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Supplement · Grade B

Phosphatidylserine and medications.

Not yet catalogued in the Distil interactions database. We surface that distinction explicitly.

Phosphatidylserine is in the Distil supplement database, evidence Grade B. The page below lists every medication we have explicitly assessed it against.

Phosphatidylserine is a phospholipid that sits in the membranes of brain cells, where it helps signalling between neurons. We no longer recommend it for memory or cognition, and the reasoning is worth setting out, because that is exactly what it is usually sold for. Its usual warrant is an FDA qualified health claim, which is the weakest tier that regulator grants and whose own standard wording concedes the evidence behind it is limited and inconclusive. That is a regulatory position rather than a trial result. Among the randomised trials we reviewed for this compound, not one tested the soy or sunflower product you can actually buy, on its own, in adults, and found a benefit on its main measure. In Kato-Kataoka 2010, the one soy trial in adults, memory scores rose in every group including placebo, and the improvement in delayed verbal recall showed up only in people who started with lower scores, measured against their own baseline rather than against placebo. The oldest positive trial, Crook 1991, used a form made from bovine brain that is no longer sold, rather than the soy or sunflower product you can buy. A third trial tested phosphatidylserine combined with omega-3, so it cannot tell you what phosphatidylserine did on its own. A 2025 trial of sunflower phosphatidylserine on its own found no difference on any of its main or secondary measures, and its participants were children. If you already take it this is not a safety concern, and nothing here is a reason to stop in a hurry; it is a reason not to start for this purpose. Two further claims often made for it are not supported by our records: none of the studies we cite measured cortisol, so there is nothing behind the claim that it blunts the cortisol rise after exercise, and a 2026 trial in children with ADHD found it did not improve attention or hyperactivity, though it did reduce some difficult behaviours, so it is not a stimulant substitute. On interactions, it pairs well with omega-3 for membrane integrity, and it carries only a negligible blood-thinning effect, safe at 300 to 400mg even alongside other antiplatelet compounds. Take it in the morning or midday; later doses can disturb sleep.

We have not yet completed an explicit assessment of medications for Phosphatidylserine in the Distil interactions database. We surface this distinction deliberately: the Distil checker tells you when we have explicitly assessed a pair and when we have not, because both are useful information. If you take Phosphatidylserine alongside a medication, the checker below will surface anything already in our database, and the missing-item form at the bottom of the page routes uncatalogued pairs into our next curation pass.

What this list does not say. Pairs not flagged here are not implicitly safe. They are either not yet in our database, or fall outside our inclusion scope. Use the checker below to surface any medication, and submit a missing item if you take something we have not catalogued.

Database last updated 2026-09-05. Free for everyone. No account, no paywall. · Browse coverage A-Z

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For adults over 18. This tool gives evidence-graded information, not medical advice. Always discuss changes with your GP or pharmacist, especially if you take any medication, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a serious health condition.
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How we decide

How we grade severity, choose what's in scope, and what we exclude.

Every call on this page is reasoned. We publish the full rubric for severity tiers, the medication inclusion logic, the evidence grades we accept, and what we deliberately leave out. About three thousand words. Worth reading once if you use this tool more than occasionally.

Read the full methodology
The full report

A full supplement review, built around you, not a generic stack.

The free checker answers one interaction question at a time. A Distil report reviews the bigger picture: your goals, diet, medications, current supplements and any blood results you provide, then shows what appears worth keeping, changing, adding or leaving out.

  • what your diet already covers, so you are not adding a capsule for something food is already handling
  • which evidence-graded compounds are worth considering for your goals, and which were considered but left out
  • what to keep, change or stop from what you already take, plus the order to introduce anything new
  • how your medications and complete supplement stack fit together, with daily timing and a clear point for reassessment

The interaction check is one section of the full report. You also get the reasoning behind each recommendation and the evidence references used.

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Distil's interactions database is reviewed and updated every quarter. We grade evidence transparently and publish our methodology, including every database change, at /about/methodology. This tool is information, not a substitute for clinical judgement. If you take medication and supplements together, your GP or pharmacist can review your full regimen against your medical history. If you want a full personalised stack reasoned against this same database, the Distil report is the next step up.