In the past, studies suggested that dietary nitrate (NO3−) improves muscle function during exercise. Kansas State University colleagues recently found that beetroot juice can help increase blood flow to muscles during exercise by approximately 38%, especially to the less-oxygenated, fast-twitch muscles. After seeing that dietary nitrate supplementation via beetroot juice improves metabolic control in fast-twitch muscles, the study concluded that a drinking beetroot juice may be a method of inducing these beneficial effects during high-intensity workouts.