Sarcosine: Benefits, Side Effects, Best Time to Take It & More

Sarcosine

(Methylglycine)

Evidence: High
Possible Benefits: Reasonable
Safety: High

What is sarcosine?

Sarcosine is a non-essential amino acid and a product of glycine. As a supplement, it is sometimes used for reducing symptoms of schizophrenia and improving cognition. This article is about the main benefits of sarcosine, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.

What does sarcosine do for the body?

Since sarcosine is a non-essential amino acid, you do not need to consume it to survive. It can be synthesized from glycine.

Sarcosine enhances NMDA receptor (NMDAR) function by inhibiting glycine uptake. This can result in promising anti-schizophrenic and anti-depressive effects.

Possible benefits

All of the potential benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. Generally, the higher the dose, the more pronounced the effects are. However, they do reach a plateau at a certain point. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.

Major benefits

Reduced symptoms of schizophrenia – Sarcosine is about as effective as glycine for reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia. However, it is much more practical than glycine for this purpose because glycine can only reduce symptoms of schizophrenia when taken at extremely high doses (800+ mg/kg/d). This dose seems too impractical and may not be safe to take in the long term.

Minor benefits

Improved cognition – In people who get enough glycine and aren’t schizophrenics, sarcosine is unlikely to have a notable effect on cognition.

Possible side effects

These side effects are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.

Amino acid imbalance – Essential and non-essential amino acids should be kept in balance as they act synergistically in many ways. Too much of one amino acid can sometimes cause side effects if there isn’t enough of another amino acid. For example, this principle applies to glycine and methionine, lysine and arginine, and the BCAA trio. There are many other proven and unproven examples. Food or a protein powder is usually a better choice for getting enough amino acids unless you have a specific goal in mind targeted by a particular amino acid/s.
Toxicity – While acute toxicity has never been reported, taking high amounts of sarcosine could lead to chronic toxicity and cause some health problems. To prevent chronic toxicity, it is best to stay below 3 grams a day unless you have a great reason to take more.
Contamination – Contaminated supplements are uncommon in the USA and other well-regulated countries. However, if you wish to buy products from China, India, or other countries without strict regulations, beware that the supplements may be contaminated. Either way, you need to choose the brand you order from wisely. It is highly recommended to check the certificates or read through some reviews for the specific product before you buy it. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has the power to regulate dietary supplements but can only do so after they have been on the market for a while. That’s because supplement companies are not obligated to announce to the FDA when releasing a new product on the market. The FDA has to discover the product and test it for potential impurities, which can take a lot of time. During that time, the supplement can be sold on the market even if it’s impure. Also, supplement companies can change their manufacturers without announcing it to the FDA.

Who should not take sarcosine?

You should probably avoid taking the supplement if you:

get enough glycine from food
experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the amino acid
are on a tight supplement budget (since there are more cost-effective supplements on the market for most people)

Who will benefit the most?

You should consider taking the supplement if you:

suffer from schizophrenia
consume very little protein (less than 0.3 grams/pound of body weight)

How much sarcosine should you take?

Since this amino acid can be synthesized in the body from glycine, you may already get sufficient amounts without taking it as a supplement. About 0.36 grams of protein/pound of body weight should generally be enough to prevent any symptom deficiency.

If you plan to take sarcosine as a supplement, 2 grams appears to be the best daily target for most people. This amount should provide most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.

Schizophrenics may benefit from doses higher than 2 grams.

The upper safety limit for sarcosine is not well-established. To stay on the safe side, don’t take more than 3 grams daily unless you have a great reason to do so. Higher amounts may cause problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.

Best time to take sarcosine

Like most other amino acids, sarcosine is water-soluble, so you don’t have to take it with food to absorb it well. Taking the supplement with food is better if it causes stomach upset when you take it on an empty stomach.

Whether you take sarcosine in the morning or the evening doesn’t matter much. Unlike glycine, sarcosine doesn’t seem to notably improve sleep quality.

If you practice time-restricted eating, take this amino acid during your eating window to guarantee it won’t break your fast.

Unless it feels too impractical, spread the daily dose into 2+ smaller doses throughout the day.

Interactions

Other amino acids
Essential and non-essential amino acids should be kept in balance as they act synergistically in many ways. Too much of one amino acid can sometimes cause side effects if there isn’t enough of another amino acid. For example, this principle applies to glycine and methionine, lysine and arginine, and the BCAA trio. There are many other proven and unproven examples. Food or a protein powder is usually a better choice for getting enough amino acids unless you have a specific goal in mind targeted by a particular amino acid/s.
Clozapine
Clozapine (Clozaril) is used to help treat schizophrenia. Sarcosine may decrease the effects of Clozapine and thus shouldn’t be taken with the drug.

Where to buy sarcosine

Amazon is the best option for ordering sarcosine supplements in most countries. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the internet.

Beware some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.

FAQ

You can take the amino acid daily and do not need to cycle it. However, it is certainly not a problem if you don’t take it daily. Not taking the supplement every once in a while could lead to better absorption. That is yet to be proven or disproven.

All of these options are fine. The two most important things to consider are the price and dosing. Powders are almost always the cheapest form. However, you may need a highly accurate scale to dose them correctly (preferably 0.001g). You can get one for as little as $20 from Amazon. Dosing the powders also takes some time that can add up over months or years. The disadvantage of capsules is that they often contain bovine gelatin, which rarely comes from an ethical source.

Yes. Most amino acids, including sarcosine, absorb and digest well if you take them before falling asleep.

This amino acid should not become harmful once it exceeds the expiration date but can lose potency over time.

Keep the supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place, and it should remain just as potent for many months or even years.

While toxicity is rare, too much sarcosine in the system can cause some health problems, often related to causing an imbalance in other amino acids. It is best to stay below 6 grams a day to prevent these side effects.

You may need more of this amino acid if you:
– eat very little protein (less than 0.3 grams/pound of body weight)
– suffer from schizophrenia

The half-life of sarcosine in the body is about 1 hour. This amino acid stays in your system for a few hours after you consume it.

In the long term, you need to take the supplement for about 2-4 weeks to begin noticing the benefits.

You can easily find vegan-friendly sarcosine pills and powders but always check the label to be sure. If you buy the amino acid in a capsulated form, beware that the capsules often contain animal-based gelatin. Instead, find a brand that puts its products into cellulose capsules.

Like most other amino acids, sarcosine is water-soluble, so you don’t have to take it with food to absorb it well.

Unfortunately, there is not enough scientific data to know for sure. Higher doses of sarcosine might break your fast and lower its benefits to some degree, especially if you are fasting to activate autophagy. If you practice time-restricted eating, take this amino acid during your eating window so it doesn’t break your fast.

References

Most of the information provided in this guide is supported by scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything said in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.

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