![\"Pedersen](\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/cyclingimages-2025-Vuelta-Stage-15-833830-2-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n‘Our goal is that all athletes at the LA Olympics will be using Nomio’: Investigating a broccoli drink that claims to reduce lactate by 12 percent and is selling big in the WorldTour. <\/p>\n
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(Photo: Cycling Images \/ Gruber \/ Velo )<\/p>\n
Updated September 16, 2025 02:29AM<\/p>\n
If you want your kids to grow up strong like Mads Pedersen<\/a>, just tell them to drink their greens.<\/p>\n Pedersen is powering his pulverising 2025 season with \u201cperformance-enhancing\u201d broccoli extract shots that are turning the WorldTour green.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve started using Nomio,\u201d Pedersen said earlier this year on his Lang Distance<\/a> podcast. \u201cIt\u2019s broccoli. Compressed broccoli, which helps reduce your lactate.\u201d<\/p>\n Pedersen explained he fueled his classics rampage on a pre-race cocktail of Nomio, sodium bicarbonate, and Monster energy drink.<\/p>\n That vile-sounding concoction might not catch on.<\/p>\n But, according to Nomio co-founder Emil Sj\u00f6lander, Lidl-Trek<\/a>\u2018s classics-bashing, grand tour-dominating leader<\/a> is one of thousands of athletes swilling vials of his broccoli performance booster.<\/p>\n \u201cNomio has garnered an immense elite following in a very short time \u2013 only eight months from launch we estimate that 30-50 percent of elite runners and cyclists in Europe use it,\u201d Sj\u00f6lander told Velo.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re convinced by the strong data we\u2019re showing from real published research papers. But there\u2019s also a distinct feel when you take it which is highly seductive. It\u2019s not dissimilar from when you first start using carbon plate shoes or start riding a very good bike,\u201d Sj\u00f6lander said.<\/p>\n They\u2019re some bold statements.<\/p>\n Indeed, Nomio is yet another name among many in the wild west of performance supplements. Velo contacted one pro team nutritionist who theorized the broccoli sprout drink put a new meaning to the term \u201cBS.\u201d<\/p>\n But skepticism aside, there\u2019s science behind the superpowers of broccoli sprouts.<\/p>\n Isothiocyanates: The WorldTour\u2019s new super fuel? Nomio was developed over eight years by scientists at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Science and Stockholm\u2019s renowned Karolinska Institute.<\/p>\n They\u2019re the same brainiacs as who blew up the performance potential of nitrate-packed beet juice.<\/p>\n \u201cTeam Nomio\u201d boasts suitably academic backing for its cruciferous kingmaker.<\/p>\n The brand website cites studies co-authored by its founders<\/a> and an independently written paper<\/a> to back up claims of reduced lactate production, lower oxidative stress, and enhanced recovery.<\/p>\n The key headline?<\/p>\n \u201cA 12 percent reduction in blood lactate and a 10 percent decrease in oxidative stress compared to placebo.\u201d<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the secret?<\/p>\n Isothiocyanates (ITC).<\/p>\n This phytochemical is a key regulator of physical stress that\u2019s found in high concentrations in broccoli.<\/p>\n Nomio says it uses a unique strain of sprout to pack as much ITC into one of its 60ml drinks as would be found in 2.5-3kg of raw broccoli.<\/p>\n Sj\u00f6lander explained that ITC hyper-stimulates the body\u2019s antioxidant defense system to create an athletic super-boost.<\/p>\n \u201cITC activates NRF2, which makes you better at handling physical strain. And that\u2019s what endurance sports are about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cPositive effects of NRF2 activation include reduced inflammation, more stable blood sugar, and lower lactate. And they all contribute to both performance and recovery.<\/p>\n \u201cIt also strengthens the training signal. That means your body gets \u2018more motivated\u2019 to create new mitochondria,\u201d Sj\u00f6lander said, referring to the body\u2019s powerhouses of energy production.<\/p>\n A pricey placebo or a science-backed one-percenter? It all sounds too good to be true, right?<\/p>\n But the question on everyone\u2019s lips \u2013 how does it taste to swill kilos-worth of raw broccoli?<\/p>\n Well, I tried it, so you don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n Jokes aside, it\u2019s not too bad.<\/p>\n Nomio mixes lemon juice and sugar into its veggie crush. It gives a bittersweet flavor that\u2019s not great, but no worse than slugging a shot of beetroot concentrate, ketones, or sodium bicarb.<\/p>\n And what of the \u201cseductive impact\u201d of a broccoli boost?<\/p>\n I took Nomio before and after four of my most heinous recent indoor trainer workouts, per the brand\u2019s recommended dosage.<\/p>\n Sadly, I didn\u2019t start popping numbers like those of pav\u00e9-pounding Pedersen<\/a>. But supplementing with Nomio did coincide with a couple of VO2 Max sessions that felt slightly less nauseating, both during and after the workout.<\/p>\n Whether that elusive \u201cchainless\u201d feeling came from Nomio or just from good sleep<\/a>, better nutrition<\/a>, or any of the other facets of performance and recovery is another matter.<\/p>\n Lidl-Trek nutritionist Stephanie Scheirlynck told Velo she\u2019s waiting on tests being performed by her medical team before drawing a conclusion on Nomio.<\/p>\n However, she added that if Pedersen believes in the benefit, then there\u2019s no real drawback to his all-natural magic bullet.<\/p>\n Sadly for the unsponsored, Nomio isn\u2019t a placebo you\u2019d take without pause. Nomio is sold in the USA via The Feed<\/a> for $28 per pack of four.<\/p>\n The price point is equally punchy over here in the UK.<\/p>\n With the brand suggesting two shots on days of racing or intense training, it might be worth just suffering the lactate pain.<\/p>\n The use of glass bottles and a relatively short shelf life adds a further logistical blocker.<\/p>\n \u2018Our goal is that all athletes going to the LA Olympics will be users of Nomio\u2019 Nomio co-founder Sj\u00f6lander conceded the drawbacks, but pointed out that they\u2019re not deterring a bunch of the WorldTour from buying in.<\/p>\n Sj\u00f6lander shared with Velo a list of five WorldTour squads that are buying his broccoli drink in bulk, and claimed he\u2019s seeing orders from individuals on almost every other team in cycling\u2019s top tier.<\/p>\n And while Nomio doesn\u2019t boast any official team partnerships, Canada\u2019s Olympic marathoner Rory Linkletter and Swedish ultra-marathon ace Petter Engdahl join Pedersen in an armada of high-profile ambassadors.<\/p>\n Sj\u00f6lander believes this is only the start for his bitter-sweet shots.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re fairly confident that ITC will be seen as a natural hack to improving faster in endurance sports. So we haven\u2019t been surprised by the interest from professional teams once they caught up with the science,\u201d Sj\u00f6lander told Velo.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is that all athletes going to the Olympics in LA 2028 will be users of Nomio,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Will Nomio light up Los Angeles in 2028?<\/p>\n Or will it just be another natural nutrition craze a la beets, quinoa, and cherries<\/a>?<\/p>\n The research papers \u2013 and perhaps also Pedersen\u2019s palmar\u00e8s \u2013 are strong evidence for Nomio.<\/p>\n So if you don\u2019t already, it could be time to learn to love the veggie twang of sprouts.<\/p>\n But if you choose to go without?<\/p>\n It won\u2019t matter more than following a good training program and getting a sound night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n![\"Nomio\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/nomio_splitcard_200x1200.jpeg\")
Nomio sells in 60ml shots, packaged into glass bottles. (Photo: Nomio)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/cyclingimages-2025-Vuelta-Stage-15-833830-1200x800.jpg\")
PSA: Drinking Nomio might make you faster but don\u2019t expect to suddenly start winning stages at La Vuelta. (Photo: Cycling Images \/ Gruber \/ Velo)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Z8B_8928-1200x939.jpg\")
Nomio says several WorldTour teams are bulk buying its drink, and that dozens of athletes purchase independently. (Photo: Gruber Images \/ Velo)<\/p>\n