Beetroot Powder.

An hour before the long run or the hill ride, a glass of something deep magenta. Beetroot has become a pre-effort ritual for endurance runners and cyclists in recent decades, and this powder makes it simple.

Whole beetroot is air-dried slowly at low heat and milled to a jewel-red powder that keeps the vegetable's natural nitrates largely intact. Nothing is added, and nothing is removed but the water. It stains readily, a deep magenta that clings to a wet spoon or a damp countertop, proof of how little stands between this powder and the raw root. The taste is earthy and faintly sweet, closer to the vegetable itself than to any flavored drink.

It is a food, not a medicine, and no substitute for medical advice; if you are managing your blood pressure, talk with your doctor first.

Details

• Ingredients: whole beetroot, nothing added
• Air-dried slowly at low heat, then milled
• Naturally rich in nitrate

How to use

Stir a tablespoon into water, juice or a smoothie roughly an hour before activity. Mind the countertop and your teeth: it stains. A jewel-red start to the effort ahead.