79. DIETARY NITRATE FOR CYCLING: ENHANCING OXYGEN EFFICIENCY AND PERFORMANCE - BY JEFF ROTHSCHILD PhD

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1. What Are Dietary Nitrates?

Dietary nitrates—commonly found in vegetables like beetroot, spinach, and arugula—are natural compounds that enhance nitric oxide (NO) production in the body. Once consumed, nitrates (NO₃⁻) are converted to nitrites (NO₂⁻) and then to nitric oxide, a molecule that plays a critical role in vascular function, muscle efficiency, and mitochondrial respiration. Over the past two decades, this pathway has drawn increasing attention for its potential to improve endurance performance through an improvement in energy (watts) production via aerobic metabolism.