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Many runners are taking a new collection of supplements these days. They chug the same broccoli shots, pour the same pink powders into their water bottles and guzzle the same weird hydrogel from the same clear containers shaped like a cat food bowl.
As a competitive runner, I’ve always been open to the idea of using legal supplements to help me run faster. I’ve tried things such as beetroot, caffeine and creatine, only to come to the conclusion that their potential advantages pale in comparison to the benefits of steady, consistent training, a balanced diet and good sleep. As Kiana Gibson, a high-level runner and registered dietitian, puts it, supplements are at the top of the performance pyramid: a tertiary add-on compared to foundational needs such as consuming enough calories, eating the right balance of carbs, proteins, fats, and getting essential vitamins and minerals.
If anything, I’ve grown skeptical of the effectiveness of purported magic pills and potions over the years. But lately, a few trends have caught my eye. I can’t remember a time when so many people at the top of the sport appeared to have reached consensus about which supplements to use. So, for some recent key workouts and races, I tried three popular options. Here, I break down what they’re supposed to do and my experience with them.
Note: If you are interested in trying these supplements or others, it’s recommended you talk to a dietitian first.
Maurten Bicarb System
The science:
The active ingredient in Maurten Bicarb System is bicarbonate. Yes, baking soda: The same thing my mom uses to fluff up her carrot muffins. When taken by itself, baking soda is incredibly hard to digest. As Gibson puts it: The baking soda combines with stomach acid to produce the same eruption as your science fair volcano, leading to diarrhea, bloating and abdominal pain.
Maurten’s Bicarb avoids that by nesting the bicarbonate tablets inside of a sweet hydrogel, which slows the baking soda’s release, allowing much of it to be digested in the small intestine rather than in the stomach and (mostly) preventing GI disasters. Gibson suggests a preventative measure against digestive issues: Take three quarters of the dose in the beginning, or split the dose in half and wait 30 minutes before ingesting the second part.
It is meant to be taken before high-intensity efforts and works by helping the body delay lactate buildup, which is responsible for the burn you feel when running hard: So it’s most effective in those middle-distance races where that buildup comes quickly, such as the mile or the 5k. You’ll be paying approximately $25 a pop (they come in packs of four for about $100). Luckily, cheaper, comparable alternatives, such as Flycarb, are now hitting the market.
My experience:
Bicarb, despite its slimy texture, was easy to slurp down (right out of that container shaped like a tiny cat-food bowl). I tried it four times in the past two months – twice before hard runs and twice before races. Its effects only kicked in after 90 minutes, when I felt a faint tingling in my quadriceps and hamstrings. Despite the high concentration of baking soda, I felt no gastro-intestinal discomfort.
Whether or not it works is up for debate. A 2024 Sports Medicine Journal study has shown it can improve cycling performance. My workouts on Bicarb were smooth, whereas I had mixed results in races – during one, my legs became tired even earlier than usual, while another was my best race this year. So, I’ll call it three for four, which, in the world of supplements, is pretty good.
Nomio
The science
Nomio – distributed in packs of four, 60-millilitre shot bottles – is made from concentrated broccoli sprouts, lemon and sugar. The sprouts contain natural compounds called isothiocyanates, which activate a system in your body called NRF2. This system boosts natural antioxidants. Gibson said the idea appears sound: When we exercise, we put our body under a lot of stress, and antioxidants help it recover. Best of all, there’s no reason to worry about side effects.
Nomio’s marketing material says it also primes the body for exercise and makes the body more resilient to fatigue, leading to less muscle damage, better recovery and 12 per cent less lactate buildup (that figure has not appeared in a peer-reviewed journal).
Gibson points out that early studies around Nomio tend to be co-authored by members of the company, so it warrants more research. “It’s still quite unproven compared to something like caffeine, which has thousands of studies pointing to its efficacy.”
My experience:
Nomio tasted like a vegan jungle juice: tart and bitter, with a lingering kick of broccoli burps. I learned to gulp it fast – in two shots – between bites of food. That said, I’ve kept taking it because it has yet to disappoint me.
According to the company, Nomio should be consumed three hours before an intense effort and also shortly afterward. I had it before the best race of my year and before three key running workouts. Each time, I enjoyed A+ runs. And, yes, it’s highly possible that I felt the placebo effect, but I have become so bullish on it that I chug it just in case. I do not take Nomio before easy efforts or after my races – at nearly $10 a bottle, I prefer to reserve it for key moments.
High-carb mixes
The science:
Save for a few misguided low-carb fads, running and glucose-rich foods have historically gone hand in hand. But recently, there is a renewed curiosity around carb-maxxing: training the gut to take more carbohydrates during sport to maximize performance without succumbing to an emergency bathroom break.
A high-carb mix from Momentous.Supplied
Products are also improving. Gibson said that technologies such as hydrogels, products with thinner textures and, especially, those with the right mix of glucose and fructose make high-carb intake more tolerable at race intensity. New carb mixes by brands such as Maurten, SiS and Skratch Labs strike a balance and deliver up to 120 grams of carbs per serving without causing stomach issues. That’s a meaningful shift. More fuel means you can maintain pace longer, especially late in races.
To an extent, the body also needs to train its way to absorbing that many carbs. So, Gibson said it would be wise to start with a milder carb supplement (one that delivers, say, 60 grams), and work upwards.
My experience:
Here, I am struggling. I come from the bowl-of-cereal-before-a-run school, which typically amounts to about 50 grams of carbohydrates – enough to feel prepared, though perhaps not optimized. For this experiment, I swapped that out for Skratch Labs’ super high-carb mix, packing in 100g of carbs before heading out the door.
The adjustment wasn’t seamless. Taken within an hour of running, it left me burping and waiting for my stomach to settle. Part of the challenge is structural: My races rarely last longer than an hour, which limits the upside of aggressive prefuelling. A marathoner or ultrarunner, working over a longer horizon, may benefit more from sustained carbohydrate intake.
The verdict
The very last part of my experiment: trying all three on a race day, which is what I did before Toronto’s High Park Beneva Spring Run Off 8k: Nomio three hours before the race with breakfast, Bicarb 90 minutes before start time and the high-carb mix shortly afterward. The race went well and I ran a personal best time on that course. Best of all: no emergency bathroom breaks.
