The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if taking a beetroot juice supplement will work in people living with Alzheimer's disease. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Can people living with Alzheimer's disease realistically drink beetroot juice regularly (for example, is it easy to take, free from side effects and acceptable)? * Does drinking beetroot juice twice a day improve health in people living with Alzheimer's disease? Researchers will look at how you managed with the beetroot juice, as well as if there were any improvements in your health measures. Participants will: * Complete testing before and after the intervention for no more than 3 hours each time * Complete a 1-day food diary before testing * Take a beetroot juice supplementation twice daily for 1-week * Keep a note of any problems with the beetroot juice
Primary objectives: To establish the feasibility of a beetroot juice supplement in people living with Alzheimer's disease (primary outcome). To establish whether a twice per day, 1-week beetroot juice intervention will induce changes in dementia related health outcomes (secondary outcomes). Outline: Participants will complete a 24-hour food diary prior to baseline testing before starting twice daily supplementation of beetroot juice shots for 7 days. Post-testing will be conducted on day 8 with a further 24-hour food diary having been completed prior to testing.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
30
Participants will take a concentrated beetroot juice shot (70ml) twice daily for 1-week. Each shot contains 400mg of dietary nitrate (800mg per day).
University of the West of Scotland
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, United Kingdom
Feasibility of a beetroot juice intervention in people living with Alzheimer's disease
Participants will be supported by a carer, friend or family member to complete a semi-structured interview to assess how feasible the trial was. Questions will be based around adherence (e.g. was the beetroot juice taken consistently and at the right times), acceptability/safety (e.g. was the beetroot juice tolerable and would they consider doing it daily if the benefits were proven and were there any adverse effects) and data collection feasibility (e.g. how easy was it to collect and post saliva samples themselves and how much of a burden was the pre and post-testing). Simple Likert scales will also be used to assess acceptability of the beetroot juice.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes to oral microbiome pre to post intervention
An oral swab will collect bacteria from the tongue to analyse changes in the relative abundance of bacteria (%). Particular interest will be paid to pathogenic and nitrate reducing bacteria. Higher abundances of pathogenic bacteria and lower abundances of nitrate reducing bacteria indicate poorer oral health.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes to cognitive function pre and post intervention
Cognitive function will be assessed pre and post-intervention through the use of Montreal Cognitive Assessment. A different version of the questionnaire will be completed pre and post. Higher scores indicate better cognitive performance.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes to nitric oxide metabolism
Blood will be collected and analysed for arginine levels (µM). Higher nitric oxide levels can mean better health however, the inclusion of iNOS measurements is to determine the source of the nitric oxide i.e. whether it's inflammatory based, or health based.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes to nitric Oxide metabolism
Saliva and blood will be collected and analysed for nitric oxide levels (µM). Higher nitric oxide levels can mean better health however, the inclusion of iNOS measurements is to determine the source of the nitric oxide i.e. whether it's inflammatory based, or health based.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes to nitric oxide metabolism
Blood will be collected for arginase activity (µmol/min/mg protein). Higher arginase activity could mean better health however, the inclusion of iNOS measurements is to determine the source of the nitric oxide i.e. whether it's inflammatory based, or health based.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes to nitric oxide metabolism
Blood will be collected to analyse inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity (relative fold change). Higher iNOS activity indicates greater levels of inflammation.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes in cardiovascular health pre to post intervention
Pulse wave analysis (augmentation index %) will be measured with lower scores considered better.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Change in body mass index pre to post intervention
Body mass index (kg/m²) will be calculated by measuring height (m) and weight (kg).
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes in blood pressure pre to post intervention
Blood pressure (mmHg) will be measured with 120/80 considered normal.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes in exercise capacity pre to post intervention.
Exercise capacity will be measured with a 2-minute step in place test (more steps indicates a higher fitness level).
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes in exercise levels pre to post intervention.
The International Physical Activity Questionnaire will be used to determine whether their physical activity levels change over the course of the intervention.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
Changes to quality of life pre to post intervention.
Quality of life will be measured using Dementia Quality of Life questionnaire (DEMQOL). Higher scores indicate a higher quality of life.
Time frame: From enrolment to the post-intervention testing 8-days later.
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