Research review
Does beetroot help with neuropathy? What the research does and doesn't show
People search whether beetroot helps neuropathy (nerve pain, often from diabetes). No trial has tested that directly. What has been studied is peripheral artery disease, a circulation condition that can occur alongside neuropathy but isn't the same thing, with mixed results.
The evidence doesn't support beetroot as something that helps neuropathy (nerve damage or nerve pain) — no trial has tested that question directly. What's actually been studied is a different, though related, condition: peripheral artery disease, a problem with blood flow through the leg arteries, with mixed results even there.
What the evidence doesn't support
It doesn't support beetroot, in juice or supplement form, as something that treats or relieves neuropathy — the tingling, numbness, burning or nerve pain often caused by diabetes, chemotherapy, or nerve compression. No trial identified for this page gave beetroot to people with neuropathy and measured nerve symptoms. It also doesn't support treating neuropathy and peripheral artery disease as the same thing: neuropathy is nerve damage or dysfunction, while peripheral artery disease (PAD) is reduced blood flow through narrowed leg arteries. The two conditions can occur together, especially in people with diabetes, but they have different causes and different research bases — beetroot's research is about the circulation condition, not the nerve one.
What the trials found
The closest related research is in peripheral artery disease, and it's mixed. A small randomized crossover trial gave 10 PAD patients a moderate dose of dietary nitrate as beetroot juice (0.11 mmol/kg) versus placebo. It found a significant improvement in skeletal muscle microvascular function, a longer 6-minute walking distance, and faster recovery after exercise — but no significant change in pain-free walking distance, the measure closest to when leg discomfort actually starts.
A separate, larger randomized crossover trial gave 18 PAD patients (mean age 73) either nitrate-rich vegetables, beetroot juice, or a nitrate-depleted placebo juice, all at roughly the same nitrate amount (~6.5 mmol). Blood nitrate and nitrite rose significantly with both the vegetables and the beetroot juice — highest with beetroot juice. Despite that, claudication onset time (how long before leg pain starts while walking), peak walking time, muscle oxygenation, blood pressure and arterial stiffness were all unchanged compared with placebo.
A third randomized crossover trial looked at 27 people with type 2 diabetes, a population where neuropathy is common, though the trial measured circulation and metabolism, not nerve symptoms. Participants drank 250 mL of beetroot juice daily for 2 weeks. Blood nitrate and nitrite rose, but ambulatory blood pressure, blood vessel function, and insulin sensitivity all showed no significant change versus placebo.
Across all three trials, raising nitrate levels in the blood didn't reliably translate into a measured functional or vascular benefit, and none of them measured nerve function or nerve pain at all.
Questions people ask
Will beetroot help neuropathy?
No trial has tested that question. The research that exists on beetroot and circulation-related leg conditions is about peripheral artery disease, a different condition from nerve damage, and even there the results are mixed.
Is beetroot good for nerve pain?
Nothing in the research reviewed here measured nerve pain. The trials above tracked blood pressure, blood vessel function, walking distance and muscle oxygenation — none of which is the same thing as nerve symptoms.
Does beetroot help with diabetic nerve damage?
The one trial in people with type 2 diabetes measured blood pressure, blood vessel function and insulin sensitivity, not nerve damage, and found no significant change in any of those from 2 weeks of beetroot juice.
When to talk to a doctor
Numbness, tingling, burning pain, or weakness in the hands or feet — especially with diabetes — is worth evaluating with a doctor rather than addressing with a supplement search, since neuropathy has causes that need diagnosis and can worsen without treatment. Beetroot is not a treatment for neuropathy or peripheral artery disease. If you have diagnosed nerve damage, diabetes, or take blood pressure medication, talk to a doctor before adding beetroot or any other supplement.
Related reading: beetroot and diabetes research review, beetroot and blood pressure, and beetroot interactions.
Sources
- Moderate dose of dietary nitrate improves skeletal muscle microvascular function in patients with peripheral artery disease In a small randomized crossover trial of 10 people with peripheral artery disease (a circulation condition, not nerve damage), beetroot juice improved leg muscle microvascular blood flow and 6-minute walking distance, but not pain-free walking distance.
- Acute Effects of Dietary Nitrate on Exercise Tolerance, Muscle Oxygenation, and Cardiovascular Function in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease In a randomized crossover trial of 18 people with peripheral artery disease, beetroot juice and nitrate-rich vegetables raised blood nitrate levels but did not improve how long patients could walk before leg pain started, muscle oxygen levels, blood pressure, or artery stiffness.
- Effect of dietary nitrate on blood pressure, endothelial function, and insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes In a 2-week randomized crossover trial of 27 people with type 2 diabetes, daily beetroot juice raised blood nitrate levels but did not change blood pressure, blood vessel function, or insulin sensitivity.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.