The mouth is full of bacteria — known as the oral microbiome — that influences processes key to heart and brain health. Disruption, referred to as dybiosis, of the oral microbiome can contribute to major diseases, including Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Dark leafy greens, such as arugula, celery, kale, and beetroot — and some clinically validated beetroot juices — are high in dietary inorganic nitrate. Researchers at the University of Exeter has found that nitrate-rich beetroot juice alters or shifts the oral microbiome to ‘nitrate-reducing, friendly bacteria’ that begin to convert prebiotic nitrate into nitric oxide, resulting in less risk of heart and brain-associated diseases and inflammation. Older people tend to have lower nitric oxide production, and this is associated with poorer vascular (blood vessel) and cognitive (brain) health. Unfortunately, few adults, especially among the ageing, do not eat adaquate amount of vegetables and leafy greens contain prebiotic nitrate. The University of Exeter research suggests that dietary prebiotic nitrate may enhance brain function especially among the ageing. Studies are underway that could lead to the introduction of individualised diets to shift the oral microbiome to make sufficient nitric oxide that could prevent or delay cognitive decline in older age. Previous studies published in Neurology reported that nearly 1,000 healthy seniors who had daily helpings of leafy greens – spinach, kale, arugula, and collard greens — had a slower rate of cognitive decline, compared to those who ate little or no leafy greens. Not surprising was that the consumption of green leafy vegetables correlated highly with the intake of prebiotic nitrate, lutein, phylloquinone, and carotene which are abundant in leafy greens (1,4). As a matter of fact, other studies have shown that the consumption of high prebiotic nitrate beet juice improved blood flow to areas of the brain known to be involved in short-term memory. The brain map shown below shows higher cerebral blood flow to areas of brain involved with working memory after the consumption of nitrate-rich beets (2,3,4). Within 2 hours after the consumption of leafy greens and beets, friendly bacteria within our mouths convert plant-derived nitrate to nitric oxide – a natural cardiovascular and neuroprotective factor — to increase blood flow to vital organs such as the brain. Is your diet prebiotic nitrate rich? Is your oral microbiome healthy? Optimize your brain+heart healthy diet with MyFitStrip’s Nitric Oxide Probiotic Saliva Test Strips. 1. Morris MC, Wang Y, Barnes LL, Bennett DA, Dawson-Hughes B, Booth SL. Nutrients and bio-actives in green leafy vegetables and cognitive decline: Prospective study. Neurology. 2018. 90: 214-222. 2. Presley TD, Morgan AR, Bechtold E, Clodfelter W, Dove RW, Jennings JM, Kraft RA, King SB, Laurienti PJ, Rejeski WJ, Burdette JH, Kim-Shapiro DB, Miller GD. Acute effect of a high nitrate diet on brain perfusion in older adults. Nitric Oxide. 2011. 24(1):34-42. 3. Wightman EL, Haskell-Ramsay CF, Thompson KG, Blackwell JR, Winyard PG, Forster J, Jones AM, Kennedy DO. Dietary nitrate modulates cerebral blood flow parameters and cognitive performance in humans: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover investigation. Physiol Behav. 2015. 149:149-58. 4. Rosier, B.T., Buetas, E., Moya-Gonzalvez, E.M. et al. Nitrate as a potential prebiotic for the oral microbiome. Sci Rep 10, 12895 2020.
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