Broccoli glucoraphanin and muscle recovery after exercise
What it found
In 15 men, taking a broccoli powder rich in glucoraphanin for about a week did not change how quickly their muscles recovered after hard arm exercise.
The exercise itself caused clear muscle damage, but the broccoli supplement made no difference to strength, soreness, swelling or blood markers.
What they found
Studies in people
Muscle damage occurred
The exercise caused clear signs of muscle damage: strength dropped, soreness rose, creatine kinase increased, and muscle and tendon thickness changed. These changes were seen in the exercised arm but not the control arm.
No effect on strength
The broccoli supplement did not change how much strength was lost or how quickly it came back, compared with the placebo.
No effect on soreness
Muscle soreness increased after exercise and then eased over time, but the pattern was the same whether the men took the broccoli powder or the placebo.
No effect on swelling
Ultrasound measures of muscle and tendon thickness and echo intensity changed after exercise, but the broccoli supplement did not alter these responses.
No effect on blood marker
Creatine kinase, a marker of muscle membrane damage, rose after exercise, but the broccoli supplement did not affect its levels compared with placebo.
What the authors conclude
“Acute high-dose supplementation with glucoraphanin-rich broccoli powder prepared with hot water did not significantly alter the extent of eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage or the rate of recovery across structural, functional, biochemical, and perceptual outcomes under the conditions tested, in the absence of confirmed sulforaphane bioavailability.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that short-term high-dose broccoli supplementation reconstituted with hot water does not modulate recovery following eccentric muscle damage under the conditions tested.
- They advise that future studies should examine longer supplementation periods with repeated daily dosing, use less severe or repeated submaximal eccentric loading protocols, and consider preparations that preserve or standardize myrosinase activity to enhance sulforaphane availability.
- They state that these null findings provide critical evidence to refine intervention strategies and prevent misplaced expectations regarding the efficacy of acute glucoraphanin supplementation for recovery from severe eccentric muscle damage in untrained individuals.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see whether short-term glucoraphanin from broccoli could help muscles repair after exercise-induced damage, since it may activate the body's antioxidant defences.
Fifteen healthy men aged 18 to 35 who did not do resistance training took either a high-glucoraphanin broccoli powder (320 micrograms per day) or a placebo for about a week, then did hard eccentric exercise of the elbow flexors. They repeated the same protocol with the other supplement after a 14-day washout. Strength, soreness, blood creatine kinase, range of motion, arm girth and ultrasound measures of muscle and tendon were checked before, right after, and 48 and 96 hours after exercise.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a small study in 15 untrained men, so the results may not apply to women, trained athletes, or other groups.
- The broccoli powder was prepared with hot water, which may have reduced the formation of sulforaphane, and the actual amount absorbed by participants was not measured.
- The exercise was deliberately severe, so the findings may not reflect what happens with milder or everyday physical activity.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no personal financial relationships, consultancies, or equity interests related to this work. The Smarter Food Company (Norwich, UK) provided partial funding (unrestricted) and supplied the glucoraphanin-rich broccoli and placebo powder used as the study supplements but had no involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation, manuscript writing, or decision to submit for publication.
- Authors work at
- Lithuanian Sports University, Lithuania
The paper
- Title
- Short-Term Effects of Broccoli-Derived Glucoraphanin on Recovery from Eccentric Muscle Damage: A Double-Blind Randomized Crossover Study
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Cesanelli L, Thomas R, Mickevičius M, et al (2026). Short-Term Effects of Broccoli-Derived Glucoraphanin on Recovery from Eccentric Muscle Damage: A Double-Blind Randomized Crossover Study. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu18040710Free full textPubMed 41754227DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error