Scientists in Australia and China have investigated the effects of dietary nitrate intake on nitric oxide (NO) status. NO is important for the control of vasodilation and blood pressure and it can be obtained from the arginine/NOS pathway in cells, but also via nitrates in foods such as spinach and cabbage.
The mechanism of nitrate intake in the mouth is important because about 25% of dietary nitrate is secreted into saliva, of which approximately 20% (5% of the ingested intake) is converted to nitrite in the mouth by bacteria on the tongue. The nitrite is swallowed and is converted to NO in the acidic environment of the stomach or is absorbed and further reduced to NO in the body through a number of mechanisms. This pathway can be interrupted by spitting and not swallowing the nitrite-rich saliva or by the use of antibacterial mouth wash; it is unknown whether the use of antibacterial toothpaste interrupts the pathway.
In this study, the dose–response of dietary nitrate on both NO status and nitrate reduction in the mouth was assessed. It was found that increasing nitrate intake results in a linear dose-related increase in nitric oxide status and nitrate reduction in the mouth. It was also found that the use of antibacterial toothpaste does not inhibit nitrate reduction.
To read the article in full, click the link below: it’s free to access until 20th March.
Nitrate causes a dose-dependent augmentation of nitric oxide status in healthy women, Catherine P. Bondonno, Kevin D. Croft, Ian B. Puddey, Michael J. Considine, Xingbin Yang, Natalie C. Ward and Jonathan M. Hodgson, Food Funct., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2fo10206d
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