter timeframe.

But the principle is there…increased bloodflow. Blood contains oxygen. Oxygen is fundamental to sporting performance.

The Practice

• Take one about 2 hours before an event.
• Alternatively take one 2 hours before and one 3 hours before.
• Alternatively also take one the previous night.
• Alternatively load over a week or so by taking one daily.

The Results

There is MUCH university research out there which you can find on Google. Much research in the food and drug industries is funded by companies. So in general it should be treated with scepticism.

Try it yourself. It is safe and sporting-legal.

It is, however, pretty hard to perform a scientifically valid test on yourself to determine if these work or not. There are so many factors involved if you repeat tests or if you use BeetActive after tapering for a race and after an extended period of training. Of all those variables, which make you faster and by how much?

I would suggest that if you are involved in intense week-on-week training that follows a similar weekly pattern try consuming before your hardest session. For me that is Wednesday night’s swim session.

Without BeetActive I sometimes can’t finish the hard session. With BeetActive I invariably finish.

I’m not in PB form at present however I used BeetActive before last week’s (Aug 2015) 100 mile Ride London. My level of performance was as I would have expected to have been with a competitor product, indeed better than I had hoped. Was that because I was fitter? Or was it BeetActive?

For a recent Time Trial I got a distance PB – but the course was an easier one, so that’s not really scientific. Was it the course or the BeetActive? Or both?

I’m about to do the 2015 London Triathlon. I will see what I perform like (Beet-aided), given my current state of fitness, and see how that stacks up with previous performances but this time using BeetActive.

I’m 99% sure it makes me faster for longer.

Practicalities

It turns your wee a very bizarre and worrying colour. But it’s fine!

For me it elevates my heart rate a little, 2-5bpm. For me this leads to:

• Makes it harder to go to sleep if I take it in the evening – so I don’t!
• I have to factor this in when pacing long races using my HR data.

It comes in a sport shot pack with a tear off end. Other similar products come in a small bottle and some in the form of an energy bar.

The sport shot pack is definitely more convenient. It would be EVEN more convenient if you had to consume it DURING exercise – but you don’t have to consume it during exercise. Although having said that maybe 6 hours into an Ironman wouldn’t hurt? Then the shot pack is a handy format.

You can buy as a single dose to try it out. It is cheaper to buy a box in bulk.

I would not advocate taking Beetroot in this sporting-concentration on a daily basis, I just don’t like the idea of continual loading. Although I have not read that there is any harm in that.

I don’t like the taste but I shared a few shot packs with friends and they all preferred it to the other Beet products’ tastes.

You can take BeetActive with other nutrition. This is true of all the beetroot-based products.

Apparently you should not use mouthwash as this might alter the effectiveness.

Other Points

As I said above I’ve taken it for several years now on and off. I don’t think that the effect lessens over time.

Many athletes say it makes no difference. Many athletes say it does make a difference. I have a sneaky feeling that for those where it does make a difference it may be correcting some underlying physiological issue related to blood/oxygen flow.

I understand that better general, non-sporting, levels of bloodflow can also be attained by beetroot juice consumption. This possibly may reduce the risk of heart attacks and the like. (I’m not a doctor, so do some research please). My understanding is that SPORTS SHOTS like this have a higher concentration that required for a more general medicinal benefit. BeetActive CONCENTRATE is a different product better suited for dilution and general medicinal usage – the concentrate is LESS CONCENTRATED, if that makes sense.

It may improve general circulation to help with, say, Raynaud’s syndrome.

Price

In the end it is a natural product. I would say it is the same as all other similar products out there providing you look at the concentrations of active ingredients and the price.

Discount Code

www.cherryactive.co.uk – 20% off with promotional code 5K20

A 20% discount code / coupon for reader of this blog is 5k20. If you spend over £20 then there is free delivery and the unit price is brought down to less than £1 (August 2015). That’s WAY cheaper than the alternatives which might cost you twice as much in Holland & Barrett. The code also works for other products including the original CHERRYACTIVE which has sleep and RECOVERY benefits for the athlete. (I get a commission in product not cash).