Mixing and Matching – taking your serine

Figuring out how much serine to take, and then taking it, are two issues we all face. I will not tell you how much to take other than point you to your healthcare provider or to legitimate medical research.

You may know how many grams you want to take per day, or it may be specified in the form xx mg/kg/day where “xx” is a number you have been told. This form specifies how many milligrams of serine to take each day for every kilogram of your weight. You can look here for a calculator and more information to determine your daily dose in grams.

Finally, you need to determine (or be told) how many times per day to take your serine. Typically you will take it two or three times a day. With this number (typically 2 or 3) and the total number of grams you need to take in a day, you can determine how much to take for each dose.

The other question is how exact you need to be. Scales that you can use to weigh serine are very easy to purchase, Amazon has many scales that will resolve to either 0.1 gram or 0.01 gram (100 or 10 mg respectively) for under $40 (some under $10). You simply put a container on the scale, hit the “tare” button (to zero out the weight of the container), add your serine, and you have the amount. You can also use a scoop, such as the one provided with your serine, and if you fill it the same amount each time, it will be close to the same amount each time. The large scoop that we include, when filled exactly level with serine, holds approximately 11.75 grams of serine.

I personally use approximately 36 grams a day for myself. I take a 1 liter water bottle (such as sold in packs of 36 at most grocery stores), I drink one gulp of it to make room, and using a funnel I add three large scoops of serine. NOTE that the water is at room temperature and this is important! If the water is too cold, the serine will not dissolve and will end up a large rock on the bottom of the bottle! If this happens, warm up the water and shake. Either way, shake well. I then add some flavoring (either some ice tea mix, lemonade mix, or squirt in some blueberry pomegranate flavor), but that is just me. The taste by itself is not bad, but nothing to look forward to either.

For my children, I measure out much more carefully. I put a small container on my scale and measure out the exact amount, then add a predetermined amount of warm water. Sometimes on colder days it will come out of solution a bit, so I either shake the container or run it under warm water.

For all of us, one day’s worth of serine is made  in the morning. I drink about a third of it when I make it, another third mid-day, and finish it in the evening. My children get five doses throughout the day, their nighttime dose is larger than the daytime doses.