Is vegetable juice vegetables good for your health? A recent study shows beet juice can prevent kidney damage and possibly prolong life.

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After a heart attack, heart specialists frequently perform coronary angiography to visualize the arteries looking for blockages. A contrast agent is needed to make the vessels stand out (also used for CT scans) but the contrast agent can sometimes damage the kidneys. Patients who were at high risk of kidney damage were enrolled in the research study, and half of them received a potassium nitrate supplement just before and for a few days after angiography. Those who were given the supplement had a much lower rate of kidney damage, and also were less likely to have a coronary event or kidney damage over the following year.

A sample of Potassium nitrate. Picture taken by w:User:Walkerma in June 2005

What does potassium nitrate have to do with juicing? Vegetable juice, especially beet juice, has a lot of nitrates. In the Medscape article about this research, the investigators mention that two shots of beet juice daily would contain about the same amount of nitrates given to patients in the study.

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So drink your vegetable juice, and to protect yourself after getting intravenous contrast agents, take some beet juice shots before and after the procedure.