Does beet juice lower cholesterol?

Possibly a little, and the trials disagree. A 2026 meta-analysis of 8 small randomized trials in 199 adults with obesity, most of them using beetroot juice, found dietary nitrate lowered total cholesterol and triglycerides by a moderate standardized amount. The review did not pool LDL, and its authors call the evidence insufficient for firm conclusions. We found no meta-analysis of beet juice itself and blood fats.

Unsettled. The answer stays open for three reasons. The one pooled result is reported in standard deviations, so it cannot be turned into a cholesterol number. It covers nitrate from several sources, beetroot juice the main one. And the single beet juice trials point in different directions: raw juice lowered LDL over 2 weeks in one, while concentrated juice changed nothing over 12 weeks in another.

What the trials found

The pooled result

In the 2026 meta-analysis, total cholesterol fell by a standardized mean difference of 0.59 (95% CI 0.06 to 1.11), with moderate heterogeneity between trials (I2 50%). Triglycerides fell by 0.45 (95% CI 0.09 to 0.81), with none (I2 0%). Body weight and BMI did not change. The lower end of the cholesterol interval sits close to zero, which is one more reason to read this as a weak signal.

Trials where it helped

In a 2-week randomized crossover trial in 24 adults with high blood pressure, 8.5 fl oz (250 ml) a day of raw beet juice lowered total, LDL and non-HDL cholesterol, and cooked beet did not. There was no placebo drink, the abstract gives no values, and we could not get the full text. In a 2-week pilot crossover trial in 48 men with coronary artery disease, the beetroot supplements tested, about 50 mg of betalain a day, lowered total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL. Those were capsules of beetroot extract, not juice, and the abstract gives no numbers.

Trials where it did not

In a 12-week open trial in 46 people with type 2 diabetes, 1.6 tbsp (24 ml) a day of concentrated beet juice did not change total, LDL or HDL cholesterol or triglycerides against no intervention. The trial was small and had no placebo.

In a 4-week double-blind crossover trial in 18 adults aged 50 to 70 with untreated high LDL (above 130 mg/dL), 2.4 fl oz (70 ml) of concentrated beet juice with a placebo pill did not lower LDL, which changed by +2.2. LDL fell by 10.7 only when 1000 mg of vitamin C was added (p = 0.049), with units as reported in the abstract, presumably mg/dL, and no juice-free control. Triglycerides followed the same pattern, +14.6 against -43.7.

In a 16-week double-blind trial of 66 adults with elevated blood pressure, a high-nitrate vegetable powder giving about 400 mg of nitrate a day changed no secondary outcome, lipids included, more than a powder with about 50 mg. That was a vegetable powder, not beet juice.

For what beet juice does to blood pressure, see our beet juice and blood pressure review. For the rest of the drink, see the beet juice page.

Who should be careful

Not for everyone. The caution in our cards is about nitrate. EFSA sets the acceptable daily intake for nitrate at 3.7 mg per kg of body weight a day, which is about 260 mg for a 154 lb (70 kg) adult by our arithmetic, not a figure EFSA gives. A 2021 systematic review warns that drinking beetroot juice can easily push nitrate intake above that limit.

The same review says going over the limit stimulates the body to form N-nitroso compounds, a class of compounds known to cause cancer, and its authors note that the data on harms are thin. We have no card on beet juice and cholesterol medicines, pregnancy, children or kidney stones, so this page says nothing about them.

What expert bodies say

We found no position from EFSA, the NIH or the American Heart Association on beet juice and cholesterol. EFSA's only relevant statement is the nitrate limit above, which is about safety, not benefit.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A placebo-controlled trial of beet juice, with a nitrate-free beet drink as the placebo, lasting at least 12 weeks in people with raised LDL and LDL as the main outcome.
• A meta-analysis of beet juice trials alone that reports LDL in mg/dL or mmol/L rather than in standard deviations.
• A direct comparison of raw and concentrated juice, since the one positive juice trial used raw juice and the null juice trials used concentrate.

Sources

1. ev-bjch-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 199
   In addition, dietary nitrate supplementation was associated with significant reductions in total cholesterol (TC, 95% CI: -1.11 to -0.06; SMD = -0.59, p = 0.03; I2 = 50%) and triglycerides (TG, 95% CI: -0.81 to -0.09; SMD = -0.45, p = 0.01; I2 = 0%).
   
   Who: adults with obesity in RCTs of nitrate supplementation, mainly beetroot juice, against placebo
   Effect: total cholesterol SMD -0.59 (95% CI -1.11 to -0.06), I2 50%; triglycerides SMD -0.45 (-0.81 to -0.09), I2 0%; no effect on body weight or BMI
   Certainty: Small pool; SMD, not mg/dL; LDL and HDL not pooled; nitrate from several sources, beetroot juice the main one; authors call the evidence insufficient for firm conclusions.
   Front Public Health, 2026 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
2. ev-bjch-02 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized crossover trial · n = 24
   Total antioxidant capacity was increased and non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol (TC) were decreased with RBJ but not with CB.
   
   Who: 24 hypertensive subjects aged 25-68 years
   Effect: TC, LDL and non-HDL decreased with raw beet juice, not with cooked beet (abstract gives no values)
   Certainty: Two weeks per arm, no placebo drink, no numbers in the abstract and no PMC full text.
   J Hum Hypertens, 2016 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-bjch-03 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized open-label parallel controlled trial · n = 46
   After adjusting for baseline values, no significant effect on the levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), insulin, hemoglobin A1c (HgA1c), HOMA-β, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), HDL, triglycerides (TG), and blood pressure (BP) was observed.
   
   Who: forty-six patients with type 2 diabetes, concentrated beetroot juice vs no intervention
   Effect: no significant effect on TC, LDL, HDL or TG after adjusting for baseline
   Certainty: Small, open-label, no placebo; small juice volume.
   Ir J Med Sci, 2023 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-bjch-04 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized double-blind crossover trial · n = 18
   Although there was no significant difference in oxLDL change between treatments (N: -1.08 ± 9.8 U/L; NC: -6.07 ± 9.14 U/L; p = 0.19), NC elicited significant reductions in LDL (N: 2.2 ± 2; NC: -10.7 ± 23; p = 0.049), triglycerides (N: 14.6 ± 43; NC: -43.7 ± 45; p = 0.03), and no change in serum high density lipoprotein.
   
   Who: subjects 50-70 years with LDL > 130 mg/dL, untreated hypercholesterolemia
   Effect: LDL change: juice plus placebo +2.2, juice plus vitamin C -10.7 (p = 0.049); triglycerides +14.6 vs -43.7 (p = 0.03)
   Certainty: No juice-free control; units as reported in the abstract (mg/dL presumed); 18 completers.
   Clin Nutr, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-bjch-05 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · multicentre double-blind parallel randomized controlled trial · n = 66
   In an intention-to-treat analysis, no differences were observed between HN and LN groups in terms of office systolic BP at 16 weeks (3.91 ± 3.52 mmHg, p = 0.27) or secondary outcomes.
   
   Who: participants with elevated BP, age 51.5 years, BMI 27.9
   Effect: about 400 mg vs 50 mg nitrate a day; no difference in office systolic BP or secondary outcomes including lipids
   Certainty: Vegetable powder, not beet juice; lipids were secondary outcomes.
   Nutrients, 2024 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
6. ev-bjch-06 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized placebo-controlled crossover pilot trial · n = 48
   Also, both supplements significantly decreased the concentration of homocysteine, glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL.
   
   Who: 48 male coronary artery disease patients, about 50 mg betalain a day
   Effect: significant decreases in homocysteine, glucose, TC, TG and LDL; clinically meaningful only for homocysteine, LDL and non-HDL
   Certainty: Beetroot extract capsule, not juice; 2 weeks; numbers not in the abstract.
   Food Funct, 2019 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
7. ev-bjch-07 · Position of an expert body · agency re-evaluation of food additives (news summary) · n = —
   The current acceptable daily intake (ADI) for nitrates is 3.7 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day (mg/kg bw/day).
   
   Who: general population, EU
   Effect: ADI nitrate 3.7 mg/kg bw/day (about 260 mg for a 154 lb (70 kg) adult)
   Certainty: ADI set for nitrate as a whole; the 260 mg figure is arithmetic, not EFSA's.
   EFSA, 2017, news: EFSA confirms safe levels for nitrites and nitrates added to food (re-evaluation of E 249-252) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
8. ev-bjch-08 · Observational data · systematic review (qualitative, mixed designs) · n = —
   Drinking BRJ may easily increase nitrate intake above the acceptable daily intake, which is known to stimulate the endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds (NOC's), a class of compounds that is known to be carcinogenic and that may also induce several other adverse effects.
   
   Who: human studies of beetroot juice consumption
   Effect: risk of exceeding nitrate ADI; endogenous N-nitroso compound formation; data on harms limited
   Certainty: Qualitative review; harms data thin, as the authors say.
   Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract