At the start of the original research in 2018, it was already known that isothiocyanates found in cruciferous vegetables interacted with the body in a number of ways. A previously well-researched interaction was the activation of the nrf-2 system in the body - a regulator of antioxidative enzymes produced in the body.

The original hypothesis was that this anti-oxidative effect would also be useful for people conducting intense exercise. It is well-established that antioxidants can protect muscles during intense exercise - therefore it wasn’t farfetched that oxidative stress would be decreased. In addition, due to the high bioavailability of isothiocyanates compared to other potential nrf2-activators (~75% vs 1-2%), the effect was hypothesized to be strong.

In accordance with the hypothesis, nomio’s I-6 was proven to reduce oxidative stress by on average 10% during intense exercise, supporting recovery and improving training quality.

If protection against oxidative stress was a key hypothesis for our early studies, reduced lactate during sub-max workout was less expected. The isothiocyanates present in nomio’s I-6 reduces lactate by on average 12%, during similar sub-max training tests. Lactate is the primary proxy scientists and athletes alike use for measuring physiological stress achieved during exercise and correlates strongly to performance. By producing a lower amount of lactate, for a fixed training session, all else equal, the body will recover faster, allowing you to tolerate more training.

Today, many of our most famous endurance athletes use lactate daily as an indicator of what intensity they should train at. By having lactate spike only moderately during training, they can optimize the intensity of their training without risking overtraining or injuries.

In tandem with lowered lactate, we have also seen improved blood glucose regulation. Especially during periods of intense exercise, many athletes experience long periods of very low blood glucose (<4 mM) during nighttime (hypoglycemia).

Through some combination of 

(1) reduced oxidative stress or 

(2) shifted substrate utilization from glucose to lipids
the mean glucose levels are increased during intense exercise. The exact combination of these effects are still unknown.

More importantly, improved glucose-levels are highly associated both with athletic performance and enhanced recovery after exercise, suggesting that isothiocyanates support improved performance with athletes. This effect is even more pronounced in cases of long training sessions at threshold, or during long periods of intense exercise.