A stick of sugary gum after beetroot juice temporarily boosted its blood-pressure benefit

Dietary nitrate — found in beetroot, spinach and kale — only becomes useful to the body after oral bacteria convert it into nitrite, which helps relax and widen blood vessels. A 2026 King’s College London study found an unusual way to enhance that conversion: chewing sugar-containing gum immediately afterward.

The mechanism being tested

Oral bacteria are essential for turning inactive nitrate into active nitrite, and researchers hypothesized that increasing the acidity (lowering the pH) of saliva might speed up that conversion. Since sugar-containing gum lowers oral pH as bacteria ferment the sugar, the team tested whether it would meaningfully boost nitrite production compared with sugar-free gum.

What the crossover trial found

Healthy volunteers drank a shot of beetroot juice, then chewed either sugar-containing gum or sugar-free gum for three to six hours, with blood, saliva and blood pressure monitored throughout; each participant repeated the protocol with the other gum type at least a week later. Sugar-containing gum produced a 1.4-point drop in saliva pH, a 45% increase in oral nitrite, and a 25% increase in nitrite circulating throughout the body — translating into a nearly 3 mmHg drop in systolic blood pressure and almost 2 mmHg drop in diastolic blood pressure compared with the sugar-free gum condition.

"We are certainly not suggesting that people should start chewing sugary gum regularly. Frequent sugar consumption is harmful for dental health." — Dr. Charlotte Mills, University of Reading, co-author

Why this isn’t a blood-pressure life hack

The researchers are explicit and repeated on this point: the effect was temporary, lasting only a few hours, and regular sugary gum consumption carries well-established dental and metabolic risks that outweigh a few millimeters of mercury. The actual value of the finding is as a proof of concept — it shows that oral pH is a real, modifiable lever in nitrate-to-nitrite conversion, opening the door to non-sugar-based ways to achieve the same effect (the next planned research step).

Who this is actually relevant to

Dietary nitrate is already a recognized sports-nutrition strategy — many athletes already use beetroot juice before endurance events because nitrate has been shown to support exercise performance. This research is most immediately relevant to that population, as a lead for future work on optimizing nitrate supplementation, not as a general blood-pressure recommendation for chewing gum after meals.

If nitrate-rich foods like beetroot and leafy greens are already part of your pre-training routine in Misi’s nutrition plan, this is interesting mechanistic context — but the actionable version remains eating the vegetables consistently, not adding sugary gum to the mix.