tuneTypical Dose
Common daily dose in sports-nutrition trials
Fatty Acid
Phosphatidic Acid
Phosphatidic acid
Evidence TierDWADA NOT PROHIBITED
watchEffect Window
Training-adaptation effects accrue over weeks.
check_circleCompliance
WADA NOT PROHIBITED
Overview
Clinical Summary
Phosphatidic acid has a plausible mTOR mechanism, but the human literature is small, product concentrated, and not strong enough to support it as a reliable hypertrophy supplement.
Phosphatidic acid is one of the more mechanistically hyped muscle-building supplements because of its mTOR story. A small number of trials have reported favorable changes in muscle thickness or strength during resistance training, but the evidence base is narrow and concentrated in a few products and investigator groups. A scoping review concluded that the overall evidence remains equivocal and does not support phosphatidic acid as a dependable performance or body-composition supplement.
Phosphatidic acid is proposed to support mTOR signaling and anabolic signaling during resistance training, but human evidence remains limited.
Outcomes
What This Is Expected To Influence
Primary Outcomes
- Mixed evidence for training-related lean mass and strength
Secondary Outcomes
- Evidence is limited, equivocal, and product concentrated
Safety
Contraindications and Interactions
Contraindications
No entries provided
Side effects
- Mild GI upset
Interactions
No entries provided
Avoid if
- You are expecting strong anabolic effects from a lightly studied supplement
Evidence
Study-level References
pa-SRC-001Randomized controlled trial
Sourceopen_in_newHoffman JR, et al. Effects of phosphatidic acid supplementation on muscle thickness and strength in resistance-trained men. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0162-5. PMID:28177725.
Population: Resistance-trained men.
Dose protocol: 750 mg daily during 8 weeks of resistance training
Key findings: One small randomized trial favored phosphatidic acid for some muscle-thickness and strength outcomes during supervised training, but the dataset was limited and product specific.
Notes: Important positive trial, but too small to outweigh the broader equivocal evidence base on its own.
Paper content
This is the strongest direct phosphatidic-acid training trial. It supports a possible small hypertrophy and strength benefit, but the literature is still limited and concentrated in a few labs and branded products.
pa-SRC-002Scoping review
Sourceopen_in_newTeixeira FJ, Tavares N, Matias CN, Phillips SM. The effects of phosphatidic acid on performance and body composition - a scoping review. J Sports Sci. 2022;40(3):364-369. doi:10.1080/02640414.2021.1994769. PMID:34706625.
Population: Young and older men across six phosphatidic-acid studies published between 2012 and 2019
Dose protocol: Review of available oral phosphatidic-acid studies
Key findings: The scoping review judged the evidence equivocal and concluded that current studies do not support phosphatidic-acid supplementation to improve performance or body composition in young or older men.
Notes: Best confidence-setting review because it prevents overreading the smaller positive trials.
Paper content
This scoping review screened the phosphatidic-acid literature and analyzed six studies published from 2012 to 2019. Three studies showed no effect on lean body mass, while a few suggested possible benefits for body composition or performance. One of the apparently positive studies included other potentially anabolic ingredients, making it impossible to isolate the phosphatidic-acid effect. The authors concluded that the evidence remains equivocal and does not support phosphatidic-acid supplementation to improve performance or body composition in young or older men.