REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Sport and Exercise Nutrition
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Role of Nutritional Interventions in Optimizing Exercise Outcomes and RecoveryView all 3 articles
Plant-based Supplements in Enhancing Exercise Performance and Recovery
Provisionally accepted
- 1Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China
- 2University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
- 3Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Plant-based supplements are redefining sports nutrition through their dual capacities to enhance exercise performance and accelerate recovery. The literature is based on a search of the Web of Science Core Collection (November 12, 2024) for studies on plant-based supplements and exercise, limited to those with clear mechanistic or clinical relevance. This review delineates the mechanistic roles of plant-derived amino acids, antioxidants, and bioactive extracts in modulating key physiological pathways underlying athletic performance and recovery. Specifically, plant protein formulations have been shown to rival their animal-derived counterparts in stimulating myofibrillar protein synthesis, a cornerstone process in muscle repair and growth. In addition, polyphenols (a major class of plant antioxidants) mitigate exercise-induced oxidative stress through two primary mechanisms: scavenging reactive oxygen species and modulating endothelial function. However, chronic high-dose antioxidant use may attenuate adaptive signaling pathways—such as mTOR or Nrf2 activation— critical for developing exercise-induced physiological adaptations. The review concludes with a discussion of precision dosing as a critical factor in balancing efficacy and safety, and it identifies areas in which further research is needed, including long-term safety data, inter-individual variability, and the development of synergistic phytochemical formulations. The review identifies the need for large-scale research clinical trials to validate causality, optimized delivery systems, and population-specific guidelines to address herb–drug interactions. Ultimately, this review calls for evidence-based research to be conducted on the relationship between botanical supplements and sports nutrition, with a particular emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration to unlock the translational potential.
Keywords: plant-based supplements, exercise performance, Sports Nutrition, Recovery, Antioxidants, Polyphenols, Plant protein, ergogenic aids
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 10 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiao, Liu, Cao and Yuan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xianwei Jiao, 061054@htu.edu.cn
Deng Zhong Yuan, dengzhongyuan@outlook.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.