Beetroot Juice and Postprandial Vascular Activity

Inclusion Criteria: * Aged between 18 and 70 years * Quetelet-index between 28-35 kg/m2 * Mean serum triacylglycerol ≤1.7 mmol/L * No indication for treatment with cholesterol-lowering drugs according to the Dutch Cholesterol Consensus * No current smoker * No diabetic patients or individuals receiving antidiabetic medication * No familial hypercholesterolemia * No abuse of drugs * Less than 21 alcoholic consumptions per week * Stable body weight (weight gain or loss \<3 kg in the past three months) * No use of medication known to affect serum lipid metabolism * No severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as high blood pressure, epilepsy, asthma, allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases and rheumatoid arthritis * No active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or recent (\<6 months) event (acute myocardial infarction, cerebro vascular accident) * Willingness to stop the consumption of foods rich in nitrates 3 weeks before the start of the study. Vegetables such as beets, celery, radishes, turnips and spinach are rich in nitrates * Willingness to give up being a blood donor (or having donated blood) from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study and for 4 weeks after completion of the study * No difficult venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visits Exclusion Criteria: * Women * Quetelet-index between \<28 or \>35 kg/m2 * Mean serum triacylglycerol ≥1.7 mmol/L * Indication for treatment with cholesterol-lowering drugs according to the Dutch Cholesterol Consensus * Current smoker * Diabetic patients or individuals receiving antidiabetic medication * Familial hypercholesterolemia * Abuse of drugs * More than 21 alcoholic consumptions per week * Unstable body weight (weight gain or loss \>3 kg in the past three months) * Use of use of medication known to affect serum lipid metabolism * No severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as high blood pressure, epilepsy, asthma, allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases and rheumatoid arthritis * Active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or recent (\<6 months) event (acute myocardial infarction, cerebro vascular accident) * Use of an investigational product within the previous 1 month * Not willing to stop the consumption of foods rich in nitrates 3 weeks before the start of the study * Not willing to give up being a blood donor (or having donated blood) from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study or for 4 weeks after completion of the study * Not or difficult to venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visits