Acute Effect of Nitrate Supplementation From Natural Dietary Sources on Arterial Stiffness and Aortic and Brachial Blood Pressures: a Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Randomized, Crossover Clinical Trial in Healthy Adults

Hypertension has become a common medical condition worldwide, raising public concern regarding the accompanying increase in cardiovascular disease risk and other health risks. Targets for optimal blood pressure are often unmet by conventional pharmaceutical therapies; consequently, complementary and alternative medicines are increasing in popularity among patients wishing to better manage their BP. In the case of hypertension, endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease, a decline in the ability of blood vessels to dilate in response to shear stress is a major contributor to vascular pathology. At the core of these conditions is a decreased ability to synthesize nitric oxide, a potent vasodilatory agent. The proposed study will examine whether or not increasing the intake of dietary nitrate, which can be converted to nitric oxide endogenously, can improve three indices of vascular function that are validated risk factors for CVD: arterial stiffness, as measured by aortic augmentation index (AIx), aortic BP and brachial BP.