One thousand milligrams per day of urolithin A alongside six-weeks of regular preseason training was found to increase aerobic endurance by approximately 239 meters, compared to placebo.
In addition, players in the urolithin A group improved their jump heights by an average of 3.33 cm more than placebo.
“This pilot study is the first study to examine the effects of urolithin A (UA) supplementation on performance outcomes in soccer players over a 6-week pre-season training period,” reported scientists from the University of Newcastle (Australia) in Frontiers in Nutrition.
“In this study, through their pre-season training, players were exposed to substantial weekly workloads, including high-speed running and sprinting. Overall, the findings support the potential use and benefit of UA to enhance aerobic endurance and lower limb performance outputs when used alongside a training intervention.”
Urolithin A
Urolithin A is a compound generated by gut microflora from ellagitannins found in food such as pomegranate. The compounds are hydrolyzed in the stomach into ellagic acid, which is subsequently converted by the gut microflora into urolithin A. However, not everyone has the right microflora to be able to make the metabolite.
Life sciences company Timeline has developed a method to deliver finely calibrated doses of urolithin A. Preliminary data published in Nature Medicine indicated that urolithin A may improve mitochondrial function by stimulating mitophagy, a process by which damaged mitochondria are recycled to permit a renewal with healthy mitochondria. These potent beneficial effects have been demonstrated in several different organisms, including in human clinical trials.
Most of the data to date has focused on the ingredient’s benefits for muscle health, with clinical trials in a range of population and age groups. Results of a randomized clinical trial with 88 healthy people published in Cell Reports Medicine (2022) showed that urolithin A supplementation boosted exercise endurance and physical performance.
Timeline has commercialized its proprietary urolithin A and branded the ingredient as Mitopure. While Mitopure was used in the new study from Australia, Timeline was not involved in the trial.
Study details
The researchers recruited 20 male academy soccer players (average age of 17.5) to participate in their single-blinded, parallel-group trial. The players were randomly assigned to receive either urolithin A (1,000 mg per day, Mitopure by Timeline) or placebo during the team’s preseason training in 2024.
Results showed that aerobic endurance (measured using the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1) and jump height improved in the urolithin A group, compared to placebo, but there were no differences between the groups for sprinting speed or jump power.
Urolithin A (UA) supplementation also prevented the declined in antioxidant activity that were recorded in the placebo group.
“As the first study examining UA supplementation and training adaptation in team sports such as soccer, this study provides novel evidence supporting the use of UA supplementation as a potential ergogenic aid during the preseason phase in sub-elite academy soccer players,” the researchers wrote. “The significant improvements in aerobic endurance and CMJ [countermovement jump] performance in this study suggest UA may enhance mitochondrial efficiency and neuromuscular functions under high training loads.
“Though promising, these findings should be interpreted as an initial pilot trial in light of the study’s limitations including its limited six-week duration, and small sample size. As such future research incorporating longer interventions and more mechanistic variables to understand the underlying physiological basis are warranted.”
Source: Frontiers in Nutrition, Volume 12. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1674446. “Effects of Urolithin A supplementation on performance and antioxidant status in academy soccer players during preseason: a pilot randomised controlled trial”. Authors: A. Monsalve Acevedo, et al.
