Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a fat-like molecule (a phospholipid) found in cell membranes. As a supplement, usually made from soy or sunflower lecithin, it is marketed for memory and thinking in older adults, where it has been tested in a few trials.
Also known as: PS, soy phosphatidylserine, sunflower phosphatidylserine.
Phosphatidylserine has no intake value or upper limit, and there is no NIH fact sheet for it. The trials below used 100 mg or 300 mg a day for 6 months. These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. FDA has allowed a qualified health claim for phosphatidylserine and cognitive dysfunction and dementia since 2003 (updated in 2004). A qualified claim means the evidence does not meet FDA's standard for an authorized health claim, and the label has to say how limited the evidence is.
In a 6-month trial of 494 people aged 65 to 93 with moderate to severe cognitive decline (Cenacchi 1993), a form of phosphatidylserine labeled BC-PS at 300 mg a day improved behavior and memory scores compared with placebo and was well tolerated. In a 6-month trial of soy-derived phosphatidylserine in 78 people aged 50 to 69 with memory complaints (Kato-Kataoka 2010), test scores rose in every group, including placebo; only people who started with lower memory scores improved on soy PS, and no side effects were seen.
These are small or older studies of specific products, and the phosphatidylserine in current supplements may not be the same form.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for phosphatidylserine that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one.
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