Over seven years of research at Karolinska Institutet (KI) and the Swedish School of Sport and Health (GIH) in Stockholm,has resulted in successful stabilisation of isothiocyanates,enabling production of a potent performance drink

Research conducted and supervised by
globally leading nutritional scientists

The group of scientists behind the research on isothiocyanates was founded at Karolinska Institute in 2009, when Filip Larsen joined as a M.Sc. student on Jon and Eddie’s groundbreaking research on nitrate.

After several years of collaboration, Filip transferred to the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), where his research has been focused on exercise adaptations and muscle physiology in elite athletes

Clinical studies show ITC (isothiocyanates) improves physical performance 

Benefits to exercise training adaptations by using ITC during periods of training overload

In a double-blinded cross-over study, the Nrf2-activating properties of ITC was shown to lead to greater training adaptations - meaning that participants who took ITC experienced faster performance improvements compared to placebo.

Headline results included a 12% reduction in blood lactate and a 10% decrease in oxidative stress compared to placebo. Read article

Acute lactate reduction 3 hours after a single dose of ITC

The latest study, published in 2025, investigated the acute effects of ITC and its dose-response relationship. The study showed that a single dose of ITC significantly reduced blood lactate during sub-maximal exercise, confirming previous research.


It was also found that the optimal ITC dose follows a U-shaped curve, with the most effective amount matching the ITC content in one nomio shot. Read article

Oxidative stress & nrf-2 activation

Reduced oxidative stress promotes improved performance

Within the research community it's long been established that isothiocyanates found in cruciferous vegetables interact 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 research 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 the research papers now published by Filip Larsen, and other independent researchers, it's becoming more clear how isothiocyanates regulate oxidative stress.

Reduced blood lactate

Lower lactate as an indication of lower physical stress

If protection against oxidative stress was a key hypothesis for early studies on isothiocyanates, reduced lactate during sub-max workout was less expected. The isothiocyanates present in glucosinolate-rich broccoli sprouts show indications of reducing lactate by 12% on average in early studies conducted by Michaela Sundquist at GIH, 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.

further research

Other research on isothiocyanates, broccoli sprouts & cruciferous vegetables

The basic properties of isothiocyanates, and the positive effects associated with ingesting broccoli and broccoli sprouts has been well documented for over 30 years. In addition to the novel research done at KI and GIH on their impact on improvements of physical adaption to intense exercise, there are indications that ITC:

(1) Prevent muscle atrophy in aging
(2) Protect against liver damage from alcohol consumption
(3) Detoxification of airborne pollutants (smog) in city dwellers

Many of today's studies on isothiocyanates refer to Sulforaphane, the most well-known strain of the group. nomio's I-6 contains a wide variety of isothiocyanate strains, with many less known varieties that we can only hope to know more about in the future.

Most important publications