the effects of consuming 6weeks of beetroot juice (beta vulgaris l.) on hematological parameters in female soccer players

Background: the present study aimed to investigate the effects of consuming 6 weeks of beetroot juice (beta vulgaris l.) on hema- tological parameters in female soccer players. methods: twenty female soccer players were selected randomly and assigned into two groups: experimental (beetroot juice, n = 10) and control (placebo, n = 10). subjects trained for six weeks (three 90-min sessions per week) by consuming 200 ml of juice 2 hours prior to training. blood samples were collected and investigated (hb, hct, rbc, iron, mcv, ferritin and tibc) in pre- and posttest. paired sample t-test and independent sample t-test were used for comparision within and between groups, respectively. statistical significance was p ≤ 0.05. results: results showed that the experimental group had significant increases in the hb, hct, rbc, iron, and ferritin levels (p < 0.05). no significant difference was detected in mcv levels (t = -1.10, p = 0.29) and there was a significant decrease in the tibc (t = 4.99, p = 0.001). in the control group, there were significant differences in (hct, iron, ferritin and tibc) (p < 0.05). in addition, there were significant differences in (hb, hct, rbc, iron, ferritin and tibc) levels between experimental and control subjects (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in mcv (t = 1.11, p = 0.28). conclusions: since beetroot juice consumption has significant effects on the levels of some hematological parameters in female soccer players, it can be used to prevent and improve anemia among these athletes.