Intervention
The beetroots were purchased from a local supermarket (located in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil) and were weighed, sanitized, peeled, fractionated and liquefied by a food centrifuge without the addition of water. The final volume of BRJ offered to each patient was 500 mL. Water (Minalba®, Brazil), used as a control drink, contained < 0.001 mmol NO