30 replies to this topic

[Kerplunk]

Before I go about and make a purchase, I'd like to know if anyone has any valuable experience with Theanine in terms of upregulating cognitive ability and its downplay on anxiety and stress...

Any thoughts are welcome, as well as dosing schemes etc.

[dosquito]

I bought a bottle of source naturals "theanine serene" blend because it looked like a great deal. the effect is certainly mild, if not placebo.

[nito]

i bought source naturals serene with relora. It was ok, had to take 2 or 3 to feel the effect.

[chrono]

I'd do some searching; there are many experiences on the board. I've found that L-theanine works very well to provide some mild relaxation without any sedation or detriment to cognition, and I'm usually pretty sensitive to those effects. It also eliminates my caffeine anxiety almost completely.

[calengineering]

L-Theanine's calming effects through green teas may be different than from its pure form. You may want to try both. Green tea does make me more calm but at the same time more focused in though, which I prefer. I've never tried L-Theanine in itself, sorry. I'm just here to recommend Green Tea because it may help you too.

A side recommendation. L-Glutamine is great as well, and its calming effects are stronger, and I haven't found it sedative either. I'm taking it for intestinal health and assistance with muscle building while working out and it's great. Every morning and night, I take it on an empty stomach and i'd say I notice two things, 1. a slight reduction in stress/anxiety and 2. a slight elevation in mood.

[nito]

L-Theanine's calming effects through green teas may be different than from its pure form. You may want to try both. Green tea does make me more calm but at the same time more focused in though, which I prefer. I've never tried L-Theanine in itself, sorry. I'm just here to recommend Green Tea because it may help you too.

A side recommendation. L-Glutamine is great as well, and its calming effects are stronger, and I haven't found it sedative either. I'm taking it for intestinal health and assistance with muscle building while working out and it's great. Every morning and night, I take it on an empty stomach and i'd say I notice two things, 1. a slight reduction in stress/anxiety and 2. a slight elevation in mood.

Green tea contains fluoride i think. So i might stay away from it. I just bought a bottle last week and didn't know it contained this chemical. But I'm not sure whether i am willing to dumb down my brain in return of feeling a bit calmer.

[woly]

I am usually not very sensitive to supplements but I notice a fairly strong response to Theanine. I find that I am more calm, outgoing and able to process abstract ideas much easier. I dont take it often but I almost always take it before a job interview.

[calengineering]

L-Theanine's calming effects through green teas may be different than from its pure form. You may want to try both. Green tea does make me more calm but at the same time more focused in though, which I prefer. I've never tried L-Theanine in itself, sorry. I'm just here to recommend Green Tea because it may help you too.

A side recommendation. L-Glutamine is great as well, and its calming effects are stronger, and I haven't found it sedative either. I'm taking it for intestinal health and assistance with muscle building while working out and it's great. Every morning and night, I take it on an empty stomach and i'd say I notice two things, 1. a slight reduction in stress/anxiety and 2. a slight elevation in mood.

Green tea contains fluoride i think. So i might stay away from it. I just bought a bottle last week and didn't know it contained this chemical. But I'm not sure whether i am willing to dumb down my brain in return of feeling a bit calmer.

Hmm, I think I heard of that too a long time ago. Sorta forgot about that. I recently switched to flouride free toothpaste because of concerns from what I've heard about its affects on memory.

"Tea is very high in fluoride content. Fluoride in tea is much higher than the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) set for fluoride in drinking water." http://www.poisonflu...een_tea___.html

That's a shame for something so healthy to be high in flouride. I wonder if there's a sourcer that doesn't use flouride.

[calengineering]

http://ilovegreentea.com/about.html

flouride free green tea extract. tested free of many various contaminants and pesticides. it's a little bit more expensive than green tea loose leaves at 40 cents to 50 cents per cup, but contains more poly phenols. loose leaf can be about 10-20 cents. while there are certainly organic loose leaf green teas, i don't know of any that are tested to be specifically flouride free.

Edited by calengineering, 21 November 2010 - 10:05 AM.

[John Barleycorn]

http://ilovegreentea.com/about.html

flouride free green tea extract. tested free of many various contaminants and pesticides.

As far as I can tell, it doesn't claim to be free of endogenous fluoride. Another mineral to watch out for in tea is copper. OTOH, how many cups a day do you have to drink before getting up to toxic water supply levels?

Edited by John Barleycorn, 22 November 2010 - 02:08 AM.

[calengineering]

http://ilovegreentea.com/about.html

flouride free green tea extract. tested free of many various contaminants and pesticides.

As far as I can tell, it doesn't claim to be free of endogenous fluoride. Another mineral to watch out for in tea is copper. OTOH, how many cups a day do you have to drink before getting up to toxic water supply levels?

They market the product as "flouride free". I'm not familiar with endogenous flouride, but wouldn't this be included in the flouride testing?

[Kerplunk]

I hear Suntheanine is the brand name to try. Anyone else? Doses?

[zm3thod]

When I take 200mg powdered l-theanine it seems to help me sleep at night, but it is subtle. It doesn't do anything for my girlfriend

[caruga]

Tried it recently. It neither relaxed or sedated me. It made me idly "chirpy"--I started singing and whistling without even realising I was doing it, and it's something I never normally do. But the mood lift, if any, is mild, and doesn't seem to increase with dose (i've tried from 100mg to 1g). Also can't vouch for sleep-improving effects, although it's hard to tell with me since I always wake up unrested to varying degrees.

[Digital Nuro]

I hear Suntheanine is the brand name to try. Anyone else? Doses?

+1
I buy the Doctors best brand. I use it occasionally and it seems to work. Take as directed on bottle or with cup of green tea.
Reason Suntheanine is the "best" is that it doesn't contain caffeine and can be taken later in the day.
Not 100 percent on this but since regular L-Theanine or non Suntheanine supplements come from tea that made sense to me.

[Ark]

I enjoy Pilicome and L-thenine Stacked about 2 grams each with some bacopa for effect.

[Justchill]

Is the smartpowders L-theanine brand as good/pure as the suntheanine?

[houstonguy76]

I have to echo the recommendation for green tea. I started taking it last week...the L-theanine seems to have a synergistic effect w/ the caffeine. I'm not only more alert and calm with it but it also removes the "jittery/anxious" effect I get with just a caffeine boost (e.g. coffee) and there's no caffeine "crash" as the caffeine enters your system over a period of about 6 hours rather than the 30 minutes found w/ coffee. It also seems to suppress my appetite...not sure why but it's a nice perk. It also makes me a little more social and I think a bit more clearly...this may be placebo but most others experience it as well.

Try Matcha, a form of green tea but in highly concentrated green tea powder form. You get a much bigger bang for your buck so to speak because you're actually consuming the leaves. If you want to go the easy route, just take green tea extract pills...I'd avoid getting the decaffeinated versions though because you'd be missing out on any synergistic effect from the caffeine's interaction w/ L-theanine. Brewing matcha/green tea is kind of fun though so give it a whirl...

[Justchill]

Also, do you have to cycle L-theanine for addiction / tolerance?
It makes me calm, clears my head and I take it in the evening.

[Justchill]

and... up

It also seems to increase sexual libido / performance !

[EMP]

Is the smartpowders L-theanine brand as good/pure as the suntheanine?

Curious about that too. Purebulk carries it too. It all comes from China; not sure whether that's a positive thing, but then again what doesn't come from there these days.

[moleface]

The effects of L-theanine are subtle, but after having a lot of experience with this supplement recently I'm convinced it isn't a placebo.

I've had issues for years with perpetual severe anxiety and irritability. When I take l-theanine, I don't notice a pronounced mental effect(aside from a subtle dopamine boost) but I do notice that I'm far less prone to getting irritated by everyday stuff. That literally never happens on its own unless I'm on a strongly mood-altering substance.

I take 500mg sublingually twice a day - on the higher side of dosing, but well within the 1.2g daily limit.

L-theanine's effects are several notches below phenibut, but it's nice to know that it's naturally occurring and doesn't seem to carry the same problems with long term use.

Lemon balm seems to compliment it nicely and increases the effects of both substances. L-theanine is a mild GABA agonist, and lemon balm works by inhibiting the breakdown of GABA.

I should add- I've tried both Suntheanine and purebulk l-theanine, and I haven't noticed any difference in potency between the two. Tastes/looks/feels the same. I suspect that the patented form of l-theanine is largely a marketing scam.

Edited by moleface, 09 June 2011 - 07:37 PM.

[sentinel]

Theanine is one of my favourite supplements because it is one of the few I take that have a noticable and relatively fast effect. It blunts the anxiety brought on by over stimulation via coffee etc and if (like today) I suddenly find myself with a sudden change and increase in life events/workload it enables me to keep a clearer, calmer head when otherwise I might get stress-induced anger. I use the Jarrow form as they are a highly credible firm and iherb offer it cheaper than many other brands (link below). 100mg is perfectly adequate. I tried a couple of other brands including Source Naturals but didn't rate them as highly. All this is clearly very subjective.
http://www.iherb.com...psules/282?at=0

[MercuryAX]

I recently got some L-Theanine from the small bulk powder company Liftmode. It comes in a nifty little plastic container with a 200-milligram measuring scoop, as a white powder that tastes slightly sweet and mild. It is mostly fine, although there are a couple clumps that are easily broken back apart. I got it for about $12, pretty cheap for theanine (ordered two actually). Here are my observations over the last couple days of taking it:

I took about the standard dosage (again, about 200mg) dissolved in hot green tea, which itself contains some theanine. I know how I react to simply drinking green tea by itself, and I did notice a significant difference when adding more of the substance to its composition. The powder contributes to the taste of the tea significantly, giving it a much more “savory” or delicious accent to it. It went down very smooth and I felt confident that it would do something, although this would contribute to placebo. At first, I didn’t notice any effects. However, after a couple cups of this “mixture”, I noticed that I was in a much better mood than usual. I had slightly more energy, and I was much more tolerant to stress around me. I was feeling nicer, more relaxed, and I wasn’t feeling as strung out as I normally do at the end of the day. Concentration benefited a bit as well, although it could have been the caffeine in the tea. Theanine is supposed to synergize well with caffeine, however.

I’d recommend trying it dissolved in liquid, or taking it with caffeine or some other nootropic. By itself taken in capsules, I didn’t notice the same effects.

[jadamgo]

Personally, I don't like theanine very much. It makes me tired and unhappy. Fortunately, most people don't seem to react that way, especially not when it's combined with caffeine.

[krsna]

ltheanine is great stuff, but like most things the 'amazing' effects diminish over time and you can never seem to recapture them. when i first took theanine years back the effect was profound, it felt like i'd just meditated in extreme depth for two hours, i felt so at peace, calm, focused, almost godly. sadly after about a year that disappeared and has never come back. what has stayed however is enhanced creativity, stress reduction, caffeine blunting, improved sleep, the delicious taste of the powder itself. i will say though, with theanine, the worse your life is, the unhappier and more stressed out you are, the more bang for your buck you'll receive; if you are already fairly stable in life, in mood, it might not provide much of anything to you; it's a panacea for ills, but without those ills there's no relief to be experienced, so no benefit.

[Godot]

I use suntheanine from Swanson and it works great for me. It doesn't really relax me so much as it decreases the effects of stress. So no tiredness or grogginess. I also find the effect to be cumulative, building up over the first 2-3 days I take it.

[Unstoppable]

I take a gram a day split in 3 doses. One of the best anti anxiety supps with no Side effects / tolerance / addiction issues . I just buy 100g bulk powder for about 25 euros online. Cant really tell a difference with brand suntheanine caps which Ive also tried. So sticking with bulk to reduce cost.

[krsna]

I use suntheanine from Swanson and it works great for me. It doesn't really relax me so much as it decreases the effects of stress. So no tiredness or grogginess. I also find the effect to be cumulative, building up over the first 2-3 days I take it.

suntheanine is expensive, the bulk powders are just as good, this has been shown on a previous thread, you can check by the specific rotation on the coa, I have to run but perhaps if you're interested you can search the forums and find the exact reference, I believe the specific rotation should be 7.5 8.5 , to know whether you have pure l-theanine or a racemic and that almost all l-theanines produced after 2008 or so, are pure l-theanine

e: here is the other thread about this - http://www.longecity...rebulk-comment/

Edited by bowleaf, 05 April 2013 - 12:48 PM.