 In a series of reports by Ahluwalia and colleagues, they showed in a cross over protocol of 14 volunteers who ingested inorganic nitrates, plasma and saliva nitrite level increased 3 hours post ingestion with a significant reduction of blood pressure.Nitrate extracted from blood by the salivary gland, accumulates in saliva, which is then reduced to nitric oxide to have a direct blood pressure lowering effect.Decreasing saliva nitrite in volunteers that already had elevated levels, a rise in systolic and diastolic blood pressure resulted.