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Effects of beetroot juice supplementation on maximal oxygen uptake during aerobic exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Gang Qin, Sungmin Kim

Frontiers in Nutrition 2026 13:1858216

Bibliography

PubMed: PMID 42523624
PubMed Central: PMC13407101
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1858216
Funding: The authors declared no financial support for this work or its publication (journal statement).
Competing interests: Authors declared no commercial or financial relationships constituting potential conflicts (journal statement).

Design	Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and crossover placebo-controlled trials
Model	703 healthy adults in 38 randomized or crossover exercise trials
Sample	38 trials; 703 healthy adults
Intervention	Beetroot juice versus placebo across exercise testing protocols
Duration	Acute and multi-day protocols; consistent subgroup effects at three or more days
Endpoints	VO2max/VO2peak

Small pooled benefit SMD 0.24 (95% CI 0.11–0.37); highly trained subgroup no clear benefit; trim-and-fill SMD 0.19.

Small pooled benefit SMD 0.24 (95% CI 0.11–0.37); highly trained subgroup no clear benefit; trim-and-fill SMD 0.19.

Substantial primary-trial overlap with prior reviews and possible small-study effects; do not double-count as independent evidence.

Editorial review

Last verified 03 October 2026