Beetroot Juice - David Weir's Worst Kept Secret Of Paralympic And Marathon Success

Ahead of competing in the London Marathon next weekend, six times Paralympic champion and Commonwealth Games' gold medallist David Weir CBE has revealed the secret of his many successes – Beet It beetroot juice. Such is his strong belief in the nitrate power of the purple juice, he is now spreading the word to help others achieve their sporting goals.

Slumped in his wheelchair after winning the Paralympic Marathon in 2012, he revealed to Boris Johnson that he had been exhausted by winning three other gold medals and was about to give up at the five mile mark when he took a shot of beetroot juice. This gave him the boost he needed to go on and win, in a very close sprint finish. Boris gave away this secret in his Parade of Champions speech, announcing that they had been "propelled by no stimulant more sinister than the beetroot juice unaccountably favoured by David Weir."

Not so unaccountably it turns out. "In 2011 my nutritionist mentioned how the natural nitrates found in beetroot juice could help to increase my upper body strength and overall stamina" said David. "I must admit I was sceptical! But I immediately noticed a significant improvement in my performance from the first time I tried the Beet It shot. Ever since then it's been an integral part of my training regime and I couldn't imagine competing without it."

"Now the secret is out I'm happy to share it and am proud to endorse such a worthwhile natural product, as I know it will help many others literally 'beet' their personal best."

Since the 2012 Olympics, Beet It Sport concentrated beetroot juice shots and bars have been quickly adopted by many elite sports teams and professional sportsmen and women throughout the world. They are also used by more than 150 universities worldwide to research both the Medical and Sports Performance benefits of natural nitrate supplementation. BEET IT's Sport Shots and Oatmeal Bars each contain 400mg of natural dietary nitrate, the optimum amount needed to deliver a worthwhile impact to performance.

David's extensive training and competition schedule for 2015 will see him travel across the world including both the London Marathon and New York Marathon – so lots of Beet It shots will be needed to keep him going.

David's big focus, after the World Championships in Doha, will then turn to the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games qualifiers.

ENDS

For more information, images, or to set up an interview with David Weir, please contact Sue Reay and Ellie McParlin at East River PR on 0191 3759067 or email sue@eastriverpr.co.uk or ellie@eastriverpr.co.uk

Note to editors:

All BEET IT SPORT products carry the logo of Informed Sport, an organisation that tests products to provide assurance that sportspeople will not fail a drug test as a result of using them.

Dietary nitrate (NO3) is found naturally in beetroots (also spinach and rucola salad). This nitrate interacts with enzymes in saliva (so do not use mouthwash) to boost Nitrite (NO2) in the blood system. The Nitrite converts to Nitric Oxide (NO) when the body requires it. Nitric Oxide (NO) is a vaso-dilator - it opens blood vessels and increases blood flow (Nobel Prize for Medicine 1998). The increased blood flow increases oxygen supply to muscle extremities - which is used for generating energy resulting in increased stamina and improved reaction times / cognitive performance

Beet It Sport is used by most international rugby teams (including England, New Zealand and Australia), many Tour De France cycling teams, premiership soccer (across Europe) and NBA Basketball, NHL Ice hockey and NFL US football teams as well as many individual Olympic athletes.

Beet It concentrated beetroot shots and nitrate depleted placebo shots are used for medical and sports performance research at over 150 universities all over the world – including William Harvey Research Institute, Exeter and Loughborough Universities and King College London in the UK, Duke, Wake Forest and Washington St Louis Medical Universities in US, Karolinska Institute (Sweden), Maastricht (Holland), Australian Institute of Sport.