Best phosphatidylserine supplement

We checked eight brain supplements and eight single capsules that contain phosphatidylserine, and these five findings matter most if you're buying.

• Most stacks give a third of the studied dose

  Five of the eight give 100 mg (Mind Lab Pro, Qualia Mind, Hunter Focus, NeuroQ and BrainPill), a third of the 300 mg a day most of the trials used.¹²⁴

• Four stacks don't say where their PS comes from

  NeuroQ, BrainPill and Alpha Brain print no source, and Hunter Focus prints no form at all.

• Three labels don't give you the PS figure

  Double Wood's "300 mg, standardized to 20%" is 300 mg of soy extract, and the maker's own lot report measured 65.5 mg of PS a serving.⁸ Transparent Labs prints 200 mg of SerinAid at 70%, which is 140 mg of PS. Alpha Brain Black Label prints 200 mg from SerinAid without saying which of the two it means, so we can't confirm its PS.

• Most single capsules hold 100 mg

  Five of the eight single capsules give 100 or 150 mg of PS a serving, so you'd take two or three a day to reach 300 mg.^1213141516 Only Nutricost's four-capsule serving and NOW's 300 mg softgel get there as printed.¹⁰¹¹

• The best trial used a form you can't buy

  The clearest result came from bovine-cortex PS, which is no longer sold.¹ Of the soy trials, one found nothing at 300 or 600 mg, and in another the placebo group improved as much overall.²³

Nutricost's capsules hold 100 mg of sunflower PS each, so three give the 300 mg most trials used, and they're the ones we'd choose, though Nutricost publishes no lab report. NOW's soy softgel holds 300 mg in one, also with no lab report.

We also audited Double Wood Phosphatidylserine and don't recommend it. It scores 3.9 out of 10, because its label's 300 mg is a soy extract standardized to 20%, and the maker's lot report measured 65.5 mg of PS a serving.⁸

We also audited five capsules with 100 or 150 mg of PS a serving, a third or half of the 300 mg the trials used, so none makes the picks. Thorne Phosphatidylserine scores 4.9 out of 10, Nootropics Depot Smart PS 4.9, Jarrow PS 100 3.8, Doctor's Best Phosphatidylserine 3.8 and NOW's soy-free capsule 5.0.^1213141516

This table ranks the audited brain supplements that contain phosphatidylserine, with the amount each one gives, its form, and what each formula costs for the studied floor.

Each cost is the brain supplement's full daily price, scaled to 300 mg of phosphatidylserine as a fraction of a serving, not a dose to take. It doesn't tell you what the PS alone costs. If PS is why you're buying, three Nutricost capsules give you 300 mg for 67 cents.¹⁰ NOW's softgel has all 300 mg in one, for $1.30.¹¹ Double Wood's capsules are listed under NSF/ANSI 173, but the listing names the label's 300 mg, and the maker's lot report puts the PS at 65.5 mg a serving.⁹⁸

Phosphatidylserine is worth considering only if you're older and have noticed memory slips. The trials that found a benefit ran 12 to 15 weeks at 300 mg a day, and even then it's a weak bet for memory. The best result used a bovine form you can't buy, and the soy trials found no clear benefit over placebo.¹²³

Phosphatidylserine, or PS, is a fat found in cell membranes and made from soy or sunflower lecithin for supplements.

FDA permits a qualified health claim for PS, but requires a warning that the research is very limited and preliminary. Its wording is "there is little scientific evidence supporting this claim".⁷

PS-DHA joins PS to the omega-3 fat DHA. In a 15-week trial, 300 mg a day improved immediate verbal recall, with more gains in people who already scored well.⁴ Most bottles contain soy or sunflower PS, which is a different material.

It suits an older adult with memory complaints who wants to try a supplement with a long safety record and can judge it on something concrete after three months. It doesn't suit someone looking for a quick effect, because no trial here tested one.

Double Wood's label says not to take PS if you're pregnant, nursing or under 18.⁸ For the full regulatory view, FDA's qualified health claim letter for phosphatidylserine is the most complete public assessment, and it concludes there's little scientific evidence for the claim.⁷

The trials tell you how much phosphatidylserine to look for on a label, and how long they gave it.

Study dose benchmark

300 mg a day

Most-studied dose

300 mg a day, usually 100 mg three times a day

Length of the trials that found a benefit

12 to 15 weeks

Most trials used 300 mg a day. The bovine trial split that into 100 mg three times a day.¹²⁴ The only 100 mg arm was in Kato-Kataoka 2010, and it didn't beat placebo overall, so we check every label against 300 mg.³

The trials that found a benefit lasted 12 to 15 weeks.¹⁴ Soy PS at 300 and 600 mg a day for 12 weeks showed no safety problems in older adults.⁶

Our evidence grade for phosphatidylserine rests on the human trials, the positive ones and the ones that found nothing.

ModerateThe best trial used a bovine form that's no longer sold. The soy trials found no clear benefit over placebo, and FDA calls the evidence very limited and preliminary.

The controlled trials used three different materials, and that matters when you're choosing a bottle.

Crook 1991 is the study most labels rely on, but its result came from bovine-cortex PS.¹ When soy PS was tested, Jorissen 2001 found no difference from placebo on any outcome at 300 and 600 mg.² In Kato-Kataoka 2010, every group improved, including the people taking placebo.³

Another soy study didn't have a placebo group.

Richter 2013 found improvements in memory measures over 12 weeks. With no placebo group, though, we can't separate those changes from practice and expectation.⁵

These are the ingredients phosphatidylserine most often sits next to in brain supplements, and what the evidence says about each pairing.

• CiticolinePreliminaryNext to PS in Mind Lab Pro, Qualia Mind, Hunter Focus, Transparent Labs Cognition, BrainPill and Alpha Brain Black Label. No trial of the pair.
• Lion's Mane MushroomPreliminaryNext to PS in Mind Lab Pro, Qualia Mind, Hunter Focus and Alpha Brain Black Label. No trial of the pair.

In the brain supplements we audited, PS sits next to citicoline, bacopa and lion's mane in the memory formulas. We found no trial of PS with any of them.

16 sources cited

1. Crook TH, et al. Effects of phosphatidylserine in age-associated memory impairment. Neurology, 1991. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 2027477
2. Jorissen BL, et al. The influence of soy-derived phosphatidylserine on cognition in age-associated memory impairment. Nutr Neurosci, 2001. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 11842880
3. Kato-Kataoka A, et al. Soybean-derived phosphatidylserine improves memory function of the elderly Japanese subjects with memory complaints. J Clin Biochem Nutr, 2010. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 21103034
4. Vakhapova V, et al. Phosphatidylserine containing omega-3 fatty acids may improve memory abilities in non-demented elderly with memory complaints, a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord, 2010. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 20523044
5. Richter Y, et al. The effect of soybean-derived phosphatidylserine on cognitive performance in elderly with subjective memory complaints, a pilot study. Clin Interv Aging, 2013. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 23723695
6. Jorissen BL, et al. Safety of soy-derived phosphatidylserine in elderly people. Nutr Neurosci, 2002. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 12385596
7. US Food and Drug Administration. Qualified health claim, final decision letter, phosphatidylserine and cognitive dysfunction and dementia, 2003 (updated 2004). Agreed disclaimer "Very limited and preliminary scientific research suggests... FDA concludes that there is little scientific evidence supporting this claim." Archived copy read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. FDA letter
8. Double Wood Supplements. Phosphatidylserine 300 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label, price, refund policy and the maker's lot certificate (lot 2520601, Brand Nutraceuticals, phosphatidylserine 65.5 mg against a 54 to 75 mg specification). Accessed Oct 21, 2026. doublewoodsupplements.com
9. NSF/ANSI 173 dietary supplement listings, Double Wood. Phosphatidylserine. Accessed Oct 20, 2026. NSF listing
10. Nutricost. Phosphatidyl Serine (Soy Free) capsules, product page, Supplement Facts label and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. nutricost.com
11. NOW Foods. Phosphatidyl Serine Extra Strength 300 mg softgels, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and returns policy. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. nowfoods.com
12. Thorne. Phosphatidylserine, product page, Supplement Facts label and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. thorne.com
13. Nootropics Depot. Smart PS softgels, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and lot report from Omnient Labs, a lab Nootropics Depot founded. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. nootropicsdepot.com
14. Jarrow Formulas. PS 100 softgels, product page, Supplement Facts label and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. jarrow.com
15. Doctor's Best. Phosphatidylserine with SerinAid 100 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. doctorsbest.com
16. NOW Foods. Phosphatidyl Serine Soy-Free 150 mg veg capsules, product page, Supplement Facts label and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. nowfoods.com