SuperBeets is a supplement used to support blood pressure and cardiovascular health. It's manufactured by a brand called HumanN, and the brand claims it's the "#1 Pharmacist Recommended Beet Brand for Heart Health Support."
But does SuperBeets contain research-backed ingredients for heart health? Are powdered beets as healthy as whole beets or beet juice? Are there any unhealthy ingredients? And is SuperBeets better or worse than other popular beet supplements like Force Factor Total Beets?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze two clinical trials on SuperBeets that tested the effects of the supplement on blood pressure.
We'll analyze the ingredients in both SuperBeets powder and SuperBeets Heart Chews to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective for promoting heart health, and whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also discuss the risk of side effects, and compare SuperBeets to other popular beet supplements to pick our winners.
Key takeaways:
- Not proven to reduce blood pressure in independent study
- Both products analyzed contain ingredients we consider unhealthy
- We do not currently recommend SuperBeets
Is SuperBeets Proven to Work?
HumanN funded a clinical trial on SuperBeets, published in the American Journal of Physiology.
The trial tested the effects of the supplement on various cardiovascular parameters including blood pressure.
In older adults, SuperBeets caused a 4% reduction in blood pressure after four weeks of supplementation.
The baseline blood pressure levels of the trial participants were already within a healthy range, so we'd be interested to see if the results are even more pronounced in individuals with high blood pressure.
It's notable that the study used a dose of 10 grams (g), while the serving size of SuperBeets based on the Nutrition Facts label of the product is only 5 g.
This suggests that individuals taking SuperBeets for cardiovascular benefits may want to consider taking double the recommended dose.
An unsponsored 2018 clinical trial compared the effects of various beet products (including SuperBeets) on blood pressure.
A concentrated beetroot drink and a beetroot flapjack both reduced blood pressure, but SuperBeets did not.
Based on the available research, we consider SuperBeets to be potentially effective for cardiovascular support and blood pressure support.
It's a sign of a high-quality brand to fund clinical trials that are published in peer-reviewed journals.
However, it's not particularly impressive in our opinion that SuperBeets was shown to reduce blood pressure in the trial funded by the manufacturer, but not in the trial that was unsponsored.
SuperBeets Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in SuperBeets Heart Powder are shown below:
Beet powder and fermented beet powder are unsurprisingly the main active ingredients in SuperBeets.
The company appears to use conventional beets, while organic beet products were shown in a 2014 clinical trial to have higher nutrient levels, and greater anticancer activity.
HumanN doesn't currently publish the active ingredient doses, which is a disservice to consumers.
We know the entire serving is a 5 g dose, but what percentage of that serving is beets? Without this information, it's hard for consumers (or researchers like us) to make an informed decision about whether or not the supplement is effectively dosed.
Natural apple flavor is a flavoring agent.
While natural flavors are healthier than artificial flavors in our opinion, we prefer avoiding flavoring agents (other than organic flavors) altogether.
As we discussed in our Juice Plus review article on another supplement containing this ingredient, the term "natural flavor" fails to describe the chemical compounds used to create the flavor, which makes it challenging to assess the safety.
Overall, we consider SuperBeets Heart Powder likely to support heart health, but we do not currently recommend this supplement due to the inclusion of natural flavor.
Does SuperBeets Cause Side Effects?
It's much easier to assess side effects in supplements tested in clinical trials like SuperBeets.
The clinical trial on SuperBeets did not report any adverse events, which suggests that the supplement was found to cause no side effects.
There is currently no mention of side effects on the SuperBeets Powder or SuperBeets Heart Chews product pages on the HumanN website.
Citric acid can cause inflammatory reactions in some individuals (as we'll discuss in the Chews Ingredient Analysis section next), but this effect appears to be exceedingly rare.
Based on the available evidence, we do not consider SuperBeets likely to cause side effects in healthy individuals.
However, we consider beet powder with zero additives to be even less likely to cause side effects.
Heart Chews Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in SuperBeets Heart Chews are shown below:
Beet powder is the main active ingredient, at a dose of 500 milligrams (mg).
This may be underdosed in regard to any potential cardiovascular benefit. We can't identify any clinical trials proving this low of a dose of beet powder to be beneficial, nor does HumanN currently cite any on their product page.
Grape seed extract is the only other active ingredient, at a dose of 150 mg which appears to be effective.
A 2013 clinical trial tested the same patented grape seed extract at the same dose used in Heart Chews, and found that systolic blood pressure was reduced from 150 to 123 after 16 weeks of use.
This supplement contains three inactive ingredients we take issue with.
Added sugar is a strange choice for a heart support supplement in our opinion, as it's associated with increased risk of obesity and diabetes when consumed in excess, as we documented in our review of Arbonne products.
While 4 g of added sugar is not an enormous amount, it seems logical to avoid this ingredient in a cardiovascular supplement.
Citric acid is a flavor enhancer and preservative compound that has been shown to cause inflammation in some individuals, as documented in a medical review published in the Toxicology Reports journal.
Natural flavors are ingredients that health-conscious consumers may wish to avoid, as we explained in more detail in the previous Ingredient Analysis section.
Overall, we consider SuperBeets Heart Chews likely to be effective for blood pressure support due to the effective dose of grape seed extract, but we do not currently recommend this supplement due to the inactive ingredients highlighted above.
SuperBeets vs. Popular Beet Supplements
Here's how SuperBeets compares to other popular beet supplements in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:
Promix Berry Beets
The flavored version contains citric acid and natural flavor, but the company offers an unflavored version without these additives.
While this product doesn't appear to be clinically tested, the healthiness of the Unflavored formulation gives it a slight edge over SuperBeets
Winner: Promix Berry Beets
Force Factor Total Beets
Sold as gummies and capsules.
The capsules have a healthier formulation, but still contain added phosphates, vitamin additives (which we consider unnecessary) and a lower active ingredient dose than SuperBeets.
We consider this a relatively low-quality brand, as we discussed in our Force Factor ProbioSlim review article.
Winner: SuperBeets
Spring Valley Beet Root
Walmart's house brand Spring Valley sells a beet root supplement that's cheap and contains no inactive ingredients we deem unhealthy.
Winner: Spring Valley Beet Root
Our Clean BP Support Picks
Illuminate Labs Ceylon Cinnamon Extract is our top herbal BP support supplement.
Cinnamon supplementation was shown to cause "a significant reduction in both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure" in a 2020 meta-analysis.
Performance Lab Magnesium is our top mineral BP support supplement.
Magnesium is a mineral that "may reduce blood pressure (BP) as much as 5.6/2.8 mm Hg" when dosed between 500 mg per day and 1,000 mg per day according to a medical review published in The Journal of Clinical Hypertension.
Both of the products recommended in this section are free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
SuperBeets Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Powder product clinically shown to work
- Effective formulations
- No seriously questionable additive ingredients
- Positive Amazon reviews
Cons:
- Powder formulation contains flavoring agents
- Conventional (non-organic) beet sourcing
- Powder formulation not shown to reduce BP in unsponsored study
- Chews contain added sugar
- Chews contain citric acid
- Chews contain natural flavors
- Expensive compared to whole beets or beetroot juice
- Brand's website charges for shipping
