Dietary Nitrates, Nitrites, and Cardiovascular Disease
Abstract
Dietary nitrate (NO(3)), nitrite (NO(2)), and arginine can serve as sources for production of NO(x) (a diverse group of metabolites including nitric oxide, nitrosothiols, and nitroalkenes) via ultraviolet light exposure to skin, mammalian nitrate/nitrite reductases in tissues, and nitric oxide synthase enzymes, respectively. NO(x) are responsible for the hypotensive, antiplatelet, and cytoprotective effects of dietary nitrates and nitrites. Current regulatory limits on nitrate intakes, based on concerns regarding potential risk of carcinogenicity and methemoglobinemia, are exceeded by normal daily intakes of single foods, such as soya milk and spinach, as well as by some recommended dietary patterns such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet. This review includes a call for regulatory bodies to consider all available data on the beneficial physiologic roles of nitrate and nitrite in order to derive rational bases for dietary recommendations.
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Inorganic nitrate has high bioavailability and is absorbed quickly from the stomach and upper small intestine.
“This approach was based on the evidence that inorganic nitrate is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and proximal small intestine with high bioavailability (23).”
From Inorganic Nitrate and Beetroot Juice Supplementation Reduces Blood Pressure in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2013) · cites this paper as [23]
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- Authors
- Hord, N. G.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hord, Norman G.
- ORCID
- Hord, Norman G.
- Venue
- Current Atherosclerosis Reports
- Published
- 2011-10-04
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 484-492
- ISSN
- 1523-3804 (ISSN-L)
- 1534-6242
- OpenAlex
- W1967303000
- Semantic Scholar
- 62cc713c727fdf77c8d7243ff1819b54cd80c718
- Cited by
- 97
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 0.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Current Atherosclerosis Reports (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Health and Disease Prevention
- Keywords
- dietary nitrate, dietary nitrite, L-arginine, nitric oxide, S-nitrosothiols, nitroalkenes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, antiplatelet activity, cytoprotection, methemoglobinemia, carcinogenicity, DASH diet, soy milk, spinach, dietary recommendations
- MeSH terms
- Cardiovascular Diseases, Diet, Fertilizers, Humans, Nitrates, Nitrites, Skin, Soil Pollutants, Vegetables, Water Supply
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