14 replies to this topic

[nooguyz]

I'm just getting into nootropics (just reading for now), and I've read that l-theanine (found in tea) and caffeine is a great combo for enhancing cognition. I drink a lot of coffee anyway, but I've read that tea doesn't contain much l-theanine, so I thought I could just buy it. But then I discovered something called "matcha", which supposedly contains "more" l-theanine.

 

So the question 1 is this: how much l-theanine does 1g of matcha contains? It's a very costly substance, so I wonder if I can actually afford it.

 

Question 2: can I drink coffee and matcha throughout the day, a cup of one, a cup of the other, etc. and get the same effect as if I was shooting a 100mg of caffeine + 200g of l-theanine (I think those are the doses) in the morning?

 

Bottom line: Whatever I do, I will be drinking coffee, cacao and cream throughout the day. From 4 cups to 10 cups a day of one or the other or a mix of both.

 

I haven't read enough about other nootropics yet, but I'm reading, and I will be posting a new thread about that soon. But if you have more advice, feel free to include it as well, it would be well appreciated.

[platypus]

You can drink a cup or two of matcha for health reason but otherwise it's easier to et your l-theanine from supplements.

[nooguyz]

You can drink a cup or two of matcha for health reason but otherwise it's easier to et your l-theanine from supplements.

I know it's easier, but I'm looking at what's cheaper, and particularly how much of matcha I would need to drink (in grams or miligrams), because if possible it would be better for health reasons. Otherwise I won't even buy it because it's so costly, I will only drink tea from time to time (rarely though), because decent tea is pretty costly as well, but a hell of a lot cheaper than matcha still.

[fntms]

One can find (online, in Chinese stores etc,...) much cheaper (and of similar quality) matcha from China now, no need to buy the super expensive Japanese stuff anymore.

[nooguyz]

One can find (online, in Chinese stores etc,...) much cheaper (and of similar quality) matcha from China now, no need to buy the super expensive Japanese stuff anymore.

You mean something like this? http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3f53a9bcea

 

And how can you be sure that it still contains theanine, and enough of it, and doesn't contain toxins/etc.? I'm only suggesting this because I've read some stuff I probably shouldn't have about potentially dangerous sources for nootropics and such, that one has to be really careful. So feel free to correct me. I'm probably wrong about this.

 

Is there a way to know how much theanine I would get from say 1g of matcha?

 

Speaking of which, also how much of caffeine I get from 1g of ground bean coffee?

 

Also, does theanine and caffeine have halflife? I usually drink my coffee slowly is why I'm asking.

Edited by nooguyz, 08 October 2015 - 03:01 PM.

[gamesguru]

I drink a liter of the bitter stuff daily.  High quality tea tends to have a near 1:1 ratio caffeine:theanine.  Not personally a fan of coffee, which has no theanine or polyphenols (though it has alkaloids/flavonoids/halthful components, I still believe tea superior)

 

See my profile btw for different sources of sublime Japanese cultivars (Senchas)

 

[nooguyz]

I drink a liter of the bitter stuff daily.  High quality tea tends to have a near 1:1 ratio caffeine:theanine.  Not personally a fan of coffee, which has no theanine or polyphenols (though it has alkaloids/flavonoids/halthful components, I still believe tea superior)

 

See my profile btw for different sources of sublime Japanese cultivars (Senchas)

 

I actually strongly prefer coffee over tea, as teas that taste good usually cost more than I can spend, and if they're bad - they taste like water or just bad. That's my experience anyway. Sometimes I do get teas that I like, and I'm willing to gulp down a cup of water-tasting tea if necessary for theamine or other useful elements.

 

I took a look at your profile - there's a lot of useful stuff there, some of which I have added to my list of "potentially interesting" things. Like Ginkgo and Bacopa. Note that I'm from Europe though, so they may not ship here (I haven't checked yet).

 

In short, I'm looking as strong (and safe) a supplement for my brain as possible, while keeping the cost very low (I'm rather poor). By low I mean up to about 40eu/year (~3.3eu/month). Coffee doesn't count because I drink it anyway. With cream. Same goes for cocoa - I drink it anyway. So we have a budget of ~40eu/year for whatever else, like theanine and tea for example. Maybe I should create a new thread for that, but I'm still reading on other stuff that may be viable...

 

Mainly I'm looking to improve my 1) short-term memory, 2) ability to concentrate and hold attention better, 3) energy (while sleeping less especially), 4) perhaps a bit of a mood improvement (been dealing with a lot of stuff lately), 5) improved reasoning, 5) creativity, 6) long-term memory. I know it's a lot, so I numbered them as to how important each is to me right now. I rated them by how much I feel my ability to do these things is diminished compared to how I was a couple or a few years ago (I'm in my 20s). Except for energy, I actually have more energy now, but I want to feel even more energetic, or more clear-headed. Also, more sleep doesn't help, I feel the same or worse if I sleep more, so that's out of the equation.

 

I think I may have expanded too much. But we'll see what happens with this thread, if it goes nowhere (as it probably should), I'll create a new thread when I will have read enough info on various stuff, I've a few hundred pages more to read, and I'm lacking concentration.

 

P.S. I can only post 5 posts a day, so I've tried putting as much info as I can.

[gamesguru]

I doubt any water-tasting tea supplies significant theanine, or polyphenols (as polyphenols are notably bitter).

 

If you check my profile, there's link to a Sencha $9/100g, so more like 7-8 euros per month.  Not sure how tight your budget is, but I consider that cheap.  And this shit is STRONG, puts hair on your back, disgustingly bitter, strong.

Also on my profile are links to Bacopa and Ginkgo, bacopa being ~$25/year, ginkgo ~$50
Bacopa + Sencha = dynamic duo

[nooguyz]

I doubt any water-tasting tea supplies significant theanine, or polyphenols (as polyphenols are notably bitter).

 

If you check my profile, there's link to a Sencha $9/100g, so more like 7-8 euros per month.  Not sure how tight your budget is, but I consider that cheap.  And this shit is STRONG, puts hair on your back, disgustingly bitter, strong.

Also on my profile are links to Bacopa and Ginkgo, bacopa being ~$25/year, ginkgo ~$50
Bacopa + Sencha = dynamic duo

That's a lot, my budget is ~100eu/month for food, so usually I've a couple of euros left each month (1eu = ~1.12usd), so that's what I was calculating for - it ends up being around 40eu (45usd)/year in the end.

 

That said, Sencha in your links isn't going to work for me unfortunately. Should I just go with theanine instead? That stuff would be around 10eu/year, so I could go with bacopa as well, but not ginkgo. Possibly something else too for the remainder of $~10 of my budget, just not sure what it could be yet - gotta read more.

[gamesguru]

Not sure theanine or bacopa which is better, probably bacopa.  I must say your budget is very constrained, and better just put the remaining $10 toward a green tea extract (which has all the benefits, besides caffeine, which you could get from cheaper tea/coffee or skip altogether as it wouldn't be affordable with theanine?)

 

That's basically my stack: green tea + bacopa, and I do recommend it to friends.

 

http://www.bulksuppl...ct-50-egcg.html
http://www.powdercit...-extract-powder

 

bacopa reminder:

http://nootropicsdepot.com/bacopa/
http://www.hardrhino...act-powder.html

[nooguyz]

Not sure theanine or bacopa which is better, probably bacopa.  I must say your budget is very constrained, and better just put the remaining $10 toward a green tea extract (which has all the benefits, besides caffeine, which you could get from cheaper tea/coffee or skip altogether as it wouldn't be affordable with theanine?)

 

That's basically my stack: green tea + bacopa, and I do recommend it to friends.

 

http://www.bulksuppl...ct-50-egcg.html
http://www.powdercit...-extract-powder

 

bacopa reminder:

http://nootropicsdepot.com/bacopa/
http://www.hardrhino...act-powder.html

Could you explain to me how the extracts work? For example, if it says I need to take 200mg or 500mg, how do I take that in extract form?

[gamesguru]

Could you explain to me how the extracts work? For example, if it says I need to take 200mg or 500mg, how do I take that in extract form?

 

Not sure I understand the question.  They work on your brain and the rest of your body in interesting ways??

 

 I have measuring spoons.  Have a glass of spring water handy.  Dump onto your tongue a pinch of bacopa [300mg] and a dash of green tea extract [350mg] (GTE is less dense), wash it down.  Do this at whatever time of day you please.

Tad = 1/4tsp

Dash = 1/8

Pinsh = 1/16

you can take even a tad of GTE, but i combine it with japenese sencha, so i already get some EGCG w/o supplements.

[nooguyz]

 

Could you explain to me how the extracts work? For example, if it says I need to take 200mg or 500mg, how do I take that in extract form?

 

Not sure I understand the question.  They work on your brain and the rest of your body in interesting ways??

 

 I have measuring spoons.  Have a glass of spring water handy.  Dump onto your tongue a pinch of bacopa [300mg] and a dash of green tea extract [350mg] (GTE is less dense), wash it down.  Do this at whatever time of day you please.

Tad = 1/4tsp

Dash = 1/8

Pinsh = 1/16

you can take even a tad of GTE, but i combine it with japenese sencha, so i already get some EGCG w/o supplements.

 

So how do I take extract? It comes in mililiters, not grams or miligrams. How much mililiters is in a gram?

[gamesguru]

Either with a scale or measuring spoon. With measuring spoons, the quantity depends on the density.  Bacopa is almost twice as dense.

1/16tsp BACOPA = 300mg

1/8tsp GTE          = 350mg

 

1/16tsp = 0.31mL

1/8tsp = 0.62mL

[nooguyz]

Either with a scale or measuring spoon. With measuring spoons, the quantity depends on the density.  Bacopa is almost twice as dense.

1/16tsp BACOPA = 300mg

1/8tsp GTE          = 350mg

 

1/16tsp = 0.31mL

1/8tsp = 0.62mL

What I'm asking is this: guides say take miligrams (mg), but extract comes in mililiters (ml). Does what you're saying applies to any extract or just bacopa? And if it's just bacopa, how do I find out how much of extract I need to take if the values are presented in miligrams? Or do I just always take it in a value of 1g = 1ml?