Beetroot and arugula are two of the richest dietary sources of nitrate — the raw material your body converts into nitric oxide, the molecule that relaxes and widens blood vessels.

Watermelon is the richest everyday food source of L-citrulline — the amino acid your body converts into L-arginine, the raw material your blood vessels use to make nitric oxide.

Spinach sits alongside arugula and beets at the top of the dietary-nitrate list, and a controlled trial found nitrate-rich spinach raised nitric-oxide status and improved endothelial function.

A small, concentrated hit of beet juice about two hours before training — the timing and dose most closely matching the nitrate research.

Raw arugula is one of the highest-nitrate foods there is — and pesto is the rare recipe that keeps a large pile of it completely uncooked.

Two different routes to nitric oxide in one glass: nitrate from beets, and cocoa flavanols, whose vascular effect was traced specifically to epicatechin.

A vivid magenta dip that turns a full serving of nitrate-rich beets into something you will actually finish.

Celery is quietly one of the higher-nitrate vegetables, and eating it raw and crunchy is the best way to keep that nitrate intact.