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Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a phospholipid found in high amounts in the brain. Our brain cells need PS to maintain fluidity and permeability and to efficiently fire signals to one another.
As a nootropic, phosphatidylserine is shown to boost focus, improve memory, reduce symptoms of the ADHD, and blunt the stress response.
However, more and more research shows that PS’s doesn’t just offer cognitive support. Its benefits extend into the realm of physical & sports performance as well. PS is shown to inhibit cortisol, a stress hormone that effectively kills your natural testosterone production. (4)
Being the only nootropic with a FDA-qualified health claim, PS shows a lot of promise in regards to optimizing male health across all areas. Here’s the full scope of benefits it offers:
Physical Benefits
- Reduces exercise-induced stress
- Promotes healthy anabolic hormone levels by inhibiting cortisol
- Improves sports performance
Mental Benefits
- Improves thinking & cognitive function
- Reduces impulsive behavior, concentration problems, and other symptoms of ADD
- Reduces psychological stress
How Phosphatidylserine Works
Energy Metabolism
As a phospholipid, PS is found in every cell of your body. But, it’s most concentrated in your brain tissue. PS increases the efficiency of glucose (blood sugar) uptake in your brain.
When the brain has a constant and steady supply of glucose, it works better.
In addition to its effects on glucose metabolism, PS is also a vital structural component of every neuron in your brain. It makes up the outer layer of your brain cells and about 15% of your brain’s total phospholipid pool. (13)
Stress Response
What’s more, PS helps balance cortisol levels. When you’re under stress, the adrenal glands pump cortisol to deal with the situation more efficiently.
However, chronic stress causes the adrenals to overproduce this hormone, which desensitizes your hypothalamus and hippocampus to the effects of cortisol.
This leads to a vicious cycle where the cells downregulate their response to cortisol, which makes your adrenals produce even more of the hormone. And when cortisol runs the show, testosterone levels crash.
Phosphatidylserine brings back balance to this response by re-sensitizing your body to cortisol. In the process, your testosterone is able to grow back into a healthy range. (4, 14)
Why Phosphatidylserine?
Phosphatidylserine is included in Centrapeak because of its critical importance for brain health and mood.
The modern man is constantly faced with stress nowadays. Keeping stress levels low ensures that you’ll not only feel good but look great as well. Which is precisely what phosphatidylserine helps with.
As a phospholipid, PS is used in the building and repairing of your brain cell membranes. PS also protects your healthy brain cells from the collateral damage of toxic neurons when they die. (15)
Phosphatidylserine also optimizes neurotransmitters. These include dopamine and serotonin, which are known to be essential for a happy mood, motivation, and cognitive well-being.
Dopamine, in particular, is a hormone that drives you to succeed. Be it at work, in your personal projects, or in the gym.
Phosphatidylserine is also known to aid brain cell regeneration, and as such, it can promote neurogenesis.
Last but not least, your brain uses PS to create myelin sheath. This is a type of fat that encases your nerves and helps with the transmission of signals from neuron to neuron.
Phosphatidylserine is a driving ingredient behind Centrapeak‘s body and mind formula – supporting health & performance across all boards.
Centrapeak’s Premium Phosphatidylserine
- Delivered in eco-friendly pullulan capsules for healthy absorption
- Produced in a cGMP facility
- Highly effective dose of 100mg per serving
Phosphatidylserine & Brain Health
Due to its unique roles in brain function, PS has been shown to offer a wide variety of cognitive & mental benefits.
Alleviates Stress
In a clinical study with 80 people, PS was able to reduce cortisol and Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which regulates cortisol release following a stress test. (5)
Other research shows that PS, combined with omega-3s, normalized cortisol and ACTH levels in chronically stressed people. (6, 7)
What’s more, phosphatidylserine can also directly improve your mood. This was shown in a study with stressed young volunteers who experienced improved calmness & well-being after taking phosphatidylserine. (8)
Helps Counteract Mental Decline
Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease are linked to the accumulation of amyloid plaque in the brain, which prevents healthy neuron communication. Studies show that PS works to inhibit beta-amyloid build-up, which may help slow down the progression of the illness. (1)
A clinical study of 51 people with Alzheimer’s showed that phosphatidylserine reduced their symptoms and improved cognitive function. (2) 300mg of PS per day also improved dementia symptoms and behavior in another clinical trial. (3)
Improves Focus and Overall Mental Performance
Whether you want to improve your focus in the gym or crush it at work, PS can help with both.
Studies show us that PS works regardless of age, even in children. It significantly reduced ADHD symptoms of 236 children in a clinical trial – showing how it can be a powerful aid for boosting your focus and reducing impulsivity. (9)
In two other clinical trials with 227 adults, phosphatidylserine was able to increase memory and other aspects of cognitive performance, further indicating that PS is an all-around brain health supplement. (10, 11)
How Phosphatidylserine Boosts Your Testosterone
For a long time, scientists knew that cortisol and testosterone don’t like each other.
When you’re psychologically stressed (work, family, finances, etc.) or physically stressed (exercise, physical labor), too much cortisol can hamper your body’s ability to make testosterone.
Your diet and exercise both play a fundamental role in creating an environment where the androgen hormone can thrive.
But there’s a third factor that naturally controls excess cortisol, and boosts testosterone as a result: supplements like phosphatidylserine.
In essence, Phosphatidylserine keeps your T levels in a more youthful range by (4):
- Reducing the endocrine response to psychological, or exercise-induced stress.
- Preventing the spikes in serum levels of cortisol and ACTH.
The Research
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, healthy young males took either PS or a placebo pill.
After 10 days of supplementation, their cycling-induced increases in serum cortisol levels were significantly reduced by phosphatidylserine. By contrast, the placebo group’s cortisol levels remained high after exercise.
However, what was most surprising was that pre-exercise testosterone levels of the PS group were about 37 percent higher than the placebo group’s. (12)
As a result of findings like these, PS has become a more and more popular addition to sports performance supplements. Benefiting everyone from regular gym goers to endurance athletes.
Centrapeak Stack Strategy: Phosphatidylserine + Rhodiola Rosea For Crash-Free Energy and Resilience to Stress
Phosphatidylserine is often linked with cognitive benefits, but emerging science shows it can also boost competitive cognition in sports. PS reduces stress levels and allows room for testosterone to grow, leading to improved physical performance.
Rhodiola Rosea belongs to adaptogens, a group of nootropics known to strengthen the mind and the body. What separates Rhodiola from the rest, however, is its unique ability to enhance energy levels – by optimizing neurotransmitters and stress hormones. Russian athletes have been traditionally using Rhodiola in competitions, as the herb can boost the body’s adaptation to exercise.
Together in Centrapeak, the ingredients PS and Rhodiola work in concert to protect the body from stress while giving you the energy to perform at your best.
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Scientific References
- Phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine-containing liposomes inhibit amyloid-beta and interferon-gamma-induced microglial activation. (source)
- Effects of phosphatidylserine in Alzheimer’s disease. (source)
- A double-blind randomized controlled study of phosphatidylserine in senile demented patients. (source)
- The effects of phosphatidylserine on endocrine response to moderate intensity exercise. (source)
- Effects of soy lecithin phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylserine complex (PAS) on the endocrine and psychological responses to mental stress. (source)
- A soy-based phosphatidylserine/ phosphatidic acid complex (PAS) normalizes the stress reactivity of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal-axis in chronically stressed male subjects: a randomized, placebo-controlled study. (sources)
- Omega-3 fatty acids administered in phosphatidylserine improved certain aspects of high chronic stress in men. (source)
- The influence of phosphatidylserine supplementation on mood and heart rate when faced with an acute stressor. (source)
- The effect of phosphatidylserine administration on memory and symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. (source)
- Soybean-Derived Phosphatidylserine Improves Memory Function of the Elderly Japanese Subjects with Memory Complaints. (source)
- Effects of phosphatidylserine in age-associated memory impairment. (source)
- Phospholipids and sports performance. (source)
- Phosphatidylserine and the human brain. (source)
- The influence of phosphatidylserine supplementation on mood and heart rate when faced with an acute stressor. (source)
- Apoptotic PC12 cells exposing phosphatidylserine promote the production of anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective molecules by microglial cells. (source)