Urolithin A Dosage: How Much Per Day & When to Take It

Urolithin A has been studied in humans almost entirely within a narrow window: 500 to 1,000 mg per day. This guide walks through what each dose actually showed in clinical trials, when to take it, whether food matters, and how to read a label so the number on the front means what you think it means.

The clinically studied range: 500 to 1,000 mg per day

Unlike many supplement ingredients where dosing is guesswork, urolithin A has been tested at defined amounts in controlled human trials. The daily doses used in the longer trials cluster at two points: 500 mg and 1,000 mg. Understanding what each one demonstrated is the most useful thing you can do before choosing a product.

Urolithin A is a gut postbiotic. Your body does not get it directly from food. Instead, your microbiome converts ellagitannins, compounds found in pomegranates, walnuts, and certain berries, into urolithin A during digestion. The practical problem is that only some people carry the gut bacteria needed to make meaningful amounts, and the conversion varies widely from person to person. A standardized dose in a supplement sidesteps that lottery by delivering a known quantity regardless of your microbiome. Once absorbed, urolithin A is studied for its role in supporting mitophagy, the cellular process of recycling worn-out mitochondria so cells can maintain a fresher, more efficient energy supply.

What 500 mg showed in human trials

The 500 mg dose is the lower anchor of the studied range, and it has real human data behind it. In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 88 middle-aged adults by Singh and colleagues (Cell Reports Medicine, 2022), participants took urolithin A for four months in 500 mg and 1,000 mg arms. The trial reported improvements in leg muscle strength and several exercise and mitochondrial measures, although its primary endpoint (peak power output) did not change significantly. That is an important honest detail: the results are encouraging, not sweeping.

Earlier work by Andreux and colleagues (Nature Metabolism, 2019), the first-in-human study of urolithin A, tested single doses and 28 days of daily dosing. It found urolithin A was well tolerated and reported changes in blood acylcarnitines and a muscle gene-expression signature linked to mitochondrial function at the 500 mg and 1,000 mg doses. For many people, 500 mg is a sensible starting point: it sits squarely inside the evidence and keeps the door open to increasing later.

What 1,000 mg showed, and why it is the top of the range

The 1,000 mg dose is the highest daily amount used in the multi-week and multi-month human trials. That is the real reason it is treated as the top of the clinically studied range: there is no published human trial of sustained daily doses above it, so going higher means stepping outside the evidence rather than gaining a known benefit.

Several trials used this dose. In the Liu and D'Amico trial published in JAMA Network Open in 2022 (5:e2144279), older adults took 1,000 mg daily for four months. Measures of muscle endurance, the number of contractions performed before fatigue, improved, and several blood markers linked to mitochondrial stress fell, while the primary endpoint (six-minute walk distance) was not significantly different from placebo. A 2024 randomized controlled trial in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition ran for eight weeks in resistance-trained men and looked at endurance, strength, and recovery markers. Most recently, a 2025 randomized controlled trial in Nature Aging gave 50 healthy middle-aged adults 1,000 mg daily for 28 days and reported changes in immune-cell populations and in the mitochondrial capacity of CD8+ T cells compared with placebo.

Taken together, the higher dose has been used where researchers wanted a robust effect within a relatively short study window. It is the amount SOMA HEALTH built its product around. For a side-by-side breakdown of the two doses, see urolithin A 500 mg vs 1,000 mg.

When to take urolithin A

There is no clinical trial establishing an optimal clock time, so the honest answer is that consistency matters more than timing. The human studies that reported benefits all used daily dosing sustained over weeks to months. That is the pattern worth copying: pick a time you will not forget and repeat it every day. Our article on the best time of day to take urolithin A looks at morning, evening, and workout timing in detail.

Because urolithin A is a fat-soluble (lipophilic) molecule, taking it alongside a meal that contains some fat is a reasonable default, and it also makes the habit easier to anchor. No trial has tested whether food changes its effects, so treat this as common sense rather than a rule. Splitting the daily amount is not required by the evidence (the trials generally used once-daily dosing), but it is fine if it fits your routine better.

With or without food

With food is the pragmatic default. A gummy format makes this simple, since gummies are easy to take with a meal and require no water or measuring. If you prefer taking it on an empty stomach and tolerate it well, that is also acceptable; the priority is that you take it every day.

How to read a urolithin A label

Supplement labels can make dose comparison confusing, so a few checks help. First, look for the amount of urolithin A per daily serving, not per capsule or per gummy. If a product lists 250 mg per gummy and a 4-gummy serving, the daily dose is 1,000 mg; the serving size is doing the work. SOMA HEALTH's gummies, for example, provide 1,000 mg across a 4-gummy daily serving.

Second, confirm the label refers to urolithin A itself, not to a pomegranate or ellagic acid extract that your body would have to convert. Because conversion is unreliable, a stated milligram amount of finished urolithin A is what maps onto the clinical dosing. Third, check for third-party testing, which verifies that the amount on the label is the amount in the product. For more background on the compound and the wider evidence base, see our urolithin A guide, our overview of urolithin A clinical studies, and our roundup of the best urolithin A gummies.

Who might choose the higher end

Choosing 500 mg versus 1,000 mg is a personal decision, ideally made with a healthcare provider, and neither is a treatment for any condition. People who want to stay at the top of the clinically studied range, the dose used in the endurance, sports, and immune-cell trials, often opt for 1,000 mg. Those who prefer to start conservatively may begin at 500 mg and reassess. There is no evidence that dosing by body weight improves results, since the trials used fixed daily amounts. Because urolithin A is studied for structure and function support rather than to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease, and because it is not a substitute for medical care, anyone managing a health condition, taking medication, pregnant, or breastfeeding should talk with their doctor before starting. Our urolithin A safety guide summarizes what the trials reported on tolerability. This information is educational and not a treatment recommendation; see your doctor for guidance specific to you.

Setting realistic expectations

The human trials that reported benefits ran from about four weeks to four months. That timeline is the realistic frame: urolithin A is studied as a daily, sustained input, not a same-day boost. For more on this, see how long urolithin A takes to work. The systematic review "Targeting aging with urolithin A in humans" (Hodzic Kuerec et al., Ageing Research Reviews, 2024) is candid that the human evidence is still emerging, drawn from relatively short trials with modest sample sizes. For a deeper, study-by-study look at how each dose was chosen, our research article on urolithin A dosage goes further.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This guide is educational and is not a substitute for advice from a qualified healthcare provider.