Beets

Many athletes use beet juice or powder to increase their performance. This is due to beets' high nitrate content, which your body turns into nitric oxide. Nitric oxide dilates blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow to muscular tissue.

Supplementing with beet juice improves oxygen flow in muscle tissue, stimulates blood flow, and raises nitric oxide levels, all of which can improve performance. Aside from helping athletes, beets enhance blood flow in elderly people who have cardiovascular problems. In a study of 12 older persons, those who drank 5 ounces (140 mL) of nitrate-rich beet juice daily had lower blood pressure, clotting time, and blood vessel inflammation than those who drank a placebo.