Beet Juice May Reduce Walking Pain in People With Leg-Artery Disease

Doctors don't typically prescribe beet juice for peripheral artery disease but a new study suggests that maybe they should, and there is very little risk in doing so. Shutterstock

Patients with peripheral artery disease who drink beet juice before walking may feel less pain from this type of exercise than people who don’t, a small experiment suggests.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) develops over time due to hardening of the arteries and reduces blood and oxygen flow to the tissues and muscles in the legs. When people have PAD, walking can cause severe pain that requires them to stop and rest after very short distances, because the legs don’t get enough oxygen to handle the demands of even this gentle form of exercise.