Looking for a natural way to control your blood pressure? Try beet juice.

That’s the upshot of new research by scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center who have found that a daily dose of beetroot juice significantly improved blood pressure in elderly patients with heart failure. It also boosted their exercise endurance levels.

The study, published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology-Heart Failure, tracked 19 people in a double-blinded, randomized safety study to determine which was better at improving exercise intolerance — a single dose or a daily dose of the juice given over multiple days.

The findings showed the daily dosing of beetroot juice improved aerobic endurance by 24 percent after one week. They also indicated that consumption of the juice significantly reduced resting systolic blood pressure in both the single and daily dose groups.

"Although larger trials need to be conducted, these initial findings suggest that one week of daily beetroot juice could be a potential therapeutic option to improve aerobic endurance in patients …which has implications for improving everyday activities and quality of life," said Dr. Dalane Kitzman, a professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest Baptist and senior author of the study.

The findings echo previous research that has shown dietary inorganic nitrate supplementation has beneficial effects on blood pressure control, vascular health, exercise capacity and oxygen metabolism.