Those tiny green Nomio shots popping up in World Tour riders' Instagram stories aren't just hype—they contain broccoli sprout extract that appears to genuinely improve how your body absorbs hard training. We dive deep with the physiologist behind the science to understand how isothiocyanates activate a cellular pathway called Nrf2, and then design a real-world testing protocol to find out if it actually works for you.
Key Takeaways
- Nomio's active ingredient is broccoli sprout extract (80%) stabilized to prevent degradation—it activates Nrf2, a master regulator that tells your body to increase antioxidant defense and produce more mitochondria, similar to how hard training works.
- The supplement works best when you're already training hard; elite athletes report better results than recreational cyclists, and more isn't always better—there's an optimal dose with diminishing returns if you take too much.
- Study findings show reduced lactate at the same workload and better power output in athletes taking isothiocyanates during hard training blocks, but independent peer-reviewed replication is still underway.
- Individual response varies significantly; what matters most is testing it on yourself using standardized sessions (back-to-back hard efforts) while monitoring HRV, sleep, and perceived recovery to see if it works for your body.
- Mental stress and lifestyle factors directly impact physical recovery—wound healing slows during exam stress and stage races, meaning Nomio's benefits might be amplified when you're juggling high cognitive load alongside hard training.
- One shot taken 3 hours before your session and one before bed on consecutive hard training days is the suggested protocol; multiple repetitions over weeks reduce daily noise and reveal true individual response.
Expert Quotes
"It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you know for sure it just isn't so."
"If you're untrained or you don't have any training stimulus in the body, the response is smaller. The more fit the person is and the harder they train, the better the response."
"When you train really hard and get the placebo, the training was too hard. But when they got the isothiocyanates, they adapted better to the hard training, could tolerate it better, and the outcome was lower lactate and better power production."