Beetroot juice could help musicians hold breath

Participants who drank the juice lasted an average of four minutes and 38 seconds before resurfacing compared with four minutes and 10 seconds for those given a placebo – an improvement of 11 per cent

Clarinet and trumpet players should drink beetroot juice before playing because it could help them play for longer without running out of breath, researchers claim. 

Taking a shot of concentrated beetroot juice could help divers and swimmers hold their breath for up to 11 per cent longer and enable musicians and singers to sustain notes for a greater length of time, a study suggests.

The juice helps the body perform more efficiently because it contains high levels of nitrate, which once inside the body is broken down into a compound called nitric oxide.

This helps our muscles to perform to the same level as normal while using up less oxygen, meaning each breath can keep us going for longer, scientists explained.

Researchers from Mid Sweden University and the University of Exeter were asked by the producers of BEET-IT, a brand of concentrated beetroot juice, to test its effects on trained divers.

In an experiment described in the Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology journal they found that participants could hold their breath for almost half a minute longer if they were given a 70ml shot of the juice before going underwater.

Participants who drank the juice lasted an average of four minutes and 38 seconds before resurfacing compared with four minutes and 10 seconds for those given a placebo – an improvement of 11 per cent.

Researchers said the benefit could also be transferred to other groups who rely on their lung power including swimmers, opera singers, woodwind and brass players and even high-altitude climbers.

It follows studies in the past year which showed that beetroot juice can improve the performance of athletes including runners and cyclists.

Harald Engan, who led the study, said: "Apparently by enabling the body to reduce oxygen consumption, drinking concentrated beetroot juice has delivered significant extension of breath holding time.

“We are currently experimenting on if this may also be able to help climbers at high altitude and hope to report on the results soon.”