Lactate Gels Are Here: Did We Get Lactic Acid Wrong?

Lactate has been a villain of endurance sport for years: the "burn" you were told to avoid, the by-product blamed for fatigue. Now riders at this year's Tour de France and one of the world's best distance runners have been fuelling with gels that contain lactate on purpose. Endurance athletes are already asking whether this is the next marginal gain worth chasing, or just another expensive science experiment. Here's what's actually going on.

I've written before about strategies to reduce lactic acid build-up. It's since been brought to my attention that using "lactic acid" as a stand-in for lactate, the way the fitness industry has for years, doesn't reflect current science. Framing lactate as the enemy is something I need to walk back.

Table Of Contents

• What Exactly Is A Lactate Gel?
• The Science: Why Lactate Isn't The Enemy
• Lactate Gels At This Year's Tour De France
• What This Could Mean For Endurance Athletes
• Where Does Nomio Fit In?
• The Science Is Emerging: What Do We Actually Know?
• Where I Got It Wrong
• Key Takeaways

What Exactly Is A Lactate Gel?

A standard energy gel relies on carbohydrates, usually glucose and fructose. A lactate gel adds exogenous lactate alongside that carbohydrate. The idea is that lactate is absorbed through its own transporters, so it could act as a parallel fuel source rather than competing with carbs for absorption in the gut. It's a similar concept to exogenous ketones as an "alternative fuel".

Current products pair around 90g of carbohydrate with roughly 10g of lactate per gel. Enervit C2:1PRO Lactate Gel Mix contains 90g of carbohydrate, with 10g of sodium lactate. Dosing plans vary by brand, and no peer-reviewed study has yet tested a commercial lactate gel for performance.

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Lactate supplements aren't new. "Polylactate" drinks were tested on cyclists back in the early 1990s. They helped hold blood pH steady but didn't improve endurance performance ¹,². What's changed is formulation: newer products are designed to be more palatable and easier on the gut at higher doses.

The Science: Why Lactate Isn't The Enemy

Here's the myth that needed correcting first: lactate doesn't cause the burn. During hard exercise, the acidity you feel comes mainly from hydrogen ions released as your muscles break down energy (ATP) at a high rate. Producing lactate actually uses up hydrogen ions, so it helps limit acid build-up rather than causing it ³.

Lactate, meanwhile, is a genuine fuel source.

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This isn't new science. Research on the "lactate shuttle", led by physiologist George Brooks, showed that muscle, heart and brain tissue can burn lactate directly for energy. Lactate can also be recycled into glucose by the liver, and acts as a signalling molecule that may help drive training adaptations ⁴,⁵. The heart in particular readily burns lactate for fuel during exercise, taking it up through dedicated transporter proteins called MCTs ⁴.

Lactate Gels At This Year's Tour De France

At the 2026 Tour de France, lactate fuelling became one of the most talked-about topics in the peloton. Tadej Pogačar's team revealed that a lactate gel mix from Enervit was part of his nutrition strategy, developed with team performance staff over two seasons.

The interest isn't limited to cycling. At the 2026 London Marathon, Yomif Kejelcha ran 1:59:41, the fastest marathon debut in history. His fuelling plan paired paired carbohydrate with a lactate gel, adding roughly 200 mmol of lactate per hour ⁶.

These are exciting stories, but they're real-world use at the elite level rather than controlled trial data. Even sports scientists working in pro cycling describe the research on lactate in elite athletes as still in its early days.

What This Could Mean For Endurance Athletes

Cycling tends to be where new fuelling ideas get road-tested first, but runners and triathletes are watching closely too.

For athletes racing 90 minutes or more, the appeal is clear. An extra fuel stream that doesn't add to the gut's carbohydrate load could, in theory, help delay fatigue in the closing kilometres. The key words are "in theory": that idea hasn't yet been confirmed in trained athletes.

What we do know is that carbohydrate remains the fuel that decides how well you race. A lactate gel is a carbohydrate gel first, with lactate on top.

Where Does Nomio Fit In?

Lactate gels and Nomio work at opposite ends of the same system. Lactate gels add fuel: they supply extra lactate for your body to burn. Nomio works on production. Its broccoli sprout compounds (isothiocyanates) switch on your body's own antioxidant defences. That may help your mitochondria (your aerobic "engines") work more efficiently, so less lactate is produced at the same effort.

Lower lactate here isn't about removing a "toxin". It's a sign your aerobic system is doing more of the work.

Bottom line → Lactate gels give your engine more fuel, while Nomio aims to help it run more efficiently. Both are promising, but neither replaces good carbohydrate fuelling.

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In a small 2023 study, 9 days of broccoli sprouts during intense training reduced oxidative stress, lowered lactate during submaximal exercise and improved time to exhaustion ¹⁵. A 2026 study found that a single dose slightly lowered lactate but didn't improve performance ¹⁶.  Both studies were small and used prepared sprouts, not the Nomio shot itself ¹⁵.

The Science Is Emerging: What Do We Actually Know?

Lactate gels are one of the newer innovations in sports nutrition, and like many emerging products, the research is still catching up. Lactate's role as a fuel inside the body is well established. The evidence for drinking it to boost performance is still growing.

So far, results are mixed:

• A 2024 randomised crossover trial in 15 recreational exercisers found a calcium and magnesium lactate supplement (about 19 mg/kg) didn't change VO₂peak, lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold. It did improve average power in a 20-minute time trial by about 4% ⁷.

• A 2024 study in trained cyclists found calcium lactate raised blood bicarbonate slightly during a two-hour interval ride, but didn't improve time-trial performance ⁹.

• Earlier studies suggest benefits are most likely in short, very hard efforts where acid build-up limits performance  ⁹,¹⁰, with little effect in longer, steadier efforts  ²,¹¹.

• Gut comfort matters. Some studies using lactate salts have reported gut symptoms, which is why testing any lactate product in training first is important ⁸,¹².
  
  

This doesn't mean lactate gels don't have a place in sports nutrition. It means we should interpret the current evidence carefully. Ongoing research will help clarify which athletes, events and situations benefit most.

Where I Got It Wrong

In previous articles, I've talked about "reducing lactic acid build-up" as a strategy for better performance and recovery. That language wasn't malicious. It's the shorthand the entire fitness industry has used for decades. But it does misrepresent what's actually happening in the muscle.

Lactate itself was never the problem. The burning and acidity we all blamed on "lactic acid" come mainly from hydrogen ions released as your muscles break down energy (ATP) at a high rate. Producing lactate actually uses up hydrogen ions, so lactate helps limit the acid build-up rather than causing it ³.

That distinction matters because it changes the goal. Instead of treating lactate as something to suppress or clear as fast as possible, the more accurate picture is that lactate is a fuel your body is constantly producing and reusing. Trained athletes get better at shuttling and burning it, not just tolerating it  ⁴,⁵.

The strategies I've previously recommended still hold up: carb timing, warm-ups, active recovery and buffering agents. But the reasoning behind them needs updating. They work by supporting how your body produces, moves and uses lactate, and by managing acidity, not by getting rid of a "toxic" by-product.

This isn't a new discovery. It's a correction that has been in the exercise physiology research for decades, since Brooks' lactate shuttle work overturned the old fatigue model. It's just taken a while to filter down into mainstream sports nutrition messaging, including my own ⁴,⁵.

Key Takeaways

• Lactate isn't the fatigue villain → the burn comes mainly from hydrogen ions released during rapid energy breakdown, and producing lactate actually uses them up  ³.
• The lactate shuttle is real science → muscle, heart and brain can burn lactate directly for fuel, a mechanism established long before gels existed  ⁴,⁵.
• Lactate gels are being used at the top level → at the 2026 Tour de France and in Kejelcha's record London Marathon debut, but that's real-world use, not controlled trial evidence ⁷.
• The research is still early → controlled trials so far show mixed results, with the clearest benefits in short, very hard efforts ⁷⁻¹¹. Lactate isn't among the performance supplements recognised in the IOC's consensus statement ¹³.
• Nomio works differently → it doesn't add lactate. ITCs from broccoli sprouts activate your body's own antioxidant defences, which may help you produce less lactate at the same effort. Early studies show lower lactate but limited performance evidence so far ¹⁵,¹⁶.
• Fundamentals still win → dial in carbohydrate intake, hydration and proven aids like nitrate or bicarbonate first ¹³,¹⁴, then see if lactate gives you an edge.

Ash Miller
Dietitian and Nutritionist (Masters)
Bachelor of Physical and Health Education
Instagram: @ashthomo_nutrition

References

1. Fahey TD, Larsen JD, Brooks GA, Colvin W, Henderson S, Lary D. The effects of ingesting polylactate or glucose polymer drinks during prolonged exercise. Int J Sport Nutr. 1991;1(3):249-56.

2. Swensen T, Crater G, Bassett DR Jr, Howley ET. Adding polylactate to a glucose polymer solution does not improve endurance. Int J Sports Med. 1994;15(7):430-4.

3. Robergs RA, Ghiasvand F, Parker D. Biochemistry of exercise-induced metabolic acidosis. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2004;287(3):R502-16. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00114.2004

4. Brooks GA. Cell-cell and intracellular lactate shuttles. J Physiol. 2009;587(Pt 23):5591-600. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2009.178350

5. Brooks GA. Lactate as a fulcrum of metabolism. Redox Biol. 2020;35:101454. doi:10.1016/j.redox.2020.101454

6. Marathon Handbook. The lactate gel behind Yomif Kejelcha's 1:59 marathon debut is coming to market [Internet]. 2026 [cited 2026 Sep 28]. Available from: https://marathonhandbook.com/the-gel-behind-yomif-kejelchas-record-marathon-debut-is-coming-to-market/

7. Ewell TR, Bomar MC, Brown DM, Brown RL, Kwarteng BS, Thomson DP, et al. The influence of acute oral lactate supplementation on responses to cycle ergometer exercise: a randomized, crossover pilot clinical trial. Nutrients. 2024;16(16):2624. doi:10.3390/nu16162624

8. Bordoli C, Varley I, Sharpe GR, Johnson MA, Hennis PJ. Effects of oral lactate supplementation on acid-base balance and prolonged high-intensity interval cycling performance. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2024;9(3):139. doi:10.3390/jfmk9030139

9. Van Montfoort MC, Van Dieren L, Hopkins WG, Shearman JP. Effects of ingestion of bicarbonate, citrate, lactate, and chloride on sprint running. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004;36(7):1239-43.

10. Morris DM, Shafer RS, Fairbrother KR, Woodall MW. Effects of lactate consumption on blood bicarbonate levels and performance during high-intensity exercise. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2011;21(4):311-7.

11. Peveler WW, Palmer TG. Effect of magnesium lactate dihydrate and calcium lactate monohydrate on 20-km cycling time trial performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2012;26(5):1149-53.

12. McCarthy SF, Bornath DPD, Tucker JAL, Hazell TJ. Oral sodium lactate ingestion does not increase blood lactate concentrations and is accompanied by moderate-to-severe gastrointestinal side effects. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2024;137(5):1279-84. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00536.2024

13. Maughan RJ, Burke LM, Dvorak J, Larson-Meyer DE, Peeling P, Phillips SM, et al. IOC consensus statement: dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(7):439-55. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2018-099027

14. Jones AM. Dietary nitrate supplementation and exercise performance. Sports Med. 2014;44(Suppl 1):S35-45. doi:10.1007/s40279-014-0149-y

15. Flockhart M, Nilsson LC, Tillqvist EN, et al. Glucosinolate-rich broccoli sprouts protect against oxidative stress and improve adaptations to intense exercise training. Redox Biol. 2023;67:102873. doi:10.1016/j.redox.2023.102873

16. Vinge et al. Effects of a glucosinolate-rich beverage on blood lactate during submaximal exercise. Physiol Rep. 2026;14(16). doi:10.14814/phy2.71081
    
    

Disclaimer:
The content in this blog is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always speak with your doctor or allied health team before changing your diet, exercise, or taking supplements, especially if you have a health condition or take medication. Please use this information as a guide only. Aid Station doesn't take responsibility for individual outcomes.