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.

One deficiency is well documented at this time and that is 3-Phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (3-PGDH) deficiency. If you are reading this you do not personally have the deficiency, it causes rather severe mental and physical disabilities. You may be a carrier, as I am, and your children may be effected.

The dose in the literature for 3-PGDH deficiency is often cited as 600 mg/kg/day.

Treatment should start with L-serine at a dose of 400-600 mg/kg/day in four to six doses; in most of the cases, the dose of L-serine is around 600 mg/kg/day.

(that is from one such article)

Nerve pain is associated with several disorders including Peripheral Neuropathy and Fibromyalgia. I personally have found that 300 mg/kg/day eliminates all my nerve pain with no associated side effects (that is 27 grams per day, taken in three  9 gram doses). NOTE that I am not recommending, suggesting, nor advising, I am purely reporting what works for me, and actually my mom as well. Consult your doctor or other healthcare provider.

One study on peripheral neuropathy out of Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard University’s teaching hospital) concluded with “These observations … raise the prospect of l-serine supplementation as a first treatment option for this disorder,” specified “Subjects received daily supplements of powdered l-serine (mixed in water for consumption) on a low- or high-dose schedule (200 or 400 mg/kg body weight, respectively; n = 7 per group).”

There is currently a clinical study, “L-Serine Supplementation in Hereditary Sensory Neuropathy Type 1,” also at Massachusetts General Hospital that will be testing for nerve pain treatment and they will be using a dose of 400 mg/kg/day …

Drug: L-serine
400mg/kg/d L-serine or placebo divided TID for year 1, then crossover of placebo arm so that all patients on 400mg/kg/d L-serine divided TID for year 2.

Take note of the numbers. The end result of what one would take is in GRAMS not milligrams (because it is thousands of milligrams). Serine weighs approximately 4 grams per teaspoon. This would be 54 capsules a day for me if I went that route! (See our calculator.)

400 mg/kg/d for a 150 pound adult equals approximately 27 grams a day (27000 mg), about 7 teaspoons.

That should give you an idea of the doses that others are using and testing with. Again, check with your healthcare provider to see what will work best for you.

Serine, in the quantities we needed, was hard to find and expensive.

Many years later, my mother and I both were diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy. Neither of us have diabetes, we are not overweight, and have none of the usual markers. After discussing with several doctors, I experimented and found that L-Serine greatly helped both of us! I am part of a study now.

Owning a supplement company helps. Now we are selling pharmaceutical grade L-Serine, we get it direct from the manufacturer, and full assays are available if needed. We package it in the quantity you need, at affordable prices.