Question: Is beetroot juice banned in the Olympics due to the extra muscle power is can add?

Pete Etchells answered on 26 Apr 2012:

Hey spacenut! Beetroot juice doesn’t give you more muscle power, it just makes the way muscles consume energy more efficient – basically it widens blood vessels and reduces blood pressure, and reduces the amount of oxygen that muscles need to do an activity. I don’t think it’s currently banned at the Olympics, though; it would be hard to justify a natural juice as performance-enhancing (otherwise, you might argue that orange juice should be banned, because it gives you more vitamin C and that’s good for you).

Personally, I’d ban it because it tastes absolutely gross…