Talk about health

Where does the time go? After resolving to write here regularly I've managed to let the days slip away again!

Anyway, I've received several queries about an article that made most of the daily papers here in the UK. It was based on a published research papaer that noted how drinking 500ml beetroot juice a day could lower blood pressure significantly. The points I would make on this would probably go for many of the newspaper health reports printed these days.

The first is that these articles tend to be short on detail and long on possible benefits. What I mean is that having read quite a few of the beetroot juice articles not one mentioned the juice itself. How was it made? Juicing a few beetroot perhaps? Or boiling them up and concentrating the water? Was it beetroot alone? If so at what concentration? Could anyone make a suitable alternative? Or does it need some chemical assessment procedure first?

No such luck ... no clues in the aritcles anyway. So, I did a little surfing and found at least one warning on drinking juiced beetroot alone. Apparently it can cause a series of side effects unless it is mixed with other vegetables such as carrots, ginger and so on. So let's have a bit more detail on the so-called magic juice.

Then, how often would you need to take it to have the desired effect? The research used normal people - not suffering from high blood pressure, and only over a few days. How do the results stack up for sufferers from high blood pressure if they were to take it for months or even years?

And, how palatable is it to drink 500ml of beetroot juice every day? It is a lot of liquid to consume daily, and if it has a distinctive taste and colour ( as I think it does) would it put people off? Does it turn your urine a nice pink-purple colour and stain everything it touches? All of these considerations influence its acceptance as a form of medication.

Nothing in the articles so far as I could see. Certainly the researchers gave their explanation of how beetroot juice could have the desired effect. And for that I'm grateful.

Then I came across a site that suggested that beetroot could actually raise blood pressure if it was below normal levels.

The newspaper reports clearly have not included a search of current literature. I know they have to fill papers with something, but to suggest a new and revolutionary treatment for one of the more troubling conditions of this century without qualification is poor.

This type of blindly reporting single research findings on health has the effect of raising people's hopes that a cure is at hand when it clearly is not. Research such as this could well be the start of a new and useful path to treating high blood pressure. Beetroot may be the source of some wonderful chemical to treat this condition. Or it might point to the fact that vegetables such as beetroot as part of a good diet has a blood pressure moderating action in everyone. The point is that this report is only the beginning of a process, not the end.

We're back to the good dietary advice again! Carrot juice and orange juice is said to have similar effects to beetroot juice. But, who is researching this?

Finally, I wonder who said, "I know. Let's do some research on the actions of beetroot juice."