Sesame may boost athletes' antioxidant defences — exercise does the rest

Aerobic exercise builds fitness, but hard training also generates oxidative stress, muscle damage and inflammation — the biological cost of the adaptations athletes are chasing. That has driven interest in food-based compounds that might blunt those effects without blunting the training itself. Sesame is rich in lignans and antioxidants, which makes it a plausible candidate, but plausibility is not evidence. This review asked what the human trials actually show when sesame supplementation is layered on top of aerobic training in athletes.

Following PRISMA guidelines, the authors searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CENTRAL and EMBASE up to September 2024 for randomised controlled trials in semiprofessional athletes. Eligible trials gave sesame in any form — oil, extract, capsule or whole seed — for at least four weeks, against placebo or no-supplement comparators under identical training protocols. From 290 studies initially identified, four RCTs qualified, spanning 4-10 weeks and 140 participants in total. Outcomes covered oxidative stress biomarkers, muscle damage markers, inflammatory cytokines and immune response parameters.

Sesame supplementation significantly enhanced antioxidant defences, reflected in higher levels of the enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase and of vitamins A, C and E, while the oxidative-stress marker malondialdehyde fell. The combination of aerobic exercise and sesame also improved anti-inflammatory markers, including reductions in interleukin-6 and interleukin-1β. The crucial nuance is attribution: the cytokine changes appeared to be primarily driven by the exercise itself rather than by the supplement. All the reviewed outcomes were biochemical markers, not direct measures of performance or recovery.

This review positions sesame alongside other antioxidant-rich foods being explored as adjuncts to training, and its findings are directionally consistent with that wider literature: redox markers respond to supplementation, while inflammatory signalling appears to belong mostly to exercise. With only four trials and 140 participants, the evidence is early, and it remains unknown whether shifting these biomarkers translates into faster recovery, better real-world immunity or improved performance. Larger trials with functional endpoints are the obvious next step.

If you train aerobically and are curious about sesame, this is a reason to see it as a plausible but unproven aid for the oxidative side of training stress — the antioxidant biomarker changes were consistent across the small trials reviewed. It is equally a reason not to credit the supplement with anti-inflammatory powers, since the cytokine improvements looked primarily attributable to the exercise itself. Nothing here shows sesame makes anyone recover faster or perform better; the trials measured blood markers, not results you would feel.