Olympic Athletes Turning To Beetroot Juice And Tart Cherry Juice

Think Wheaties is the breakfast of champions? If you happen to be competing in the 2012 London Olympics you’re probably more likely to chug down some beetroot juice or perhaps some tart cherry juice.

Scientific claims have not been able to back up the sports enhancing qualities of those two drinks but athletes competing at the top level of their sporting events can’t seem to get enough of either juice and it’s “natural boost” is showing up all over the 2012 summer games.

So what exactly do the juices accomplish? Beetroot juice is believed to increase the flow of blood an oxygen which can really help athletes competing in short and strenuous sports.

Gretchen Reynolds of the New York Times Well blog writers:

“In other words, the juice might help an 800-meter runner but perhaps not a marathoner.”

To boost the body’s reserve of beetroot juice athletes have been known to drink half-liter bottles of the stuff every day for a week, leading up to their sporting event.

The other option on the table is tart cherry juice which is believed to speed up recovery after an event because it stops muscles from aching so much. While this particular juice won’t help you run faster it can help athletes get more full training sessions in because they are not sore and therefore performing practices at less than full strength.

With cherry juice some athletes claim that 8 to 12 ounces per day is enough to rejuvenate their bodies and allow them to compete at the highest level possible.