1. Introduction
Obesity, overweight, obese middle-aged, malnutrition
OBESITY, MALNUTRITION
Caloric restriction (CR) and dietary nitrate supplementation are nutritional interventions with pleiotropic physiological functions. This pilot study investigates the combined effects of CR and nitrate-rich beetroot juice (BRJ) on metabolic, vascular, and cognitive functions in overweight and obese middle-aged and older adults. This was a two-arm, parallel randomized clinical trial including 29 participants allocated to CR + BRJ (Obesity is a complex condition characterised by excessive body fat accumulation linked to the onset of serious comorbidities and increased risk of mortality [Caloric restriction (CR) is a dietary strategy that decreases calorie intake without leading to malnutrition [Dietary nitrate is a promising intervention that has been associated with improvement in metabolic [We postulate that CR and dietary nitrate could have synergistic effects on metabolic, vascular, and cognitive functions via their effects on common mechanistic pathways involving up-regulation of metabolic, endothelial, and neuronal functions. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the impact of combining dietary nitrate and CR on metabolic (i.e., resting energy expenditure (REE), body composition, muscular strength) vascular (i.e., resting blood pressure and microvascular blood flow), and cognitive functions in overweight and obese middle-aged and older subjects.