Daily beetroot juice showed promising early signs of safely benefiting pregnant women with chronic kidney disease.
For women with chronic kidney disease (CKD), pregnancy places extra strain on kidneys that are already vulnerable. At the same time, many standard kidney medications can pose risks during pregnancy, so doctors often require patients to stop taking them for several months. Researchers at King’s College London are exploring whether drinking beetroot juice daily could offer a safe, affordable way to help support kidney function.
During pregnancy, the kidneys work harder to meet the needs of both the mother and the growing baby. Around half of pregnant women with moderate to severe CKD experience a decline in kidney function, yet treatment options have changed little over the past 30 years, leaving doctors with limited safe interventions.
In a study published in Kidney International Reports, researchers investigated whether the dietary nitrate naturally found in beetroot juice could help protect kidney health during pregnancy.
Beetroot is naturally rich in nitrate, which the body converts into nitric oxide—a compound that widens blood vessels and enhances blood flow. Researchers believe this effect may help reduce the extra stress that pregnancy places on the kidneys.
To test this idea, the research team recruited 108 pregnant women with stage 2–5 chronic kidney disease from eight hospitals across the United Kingdom. Before reaching 25 weeks of pregnancy, researchers randomly assigned the participants to two groups: one group received standard medical care, while the other received standard care plus a daily beetroot juice supplement containing dietary nitrate.
The First Results Show Promising Signs of Reduced Complications
TResearchers mainly designed the study to determine whether they could carry out a larger-scale clinical trial effectively. Although researchers did not design the study to confirm the treatment’s effectiveness, the findings suggested that beetroot juice may offer potential advantages for both mothers and their babies.
Kate Bramham, Consultant Nephrologist at King’s College Hospital, Professor at King’s College London, and senior author of the study, explained that pregnancy has long presented a challenging balance for women with chronic kidney disease, who must weigh protecting their own health against ensuring their baby’s well-being, often without many available treatment options. She noted that the results represent a promising early step toward a simple, affordable, and low-risk approach that could significantly benefit this group of women, who have historically received limited attention in medical research.
Participants who consumed beetroot juice had roughly a 70% lower rate of serious adverse events compared with those who received standard care alone. Of all the severe complications reported during the trial, around half were related to newborns.
The researchers also identified promising trends among participants with more severe kidney disease. These included improved kidney function following pregnancy, fewer newborns requiring admission to neonatal care units, and a reduced need for blood pressure-lowering medications during pregnancy.
The Study Revealed no Safety Concerns
The beetroot juice supplement was not linked to any safety concerns during pregnancy. Researchers specifically found no evidence that it increased the risk of hyperkalemia, a condition in which potassium levels become dangerously high in the blood.
Despite some online recommendations advising pregnant women with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to avoid beetroot juice due to possible potassium-related risks, the study showed no higher incidence of hyperkalemia among participants who consumed the supplement.
Dr. Priscilla Smith, a nephrologist, PhD researcher at King’s College London, and the study’s lead author, noted that pregnancy can place extra strain on the kidneys, while treatment options to preserve kidney health in women with CKD remain limited. She explained that the findings indicate beetroot juice may represent a simple, affordable, and safe strategy that deserves further investigation.
Dr. Andrew Webb, Clinical Senior Lecturer at King’s College London and co-author of the research, explained that dietary nitrate found in beetroot juice could boost nitric oxide production, which may enhance blood vessel function and contribute to better kidney health. He added that these initial results create a valuable basis for further studies aimed at improving outcomes for pregnant women with chronic kidney disease and their babies.
Larger-Scale Studies are Needed to Verify the Potential Benefits
The researchers stressed that these results are still early and require further validation. More extensive clinical trials will be necessary to determine whether beetroot juice can meaningfully slow kidney function deterioration and lead to better long-term outcomes for both mothers and their babies.
If future studies confirm these effects, beetroot juice could become a low-cost, accessible intervention during pregnancy, offering a new option for women with chronic kidney disease, who currently have limited safe treatment choices.
Read the original article on: ScieTechDaily
Read more: Blood collection in Brazil becomes simpler and nearly painless