Our Story
Backed by science and endorsed by athletes
Beet It Sport is part of James White Drinks, a UK-based soft drinks manufacturer which has been making fruit and vegetable juices for more than 30 years. We started bottling beet juice in 2005 and have been supplying beet juice for research into dietary nitrate supplementation since 2008.
IIn 2009, the University of Exeter published the first human study showing that six days of dietary nitrate supplementation could reduce the oxygen needed for exercise by 5% and delay fatigue by 16%.
This sparked a surge in interest and demand for beet juice within the sports community. However, it soon became clear that natural beet juice was too inconsistent in nitrate content for research and required drinking large quantities, making it impractical for serious athletes.
The solution was Beet It Sport shots, developed in 2009 and first tested by the England International rugby team. These shots provide a reliable 400mg dose of dietary nitrate in a convenient 2.4 oz bottle. Since then, Beet It Sport shots have been used globally by both the medical and sports performance research communities, with over 300 universities and research institutions citing them in published studies.
Today, Beet It Sport shots are used by elite athletes across the world, including teams from the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS in the U.S., the English Premier League, most international rugby teams, and numerous Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Beet It Sport shots are made from 98% concentrated beet juice and 2% concentrated lemon juice (to balance the natural sweetness of the beets). There are no added ingredients—they’re 100% natural.
Nobody harnesses beet power better.
When you are testing the limits of endurance, give yourself no excuses, Beet Your Personal Best!
2024 Nutra Ingredients USA Award
2024
One notable recognition 2024 Nutra Ingredients USA Award, where Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 Shot won "Product of the Year"
2023 Tour de France Champion
2023
Beet It Netherlands supply Team Jumbo Visma and their team leader, Jonas Vingegaard, who became the 2023 Tour de France Champion!
2022 Nutra Ingredients USA Award
2022
Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 is awarded ‘Product of the Year: Sport Nutrition’ at the 2022 Nutra Ingredients USA Awards!
Sports Nutrition Award
2021
Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 shot wins Best Sports Product at the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Awards!
European Specialist Sports Nutrition Award
2020
Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 shot is awarded ‘Best Pre-workout Product’ and ‘Best Sports Drink’ at the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Awards!
Sub-2hr marathon, RWC and new research horizons
2019
NN Running Team athlete Eliud Kipchoge becomes the first man to run a marathon in less than two hours in Vienna - fuelled by Beet It Sport shots #NoHumanIsLimited. Beet It fuels the Rugby World Cup - seven of the top ten international rugby teams use Beet It Sport ahead of the Rugby World Cup in Japan. Professor Andy Jones and colleagues at the University of Exeter discover that muscle plays an important role in the transport, storage and metabolism of nitrate in humans. Research may support a rationale for athletes to gain an added benefit for consuming nitrate before and during exercise, as opposed to consuming before alone. Wylie et al (2019) – Human skeletal muscle nitrate store: influence of dietary nitrate supplementation and exercise, The Physiological Society, University of Exeter, UK.
Beet It Sport fuels sporting elite and International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition
2018
NN Running Team athlete Eliud Kipchoge breaks the marathon world record in a time of 2:01:39 – Eliud drank Beet It Sport shots in the run up this race in Berlin. Geraint Thomas wins the Tour de France – Geraint is supplied Beet It Sport shots. The IOC consensus statement of 20 world leading sport scientists, includes 12 published research papers, all using Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 shots – authors conclude: "Dietary nitrate supplementation has been associated with improvements of 4-25% in exercise time to exhaustion and of 1%-3% in sport-specific time trial performances lasting<40min in duration. Dietary nitrate supplementation is proposed to enhance type II muscle fibre function, resulting in the improvement (3%-5%) of high-intensity, intermittent, team-sport exercise of 12-40min in duration." Maughan et al (2018) – IOC consensus statement: dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete, British Journal of Sports Medicine, St Andrews University, UK
World-class benefit from Beet It Sport
2017
Beet It Sport becomes an official supplier to the NN Running Team; 60 elite distance runners including marathon and half marathon world record holders Eliud Kipchoge and Geoffrey Kamworor, respectively. Researchers at Leeds Beckett University, find intake of two Beet It Sport shots enhances 3-km time-trial performance by 3.8 and 4.2% at 3,000m and 4,000m simulated altitude, respectively. Findings show athletes may benefit from Beet It Sport wen competing at moderate and very-high altitude. Shannon et al (2017) – Effects of dietary nitrate supplementation on physiological responses, cognitive function, and exercise performance at moderate and very-high simulated altitude, Frontiers in Physiology, Leeds Beckett University, UK
Leicester City’s secret weapon – research shows soccer players benefit from Beet It
2016
Leicester City win the English Premier League and the BBC credited their remarkable triumph to the performance enhancing properties of the humble beet– our Beet It Sport shots! Researchers at Maastricht University, The Netherlands, find six days intake of two Beet It Sport shots, improves exercise performance by 3.4% in trained soccer players. Nyakayiru et al (2016) – Beet juice supplementation improves exercise performance in soccer players, Nutrients, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Researchers find new ‘powers’ of Beet It Sport
2015
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine report intake of two Beet It Sport shots increases muscle speed and power by 11 and 6%, respectively. Findings bolster the rationale for Beet It Sport use in team-sports involving speed and power. Coggan et al (2015) – Effect of acute dietary nitrate intake on maximal knee extensor speed and power in healthy men and women, Nitric Oxide, Washington University School of Medicine, US
Italian Olympic Committee and University of Cagliari report novel findings using Beet It
2014
Researchers report intake of 500ml Beet It beet juice improves swimming performance by reducing aerobic energy cost by 10.5% and increasing workload at anaerobic threshold by 6.3%. Pinna et al (2014) – Effect of beet juice supplementation on aerobic response during swimming, Nutrients, University of Cagliari & Italian Olympic Committee, Italy
Australian Institute of Sport recognition and sport-specific intermittent exercise performance
2013
Professor Louise Burke at the Australian Institute of Sport publishes an editorial that recognises the performance potential of beet juice supplementation for athletes. Burke (2013) – To beet or not to beet?, Journal of Applied Physiology, Australian Institute of Sport, Australia Researchers at the University of Exeter find Beet It shot supplementation improves intense intermittent exercise performance by 4.2%. Such findings increase the applications of Beet It shots for team sport, such as football, hockey and rugby. Wylie et al (2013) - Dietary nitrate supplementation improves team sport-specific intense intermittent exercise performance, European Journal of Applied Physiology, University of Exeter, UK
London Olympics labelled 'Beetroot Games'
2012
Beet It beet juice is used by many competing athletes, including 4x gold medallist David Weir, who is quoted “as inexplicably using beet juice” by Boris Johnson in his Olympic Champions salute. Researchers at McMaster University, Canada, find Beet It shots improve 10-km time-trial cycling time by 12 seconds (1.2%) in trained cyclists. Cermak et al (2012) - Nitrate supplementation’s improvement of 10-km time-trial performance in trained cyclists, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, McMaster University, Canada
First study uses innovative Beet It nitrate-depleted placebo shots
2011
Researchers at the University of Exeter are the first to use our placebo shot – an identical version of the shot (in appearance and taste), except the nitrate has been removed. The placebo shot sets a new standard for more robust research; double-blind, placebo-controlled research. Lansley et al (2011) - Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of walking and running: a placebo-controlled study, American College of Sports Medicine, University of Exeter, UK Mo Farah receives delivery of Beet It shots to his home arranged by UK Athletics.
First study published on the effects of nitrate from beet juice on exercise performance in humans
2009
Dr Stephen Bailey and colleagues at the University of Exeter, reported six days of daily Beet It beet juice (500ml/day) consumption, reduced oxygen uptake by 5% during exercise and delayed time to exhaustion by 16% - evidencing improved efficiency of the working muscle. Bailey et al (2009) - Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology, University of Exeter, UK England Rugby trials our concentrated beet juice (prototype Beet It shots) with positive feedback. Beet It juice is supplied to Dubai for camel racing!
