Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a supplement I've been very curious about. I guess I'm intrigued since I'd wager I have higher than average levels of cortisol to begin with, owing to job stress, gotta finish that dissertation, so on. I suspect reducing my cortisol levels would be of great benefit. And I'm not exactly the yoga type.
Problem is that the research showing the beneficial effects of PS on atheletes (Monteleone, et al, 1992) used pretty high doses (800mg/day), and the stuff is not cheap to begin with.
I saw some more recent research (abstract below) showing that doses as low as 300mg improved subjective assessments of mood -- though I don't know if cortisol was blunted at these doses.
So I'm wondering...
1. What's the lowest does of PS you think would achieve a significant blunting of cortisol response to exercise?
2. Does it matter whether you use soy-PS or bovine-PS?
Nutr Neurosci 2001;4(3):169-78
The influence of phosphatidylserine supplementation on mood and heart rate when faced with an acute stressor.
Benton D, Donohoe RT, Sillance B, Nabb S.
Department of Psychology, University of Wales Swansea, United Kingdom. [email protected]
There have been previous reports that supplements of phosphatidylserine (PS) blunted the release of cortisol in response to exercise stress and that it improved mood. The present study extended these observations by considering whether PS supplementation influenced subjective feelings of stress and the change in heart rate when a stressful mental arithmetic task was performed. In young adults, with neuroticism scores above rather than below the median, the taking of 300mg PS each day for a month was associated with feeling less stressed and having a better mood. The study for the first time reports an improvement in mood following PS supplementation in a sub-group of young healthy adults.
PMID: 11842886 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Problem is that the research showing the beneficial effects of PS on atheletes (Monteleone, et al, 1992) used pretty high doses (800mg/day), and the stuff is not cheap to begin with.
I saw some more recent research (abstract below) showing that doses as low as 300mg improved subjective assessments of mood -- though I don't know if cortisol was blunted at these doses.
So I'm wondering...
1. What's the lowest does of PS you think would achieve a significant blunting of cortisol response to exercise?
2. Does it matter whether you use soy-PS or bovine-PS?
Nutr Neurosci 2001;4(3):169-78
The influence of phosphatidylserine supplementation on mood and heart rate when faced with an acute stressor.
Benton D, Donohoe RT, Sillance B, Nabb S.
Department of Psychology, University of Wales Swansea, United Kingdom. [email protected]
There have been previous reports that supplements of phosphatidylserine (PS) blunted the release of cortisol in response to exercise stress and that it improved mood. The present study extended these observations by considering whether PS supplementation influenced subjective feelings of stress and the change in heart rate when a stressful mental arithmetic task was performed. In young adults, with neuroticism scores above rather than below the median, the taking of 300mg PS each day for a month was associated with feeling less stressed and having a better mood. The study for the first time reports an improvement in mood following PS supplementation in a sub-group of young healthy adults.
PMID: 11842886 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]