Every week, I review the latest sports nutrition and exercise research to understand what the findings mean for athletes. This week, a small placebo-controlled trial tested whether capsiate, a compound related to capsaicin in chili peppers, could help athletes perform repeated cycling sprints.
The study
Capsiate is a non-pungent relative of capsaicin, meaning it doesn't produce the same burning sensation.
Researchers recruited 11 physically active men, with an average age of 25, for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Each participant completed both conditions: capsiate and placebo. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew which treatment was being given during testing.
The men took 12 mg of capsiate or a placebo 45 minutes before completing:
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Ten maximal cycling sprints
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Six seconds per sprint
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Thirty seconds of recovery between efforts
Researchers measured sprint performance, fatigue, how the different energy systems contributed, and how efficiently muscle activity translated into output. They also assessed perceived exertion and readiness to invest effort.
The results
Capsiate did not significantly improve repeated-sprint performance compared with placebo.
Total work and fatigue index were statistically similar between conditions. Researchers also found no significant differences in energy system contribution, neuromuscular efficiency, perceived exertion, or readiness to invest effort.
That means this trial found no clear benefit from taking 12 mg of capsiate before this particular sprint session.
It doesn't prove that capsiate has no effect under every circumstance. With only 11 participants, the study cannot reliably rule out a small benefit. It also tested a single dose, rather than regular supplementation.
At the time of the November 5 research review, the paper was an accepted manuscript awaiting its final version. The abstract did not report effect sizes, limiting how precisely we can judge the differences between treatments.
Why it matters
Ingredients related to capsaicin appear in pre-workout and thermogenic supplements, where claims about energy, power, and fatigue can sound appealing.
For cyclists and hybrid athletes, the useful question is whether an ingredient improves the type of effort you're training for.
In this test of repeated, short cycling sprints, capsiate didn't demonstrate that benefit. The result gives athletes a reason to be cautious about paying for it specifically to improve repeated-sprint performance.
My thoughts
Eleven participants and one dose aren't enough to settle the question. But a well-controlled trial finding no clear benefit is still useful information.
I'd want more convincing evidence before making capsiate a regular part of an athlete's supplement routine.
When you're deciding what to take, ask whether the research matches your goal, whether the benefit has been repeated across studies, and whether it's large enough to matter.
A plausible explanation for how an ingredient might work is a starting point. What matters is whether athletes actually perform better when they take it.
If improving repeated high-intensity efforts is your goal, I'd put creatine ahead of capsiate. Creatine has a much stronger body of evidence supporting that type of performance when taken consistently.
That's where Blonyx HMB+ Creatine fits. Its creatine component helps increase muscle creatine stores, supporting the rapid energy supply used during short, intense efforts. This trial didn't test creatine or our product, but the broader research gives athletes a stronger reason to consider it.