The Best Drink to Lower Blood Pressure Works in Just Three Hours—No Need to Change Your Diet
Plus see two more tasty picks that deliver impressive results
Key Takeaways
- Research suggests beetroot juice may lower blood pressure within just three hours.
- Natural nitrates in beets help relax blood vessels and improve blood flow.
- Tart cherry juice and hibiscus tea also deliver amazing blood-pressure-lowering benefits.
If you’re sick of bad news every time you get your blood pressure checked, we’ve got a little hack that can help within a few hours. Allow us to introduce the best drink to lower blood pressure fast and keep it healthy: beet juice or beetroot juice.
Now, we know some of you just said “yuck” or “I don’t have a juicer,” so hear us out. You can simply add beetroot juice concentrate (sold on Amazon) to water or a smoothie for an easy drink that improves heart health, says Parth Bhavsar, MD, a board certified family medicine physician and founder of TeleDirectMD. It’s a mess-free way to hide the “earthy” taste of beets while still getting all the blood-pressure-lowering benefits. And those health benefits are pretty impressive.
Why beetroot is the best drink to lower blood pressure
Because beetroot juice is high in nutrients known to lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, a team of researchers at Queen Mary University of London decided to directly test its impact. They gave volunteers about 16 ounces of beetroot juice (equal to 4.5 tablespoons of juice concentrate). Within three to six hours, systolic blood pressure—the top number, which doctors watch most closely because it’s more strongly linked to stroke and heart risks—had dropped a whopping 10.4 mmHg. And the diastolic number had dropped 8 mmHg.
Why beetroot juice works both immediately and long term
Beets and beetroot juice “have a high amount of natural nitrates,” notes Dr. Bhavsar. (Heard nitrates cause cancer? Those are actually synthetic nitrates used as preservatives. Natural nitrates are good guys.) As you drink beetroot juice, bacteria in your mouth and stomach begin converting those nitrates into nitric oxide, a gas that helps blood vessels to relax and widen, improving blood flow. The result, says Dr. Bhavsar, is that your heart can pump blood through your arteries a lot more easily, creating less resistance and leading to lower blood pressure right away.
The long-term news is just as good. The same Queen Mary University research team did a follow-up study during which patients with high blood pressure drank a lot less beetroot juice (about a cup daily, equal to 2 tablespoons of juice concentrate). After four weeks, their systolic blood pressure was down 7.7 mmHg, almost as much as in the study where folks drank 16 ounces of juice. And not only did it stay down over time, there were no signs that people were building tolerance to the effect, a problem with some medications used to manage high blood pressure.
An important note: For many, beetroot juice will not replace blood pressure meds. And daily beetroot juice may not be advised for those with kidney stones or blood-sugar issues like prediabetes or diabetes, says Dr. Bhavsar. Get your doctor’s okay to drink beetroot juice daily as part of your overall plan to lower your blood pressure.
The older you are, the better beetroot juice works
During a 2025 University of Exeter study, half the test subjects were aged 18 to 30 and half were aged 67 to 79. Everyone sipped nitrate-rich beetroot juice for two weeks. Blood pressure dropped meaningfully in the older group. In the younger group, it barely budged.
Turns out, young bodies actually make a good deal of their own nitric oxide (the gas that relaxes blood vessels). But as we get older, production declines. So older adults have more to gain from the bump in nitric oxide triggered by drinking beetroot juice and enjoy greater blood pressure lowering effects.
The best time to drink beetroot juice for high blood pressure
You’ll probably be most inclined to drink it three to six hours before a doctor’s appointment, which is totally fine. But for the biggest benefits you want to take it consistently, says Dr. Bhavsar. If you drink it first thing in the morning—8 to 16 ounces of fresh juice or 2 to 4.5 tablespoons of concentrate mixed with water or in a smoothie—you’ll get benefits just as your blood pressure hits its peak around midday, which works best with your natural body rhythm.
One tip from Dr. Bhavsar: Skip antibacterial mouthwash. Why? Oral bacteria helps convert dietary nitrates in beets into the nitric oxide that relaxes blood vessels, and antibacterial mouthwash kills off some of these bacteria, “decreasing the effectiveness of beet juice.”
How do I make beetroot juice taste good while still lowering my blood pressure?
Beetroot juice concentrate really disappears into most classic smoothie recipes made with tropical fruit like banana, pineapple and mango. If you’re watching your blood sugar, berries are a great lower-sugar choice. A little nut milk or avocado can also help make the drink creamy and mellow out the beet flavor. But if you really just don’t like beets, we do have another couple options to consider.
2 more drinks that lower blood pressure
To reduce your blood pressure without drinking beetroot juice, consider these tasty—and effective—alternatives:
Tart cherry juice
In an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, men with mild high blood pressure drank water mixed with about 4 tablespoons of Montmorency tart cherry concentrate, which is high in a blood-vessel-relaxing antioxidant called anthocyanins. Within two hours, systolic blood pressure had dropped 7 mmHg—a reduction the researchers compared to some blood pressure medication. Like beetroot juice concentrate, you can drink this concentrate mixed in water or your favorite smoothie.
Hibiscus tea
Made from another anthocyanins-rich plant, this tea is naturally sweet, tart, ruby-red and caffeine-free. In one study of adults with mild high blood pressure, drinking three 8-oz cups of hibiscus tea daily for six weeks lowered systolic blood pressure by 7.2 mmHg compared to a placebo drink—results published in The Journal of Nutrition. Hibiscus tea bags are widely available at grocery stores, and it’s a main ingredient in many Celestial Seasonings “zinger” flavors as well as their Prebiotic Blend Hibiscus Punch. Enjoy it hot or cold.
The bottom line on the best drink to lower blood pressure
Beetroot juice, tart cherry juice and hibiscus tea can all be tasty tools that help you keep your blood pressure at healthy levels and your heart in tip-top shape. So pick your favorite and make it part of your daily routine. For best results, pair your new drink habit with a healthy diet, regular physical activity and stress management, says Dr. Bhavsar. And get ready for a whole lot of great blood pressure checks!
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