Does beetroot help with energy and focus? What the research does and doesn't show

The evidence doesn't support beetroot as something that boosts mental energy or focus. The one trial designed specifically to test cognition and brain blood flow — 13 weeks, three different doses of beetroot juice, 62 older adults — found no effect on either. Beetroot's best-documented research is about physical exercise performance, a different kind of "energy" than mental alertness.

What the evidence doesn't support

It doesn't support beetroot juice or powder as something that sharpens focus, boosts mental energy, or improves brain blood flow — the trial that measured cerebral blood flow directly found no change from beetroot juice at any dose tested. It also doesn't support treating "energy" loosely: most of beetroot's research measures physical exercise capacity (time to exhaustion, strength, endurance), not the subjective alertness or mental clarity people usually mean when they search for a focus supplement.

What the trials found

The most direct test of beetroot and the brain is a 13-week, randomized pilot trial in 62 overweight or obese older adults (aged 60-75). Participants were split into four groups: two daily 70 mL servings of beetroot juice (high nitrate), one daily serving (medium), one serving every other day (low), or a nitrate-depleted placebo juice on the same alternating schedule. Researchers tested cognitive function with a computerized test battery and measured cerebral blood flow in the frontal cortex using near-infrared spectroscopy. After 13 weeks, neither cognitive function nor cerebral blood flow differed significantly between any of the beetroot groups and placebo — a null result across every dose tested, in the one trial that measured brain blood flow directly.

A broader systematic review pooled 12 randomized crossover trials of dietary nitrate (mostly beetroot juice) in older adults, looking at physical performance, cardiovascular health, cerebrovascular health and cognition together. Cognitive performance results were mixed and unclear across the pooled trials — not a consistent finding either way. Cardiovascular measures like blood pressure and blood flow improved in about half the trials and didn't in the other half; one study found a cerebrovascular improvement and two didn't.

Beetroot's most consistent research is about physical performance, not mental energy. A 2025 umbrella review of 15 meta-analyses found that nitrate doses of 515-1,017 mg a day, from concentrated juice, produced a negligible-to-small effect on strength, endurance and lactate tolerance in athletic populations — see beetroot benefits: what the research does and doesn't show for the full findings. That's a measurable, if modest, effect on exercise capacity — a different thing from the mental focus or alertness most "energy and focus" searches are actually asking about.

Questions people ask

Does beetroot juice improve focus?

The one trial that tested cognition directly — 13 weeks, three doses, 62 older adults — found no effect on cognitive test performance. A broader review of 12 trials found cognitive results mixed and unclear overall.

Does beetroot increase blood flow to the brain?

Not according to the trial that measured it directly: 13 weeks of beetroot juice at any of three doses produced no significant change in cerebral blood flow in that study. One other, smaller trial in the broader review found a cerebrovascular improvement, while two others in the same review found none.

Is beetroot good for energy?

Depends what "energy" means. Beetroot's best-supported research is about physical exercise performance (a small effect at concentrated-juice doses), not subjective mental energy or wakefulness, which isn't what most of the trials measured.

When to talk to a doctor

Persistent fatigue, brain fog, or trouble concentrating that affects daily life is worth discussing with a doctor, since it can have causes — from sleep, thyroid function, to nutrient deficiencies — that a supplement search won't identify. Beetroot is not a treatment for fatigue or cognitive symptoms. If you take blood pressure medication or have a diagnosed condition, talk to a doctor before adding beetroot or any other supplement.

Related reading: beetroot benefits: what the research does and doesn't show, does beetroot lower cortisol, and how much beetroot should you take a day.