Red spinach extract carries far more nitrate per gram than beet root: about 90 mg in a standardized extract, against roughly 11 mg in the average beet powder. Beet root has the deeper research record, and its studies used larger nitrate doses than one gram of red spinach provides.
Both raise blood nitrate, the raw material your body uses to make nitric oxide. Your choice comes down to what matters more: a small, stimulant free scoop with a concentrated dose, or the nitrate source with the most studies behind it.
How Red Spinach and Beet Root Support Nitric Oxide
Your nitric oxide from either plant starts with the same compound: dietary nitrate. Bacteria in the mouth and gut convert nitrate to nitrite, and the body produces nitric oxide from it, as a 2009 review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition describes. Nitric oxide plays a role in vascular function, which is why nitrate is studied for blood flow and exercise.
Red spinach is a leafy amaranth, not the spinach in a salad bag. Its extract is dried and concentrated, so a single gram delivers a measured dose of nitrate in a small scoop of powder.
Our concentrated red spinach powder, Vitality, contains 1,000 mg of non GMO red spinach extract per scoop. The extract is listed on the label as OxyStorm®, the same branded extract used in a 2017 exercise trial covered below.
Vitality - Concentrated Red Spinach Powder
1,000mg non GMO red spinach extract per scoop for blood flow, energy and endurance. No stimulants.
$39.99
Shop VitalityRed Spinach vs Beet Root at a Glance
You get more nitrate per gram from red spinach and more research from beet root. Every figure below comes from the studies linked in this article.
| Red spinach extract | Beet root | |
|---|---|---|
| Nitrate per gram | More than 9% by manufacturer spec, about 90 mg per gram. One trial measured about 11.5%. | Beet powders averaged about 11 mg per gram across 6 products. A second analysis of 13 powders found 7 to 62 mg per gram. |
| Daily dose in studies | 1 to 2 g of extract, about 90 to 180 mg of nitrate | Juice providing about 260 to 1,040 mg of nitrate. About 310 mg appears to be the minimum for most people. |
| Common form | Powder or capsule, about 1 g per serving | Juice shots, bottled juice or powder |
| Timing in studies | 40 to 75 minutes before exercise, or daily for 6 to 7 days | About 2.5 hours before exercise, with blood levels peaking at 2 to 3 hours |
| Sugar | Described as devoid of sugar and oxalates in the 2017 trial | Juice carries the natural sugar of the beet |
| Taste and practicality | A small scoop that mixes into a flavored drink | Earthy taste, larger servings, nitrate varies from bottle to bottle |
| Depth of evidence | A handful of small trials and one systematic review | 80 controlled studies in one meta analysis alone |
What the Red Spinach Studies Tested
You are looking at young, small research here. The trials below are randomized and placebo controlled, with 10 to 17 participants each.
Blood nitrate and blood flow
A 2016 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology gave 15 healthy adults 1,000 mg of red spinach extract, about 90 mg of nitrate. Blood nitrate was 255% above baseline 65 to 75 minutes later. Peak blood flow in the calf rose 13.7% after the extract and fell after placebo. Artery dilation in the arm did not change.
Endurance and the ventilatory threshold
A 2017 trial in the journal Sports used the same 1,000 mg dose of OxyStorm® extract before a graded exercise test. Blood nitrate rose 447%. Oxygen uptake at the ventilatory threshold, the point where breathing starts to climb sharply, was 6.1% higher than with placebo. Time to exhaustion and peak oxygen uptake did not improve. The extract's manufacturer funded the study.
A 2021 trial in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research gave 17 recreationally active men and women 1 g a day for 7 days, plus a dose 1 hour before a 4 km cycling time trial. Average finish time dropped from 410.6 to 404.6 seconds, with gains in power and speed. The improvement was significant only in the women.
Strength training
Your lifting is where the results are weakest. A 2021 study in Sports gave 10 trained men 2 g a day, about 180 mg of nitrate, for 7 days. Bench press reps, power, muscle oxygenation and a cognitive test showed no change.
A related amaranth and the review
A 2020 trial in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition tested a concentrate from a related amaranth species at about 400 mg of nitrate in 13 active young men. After 6 days, the amaranth group raised peak cycling power, maximal oxygen uptake and their first ventilatory threshold. A 2025 systematic review in Cureus reviewed 4 trials of spinach extract at 1 to 2 g, three of them red spinach. It called the results promising and asked for more research on dosing.
What the Beet Root Studies Tested
Beet root is the reference point for every nitrate supplement you will compare. The research is larger, and it shows clearly that dose matters.
Dose decides the result
A 2013 dose study in the Journal of Applied Physiology gave 10 men concentrated beet juice with about 260, 520 or 1,040 mg of nitrate. The smallest dose changed nothing. The two larger doses extended time to exhaustion by 14% and 12%. Doubling from 520 to 1,040 mg added no further benefit.
Beet products vary widely
A 2019 analysis in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism tested 24 beet juice products and found a roughly 50 fold range in nitrate. Only 5 products consistently delivered at least 310 mg per serving, the amount the authors called the likely minimum for most people. A 2025 study in Applied Food Research found the same problem in 13 beet powders sold online.
The effect is real and small
A 2020 meta analysis in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise pooled 80 controlled nitrate studies. Performance improved, and the authors described the effect as objectively small. No benefit appeared in highly trained endurance athletes or in the six studies that tested only women.
Is Red Spinach Better Than Beets?
Red spinach gives you more nitrate per gram. Beet root gives you more documentation. One gram of red spinach extract supplies about 90 mg of nitrate in a scoop of powder. Matching that from the average beet powder would take about 8 grams.
Dose is where the comparison turns. The beet studies that improved performance used 310 mg of nitrate or more. One scoop of red spinach extract sits well below that, and the red spinach trials still reported changes in blood nitrate, blood flow and cycling time at 90 mg.
The concession, plainly: red spinach has far fewer studies than beet root, and most are small. No trial has compared red spinach and beet root head to head at equal nitrate doses. The concentration advantage is clear. The performance advantage is not proven.
How to Take Red Spinach Extract
Your timing can follow the trials: a dose before training, and a daily dose in the week before an event. The trials gave a dose 40 to 75 minutes before testing. The two trials that improved cycling performance also dosed every day for 6 to 7 days first.
Vitality's label directs 1 to 2 scoops in 8 to 12 oz of water or your beverage of choice. Take it 15 to 30 minutes before physical activity, or daily as needed. Each scoop is 2.56 g of powder with 1,000 mg of extract.
Vitality has no caffeine or other stimulants. It fits an evening workout, a morning coffee, or a routine that already includes CreActive specialty creatine. It sits alongside our other performance supplements.
Who should check with a doctor first
Nitrate affects blood vessels. Talk to your doctor before taking any nitrate supplement while on blood pressure or heart medication, or with a heart or blood pressure condition. The same applies during pregnancy, while nursing, and for anyone under 18.
The Verdict
Choose beet root when you want the largest body of research and the dose levels with the most consistent performance data. Expect larger servings and nitrate content that varies from product to product.
Choose red spinach extract when you want a concentrated, measured dose of nitrate in a small, stimulant free scoop. The evidence is earlier, and the per gram advantage is large.
BioHealth Nutrition makes Vitality with one active ingredient: 1,000 mg of non GMO red spinach extract per scoop. It is vegan and gluten free, sweetened with stevia extract, and contains no artificial sweeteners.
Our red spinach extract supplement comes in Cherry Lime, with 30 servings per tub. It sits with the rest of our greens and superfoods.
Related reading: for protein, we compared whey isolate vs whey protein and laid out how much collagen per day the studies used.
Sources. Hord NG. et al., Food sources of nitrates and nitrites: the physiologic context for potential health benefits, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009. Haun CT. et al., Differential vascular reactivity responses acutely following ingestion of a nitrate rich red spinach extract, European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2016. Moore AN. et al., Red Spinach Extract Increases Ventilatory Threshold during Graded Exercise Testing, Sports, 2017. Gonzalez AM. et al., Red Spinach Extract Supplementation Improves Cycle Time Trial Performance in Recreationally Active Men and Women, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2021. Haynes JT. et al., Impact of Red Spinach Extract Supplementation on Bench Press Performance, Muscle Oxygenation, and Cognitive Function in Resistance Trained Males, Sports, 2021. Liubertas T. et al., The influence of amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) dietary nitrates on the aerobic capacity of physically active young persons, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2020. Wen J. et al., Improved Effect of Spinach Extract on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials, Cureus, 2025. Wylie LJ. et al., Beetroot juice and exercise: pharmacodynamic and dose response relationships, Journal of Applied Physiology, 2013. Gallardo EJ. and Coggan AR., What's in Your Beet Juice? Nitrate and Nitrite Content of Beet Juice Products Marketed to Athletes, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2019. Gozzi M. et al., Betacyanins, nitrates and the issue of standardization in red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) extracts and powders sold online, Applied Food Research, 2025. Senefeld JW. et al., Ergogenic Effect of Nitrate Supplementation: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2020.
Products in this article
-
$39.99
Shop Vitality -
$44.99
Shop CreActive
