268
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    26
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      The Potential Benefits of Red Beetroot Supplementation in Health and Disease

      review-article

      Read this article at

          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          In recent years there has been a growing interest in the biological activity of red beetroot ( Beta vulgaris rubra) and its potential utility as a health promoting and disease preventing functional food. As a source of nitrate, beetroot ingestion provides a natural means of increasing in vivo nitric oxide (NO) availability and has emerged as a potential strategy to prevent and manage pathologies associated with diminished NO bioavailability, notably hypertension and endothelial function. Beetroot is also being considered as a promising therapeutic treatment in a range of clinical pathologies associated with oxidative stress and inflammation. Its constituents, most notably the betalain pigments, display potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and chemo-preventive activity in vitro and in vivo. The purpose of this review is to discuss beetroot’s biological activity and to evaluate evidence from studies that specifically investigated the effect of beetroot supplementation on inflammation, oxidative stress, cognition and endothelial function.

          Related collections

          Most cited references118

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer: how are they linked?

          Extensive research during the past 2 decades has revealed the mechanism by which continued oxidative stress can lead to chronic inflammation, which in turn could mediate most chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular, neurological, and pulmonary diseases. Oxidative stress can activate a variety of transcription factors including NF-κB, AP-1, p53, HIF-1α, PPAR-γ, β-catenin/Wnt, and Nrf2. Activation of these transcription factors can lead to the expression of over 500 different genes, including those for growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, cell cycle regulatory molecules, and anti-inflammatory molecules. How oxidative stress activates inflammatory pathways leading to transformation of a normal cell to tumor cell, tumor cell survival, proliferation, chemoresistance, radioresistance, invasion, angiogenesis, and stem cell survival is the focus of this review. Overall, observations to date suggest that oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and cancer are closely linked. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found
            Is Open Access

            The Nrf2-antioxidant response element signaling pathway and its activation by oxidative stress.

            A major mechanism in the cellular defense against oxidative or electrophilic stress is activation of the Nrf2-antioxidant response element signaling pathway, which controls the expression of genes whose protein products are involved in the detoxication and elimination of reactive oxidants and electrophilic agents through conjugative reactions and by enhancing cellular antioxidant capacity. At the molecular level, however, the regulatory mechanisms involved in mediating Nrf2 activation are not fully understood. It is well established that Nrf2 activity is controlled, in part, by the cytosolic protein Keap1, but the nature of this pathway and the mechanisms by which Keap1 acts to repress Nrf2 activity remain to be fully characterized and are the topics of discussion in this minireview. In addition, a possible role of the Nrf2-antioxidant response element transcriptional pathway in neuroprotection will also be discussed.
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: found
              Is Open Access

              Free radicals, antioxidants and functional foods: Impact on human health

              In recent years, there has been a great deal of attention toward the field of free radical chemistry. Free radicals reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species are generated by our body by various endogenous systems, exposure to different physiochemical conditions or pathological states. A balance between free radicals and antioxidants is necessary for proper physiological function. If free radicals overwhelm the body's ability to regulate them, a condition known as oxidative stress ensues. Free radicals thus adversely alter lipids, proteins, and DNA and trigger a number of human diseases. Hence application of external source of antioxidants can assist in coping this oxidative stress. Synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole have recently been reported to be dangerous for human health. Thus, the search for effective, nontoxic natural compounds with antioxidative activity has been intensified in recent years. The present review provides a brief overview on oxidative stress mediated cellular damages and role of dietary antioxidants as functional foods in the management of human diseases.

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Nutrients
                Nutrients
                nutrients
                Nutrients
                MDPI
                2072-6643
                14 April 2015
                April 2015
                : 7
                : 4
                : 2801-2822
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumberland Building, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK; E-Mails: tom.clifford@ 123456northumbria.ac.uk (T.C.); glyn.howatson@ 123456northumbria.ac.uk (G.H.); d.j.west@ 123456northumbria.ac.uk (D.J.W.)
                [2 ]Water Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences and Development, Northwest University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa
                Author notes
                [* ]Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: e.stevenson@ 123456northumbria.ac.uk ; Tel.: +44-0191-227-3377.
                Article
                nutrients-07-02801
                10.3390/nu7042801
                4425174
                25875121
                d3896dd6-45ff-4cdc-8af6-5e2bc5a42098
                © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

                This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                : 23 January 2015
                : 09 April 2015
                Categories
                Review

                Nutrition & Dietetics
                beetroot,betalains,nitrate,antioxidants,inflammation,oxidative stress
                Nutrition & Dietetics
                beetroot, betalains, nitrate, antioxidants, inflammation, oxidative stress

                Comments

                Comment on this article

                Related Documents Log