A good deal of research has been done and is still being done to understand all the complex benefits of oral supplementation of phosphatidylserine.
The findings demonstrate (suggest) that phosphatidylserine is an effective supplement for combating exercise-induced stress and preventing the physiological deterioration that can accompany too much exercise. One mechanism for this is that Phosphatidylserine supplementation promotes a desired hormonal status for athletes by blunting increases in cortisol levels.
What does that mean? This supplement can help prevent muscle break-down.
What does that do for you? Well, when you want to get bigger you are basically looking at balancing two things: maximizing muscle gains and minimizing muscle losses. You see, the body regularly breaks muscle down on an ongoing basis for various reasons, including as a response to certain hormone states induced by things such as stress and intense training.
Can it help you if you lift weights? This research has shown benefits for those undergoing intense unaccustomed (progressive intensity) weight training,
including trained athletes who train in a manner that is progressive in intensity.
Many of the functions imparted by the supplementation of phosphatidylserine, and they are many (including improved mood, deceasing swelling, increasing memory, improving immune response, decreasing cortisol, decrease muscle soreness, increased training capacity, improved recovery, etc), have the potential to benefit humans
while undertaking physical exercise and during the recovery period that follows exercise.
Oral supplementation with phosphatidylserine has been reported to
positively influence perceived muscular soreness and well-being. Furthermore, oral supplementation with phosphatidylserine has been
demonstrated to improve exercise capacity during high-intensity training.
The nitty gritty: You don't need this supplement to get big. The truth is, you don't need any supplement to get big. If you are already training and have optimal nutrition practices in place, and you know how to train with progressive intensity, then this might help you to get that extra 5% out of your efforts.
The response is DOSE dependent. That means if you do not take the correct dose, the response is not observed.
That does is currently observed to be
800 mg/day. No toxicity or other safety considerations have been observed. It is currently derived from soy.
How much will it cost us? To date,
this has been a pricey supplement.
Unlike many of the common hyped overpriced supplements...this actually has volumes of research behind it. Sadly, nobody that I know of offers it in the 800 mg dose or in bulk. It is sold mostly for the memory enhancing benefits and mostly in 100 mg making it price prohibitive for most.
Watch out for the 500 mg COMPLEX which only contains 100mg. That should change soon with the newest research...unless it is perceived by manufacturers that the cost is too prohibitive to offer the product.
What can you read to learn more? Michael A. Starks, Stacy L. Starks, Michael Kingsley, Martin Purpura, and Ralf
Jäger. The effects of phosphatidylserine on endocrine response to moderate intensity
exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2008, 5:11.
Also, a good review as of 2006: Michael Kingsley. Effects of Phosphatidylserine Supplementation on Exercising Humans. Sports Med 2006; 36 (8): 657-669
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<message edited by danmirage on Friday, August 01, 2008 1:21 PM>