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Have you used PS(phosphatidylserine) ? what is your opinion about it ? Anyway it seems interesting as explained in the above study
Sports Science - An Answer To Intense Training
by Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D.
Elite athletes face a biochemical dilemma. To compete well, they must train hard. But the body reacts to intense exercise as it would to any stress--by increasing adrenal gland secretion of cortisol. Among other things, cortisol helps maintain blood glucose levels. One way it does this is by breaking down an athlete's hard-earned muscle protein and muscle mass into amino acids, which the liver then converts to glucose. Training also increases testosterone production in both men and women (women's ovaries produce small amounts of circulating testosterone). Testosterone works in opposition to cortisol and builds muscles. An athlete's challenge, therefore, is to maximize the muscle-building effects of testosterone while minimizing the muscle-wasting effects of cortisol.
Here's the problem: Chronic overtraining often creates an undesirable hormone ratio of elevated cortisol to depressed testosterone. Both cortisol and testosterone are end products of two metabolic pathways that begin with cholesterol (see figure). To favor the testosterone pathway and inhibit cortisol-induced muscle breakdown, some athletes take anabolic steroids (testosterone and its precursors) and drink carbohydrate and protein beverages Long-term use of anabolic steroids, however, can result in male infertility and increased risk of atherosclerotic heart disease, liver tumors and kidney disorders.
A Safer Option
Three recent clinical studies suggest that phosphatidylserine (PS), a phospholipid found in cell membranes and derived from soybeans or bovine cerebral cortex, may inhibit exercise-induced increases in cortisol without the side effects of anabolic steroids.
In the first study, Palmiero Monteleone, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Naples in Italy tested eight healthy, nonathletic males. The patients received an intravenous (IV) injection of either 50 or 75 mg PS or a placebo. Researchers took blood samples from the subjects before, during and after bicycling to near exhaustion. As expected, the subjects' adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)--the pituitary hormone that increases adrenal gland production of cortisol--and cortisol levels rose after exercise. Compared to the placebo trial, however, the increase was approximately 33 percent less when the men took 50 mg PS and 45 percent less when they took 75 mg PS.1
The researchers then conducted an additional experiment on nine men using an oral daily dose of 400 or 800 mg of PS or a placebo for 10 days prior to exercise. The research team found that, compared to placebo, the plasma cortisol response to exercise was about 16 percent lower for the 400 mg dose of PS and 30 percent lower for the 800 mg dose. These findings show that, in healthy people, PS can lessen the severity of the stress response to exercise.2
Thomas Fahey, Ed.D., of California State University, Chico, conducted the third and most recent trial. In this double-blind, crossover study, 11 weight-trained college students were given 800 mg of oral PS or a placebo daily for two weeks. During this time, they participated in a vigorous, whole-body weight workout four times per week--a regimen intentionally designed to overtrain them. After a three-week washout period, the athletes switched treatments and repeated the workout program for another two weeks.
During both legs of the experiment, researchers took blood samples from the athletes 15 minutes after the eighth workout. After this last workout, cortisol levels were 20 percent lower in the subjects taking PS. Also, while taking PS, subjects did not show the 20 percent drop in testosterone levels that occurred when they took the placebo. Exit interviews showed that the subjects taking PS felt better, had less muscle soreness, and their perceived exertion dropped.
Blood samples taken 24 hours after the workouts also showed that overtraining did not affect long-term elevation of cortisol levels in either group. This suggests that individuals may reach homeostasis during the 24 hours after hard training and that intense training does not cause an extended increase in cortisol levels.3 Fahey's research also indicates that 800 mg of PS may effectively suppress cortisol and diminish muscle soreness.
PS-induced cortisol reductions as reported in these studies could potentially improve muscle building and hasten an athlete's recovery after a hard workout. Cortisol can halt protein synthesis, so by dampening an exercise-induced cortisol burst, PS may also increase an athlete's post-workout uptake of amino acids.4 This, in turn, may improve the effectiveness of carbohydrate and protein powder drinks.
Outside of this effect, PS also can enhance the effectiveness of high-calorie drinks by promoting homeostasis within the body's cells. PS supports the proteins that manage cell membrane functions--nutrient entry, waste exit, ion movement and cell-to-cell communications--by literally anchoring them in the cell membrane matrix so they function optimally.5
The body can make PS, but only through a complex series of reactions that use a lot of energy. For this reason, PS is sometimes referred to as a "semiessential" nutrient--one the body cannot make in sufficient amounts in times of stress. Trace amounts occur in soy products and muscle meats, but according to rough estimates, average PS dietary intake barely amounts to more than 80 mg per day. Clinical doses range from 200 to 800 mg per day. To obtain therapeutic levels, athletes need to take supplements.
Until recently, vegetable-derived phospholipids such as lecithin contained only trace amounts of PS. Concentrated PS was available only as a bovine-derived product with potential safety problems such as "mad-cow disease." New technology has made PS commercially available in a concentrated form extracted from soybeans--a far safer source, according to toxicology studies. Human PS studies have a flawless safety record, one large clinical study going so far as to call the lack of side effects "remarkable."6 The new concentrated form of PS derived from soy phospholipids also has a history of safe use in dietary supplements and foods.
Because of the scarcity of PS in common foods, supplementing with concentrated PS will appeal to athletes engaged in intense training. Although studies have failed to uncover significant side effects, future trials involving larger numbers of volunteers should examine the effects of long-term supplementation. For now, the PS possibilities look promising.
References
1 Monteleone, P., et al. "Effects of phosphatidylserine on the neuroendocrine response to physical response in humans," Neuroendocrinology, 52: 243-48, 1990.
2 Monteleone, P., et al. "Blunting by chronic phosphatidylserine administration of the stress-induced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in healthy men," Eur J Clin Pharmacol, 43: 385-88, 1992.
3 Fahey, T.D., & Pearl, M. "Hormonal effects of phosphatidylserine during 2 weeks of intense training," Abstract submitted to national meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, June 1998.
4 Kidd, P.M. Phosphatidylserine: 7. New Canaan, Conn.: Keats Publishing, 1998.
5 Loc. cit., pp. 6-8.
6 Kidd, P.M. Phosphatidylserine (PS): A Remarkable Brain Cell Nutrient: 15-19. Decatur, Ill.: Lucas Meyer, 1995.
Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D., is an associate professor of biology at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and the author of Pyruvate (Keats, 1997). Burke is also director of sports sciences for the U.S. Cycling Team.
Sports Science - An Answer To Intense Training
by Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D.
Elite athletes face a biochemical dilemma. To compete well, they must train hard. But the body reacts to intense exercise as it would to any stress--by increasing adrenal gland secretion of cortisol. Among other things, cortisol helps maintain blood glucose levels. One way it does this is by breaking down an athlete's hard-earned muscle protein and muscle mass into amino acids, which the liver then converts to glucose. Training also increases testosterone production in both men and women (women's ovaries produce small amounts of circulating testosterone). Testosterone works in opposition to cortisol and builds muscles. An athlete's challenge, therefore, is to maximize the muscle-building effects of testosterone while minimizing the muscle-wasting effects of cortisol.
Here's the problem: Chronic overtraining often creates an undesirable hormone ratio of elevated cortisol to depressed testosterone. Both cortisol and testosterone are end products of two metabolic pathways that begin with cholesterol (see figure). To favor the testosterone pathway and inhibit cortisol-induced muscle breakdown, some athletes take anabolic steroids (testosterone and its precursors) and drink carbohydrate and protein beverages Long-term use of anabolic steroids, however, can result in male infertility and increased risk of atherosclerotic heart disease, liver tumors and kidney disorders.
A Safer Option
Three recent clinical studies suggest that phosphatidylserine (PS), a phospholipid found in cell membranes and derived from soybeans or bovine cerebral cortex, may inhibit exercise-induced increases in cortisol without the side effects of anabolic steroids.
In the first study, Palmiero Monteleone, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Naples in Italy tested eight healthy, nonathletic males. The patients received an intravenous (IV) injection of either 50 or 75 mg PS or a placebo. Researchers took blood samples from the subjects before, during and after bicycling to near exhaustion. As expected, the subjects' adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)--the pituitary hormone that increases adrenal gland production of cortisol--and cortisol levels rose after exercise. Compared to the placebo trial, however, the increase was approximately 33 percent less when the men took 50 mg PS and 45 percent less when they took 75 mg PS.1
The researchers then conducted an additional experiment on nine men using an oral daily dose of 400 or 800 mg of PS or a placebo for 10 days prior to exercise. The research team found that, compared to placebo, the plasma cortisol response to exercise was about 16 percent lower for the 400 mg dose of PS and 30 percent lower for the 800 mg dose. These findings show that, in healthy people, PS can lessen the severity of the stress response to exercise.2
Thomas Fahey, Ed.D., of California State University, Chico, conducted the third and most recent trial. In this double-blind, crossover study, 11 weight-trained college students were given 800 mg of oral PS or a placebo daily for two weeks. During this time, they participated in a vigorous, whole-body weight workout four times per week--a regimen intentionally designed to overtrain them. After a three-week washout period, the athletes switched treatments and repeated the workout program for another two weeks.
During both legs of the experiment, researchers took blood samples from the athletes 15 minutes after the eighth workout. After this last workout, cortisol levels were 20 percent lower in the subjects taking PS. Also, while taking PS, subjects did not show the 20 percent drop in testosterone levels that occurred when they took the placebo. Exit interviews showed that the subjects taking PS felt better, had less muscle soreness, and their perceived exertion dropped.
Blood samples taken 24 hours after the workouts also showed that overtraining did not affect long-term elevation of cortisol levels in either group. This suggests that individuals may reach homeostasis during the 24 hours after hard training and that intense training does not cause an extended increase in cortisol levels.3 Fahey's research also indicates that 800 mg of PS may effectively suppress cortisol and diminish muscle soreness.
PS-induced cortisol reductions as reported in these studies could potentially improve muscle building and hasten an athlete's recovery after a hard workout. Cortisol can halt protein synthesis, so by dampening an exercise-induced cortisol burst, PS may also increase an athlete's post-workout uptake of amino acids.4 This, in turn, may improve the effectiveness of carbohydrate and protein powder drinks.
Outside of this effect, PS also can enhance the effectiveness of high-calorie drinks by promoting homeostasis within the body's cells. PS supports the proteins that manage cell membrane functions--nutrient entry, waste exit, ion movement and cell-to-cell communications--by literally anchoring them in the cell membrane matrix so they function optimally.5
The body can make PS, but only through a complex series of reactions that use a lot of energy. For this reason, PS is sometimes referred to as a "semiessential" nutrient--one the body cannot make in sufficient amounts in times of stress. Trace amounts occur in soy products and muscle meats, but according to rough estimates, average PS dietary intake barely amounts to more than 80 mg per day. Clinical doses range from 200 to 800 mg per day. To obtain therapeutic levels, athletes need to take supplements.
Until recently, vegetable-derived phospholipids such as lecithin contained only trace amounts of PS. Concentrated PS was available only as a bovine-derived product with potential safety problems such as "mad-cow disease." New technology has made PS commercially available in a concentrated form extracted from soybeans--a far safer source, according to toxicology studies. Human PS studies have a flawless safety record, one large clinical study going so far as to call the lack of side effects "remarkable."6 The new concentrated form of PS derived from soy phospholipids also has a history of safe use in dietary supplements and foods.
Because of the scarcity of PS in common foods, supplementing with concentrated PS will appeal to athletes engaged in intense training. Although studies have failed to uncover significant side effects, future trials involving larger numbers of volunteers should examine the effects of long-term supplementation. For now, the PS possibilities look promising.
References
1 Monteleone, P., et al. "Effects of phosphatidylserine on the neuroendocrine response to physical response in humans," Neuroendocrinology, 52: 243-48, 1990.
2 Monteleone, P., et al. "Blunting by chronic phosphatidylserine administration of the stress-induced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in healthy men," Eur J Clin Pharmacol, 43: 385-88, 1992.
3 Fahey, T.D., & Pearl, M. "Hormonal effects of phosphatidylserine during 2 weeks of intense training," Abstract submitted to national meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, June 1998.
4 Kidd, P.M. Phosphatidylserine: 7. New Canaan, Conn.: Keats Publishing, 1998.
5 Loc. cit., pp. 6-8.
6 Kidd, P.M. Phosphatidylserine (PS): A Remarkable Brain Cell Nutrient: 15-19. Decatur, Ill.: Lucas Meyer, 1995.
Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D., is an associate professor of biology at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and the author of Pyruvate (Keats, 1997). Burke is also director of sports sciences for the U.S. Cycling Team.
