19 replies to this topic

[aero]

I have been experimenting with a stack of 200mg Caffeine / 200mg L-Theanine. I get the most of the energy caffeine induces and a clear mind.

Study on synergy of Caffeine & L-Theanine

Has anyone else used this stack with success?

[ajnast4r]

no, but i notice that i do better in my math classes if i drink green tea... as opposed to any other caffeine source.

i actually had to stop drinking coffee & energy drinks before anything having to do with mathematics, because i noticed a significant decrease in comprehension and mental computation.

green tea doesnt have that effect.

[deekz]

l-theanine seems to antagonize caffeines effects. I've taken up to a gram of caffeine w/ 500-600mg theanine and feel absolutely nothing.

[quicksilver]

500-1,000 mg of Theanine at once has quite the relaxing and focus enhancing effect for me.

[resveratrol]

Has anyone else used this stack with success?

Yes, I've been using something like that for a while, based on reading LEF's publications on the effects of theanine. My own experience is similar to what ajnast4r recounts above -- caffeine by itself gives me energy but makes me jittery, while the jitteriness goes away completely when you combine it with L-theanine.

My "stack" consists of drinking lots of green tea, plus a couple of caffeine-laden diet pills (which usually contain some green tea extract to boot). Works great.

I suppose one could go all-out and get actual caffeine pills and L-theanine pills, but that seems like overkill; I'm not convinced you need anywhere near that level of each to achieve the desired effect.

[ajnast4r]

ive never felt anything at all from l-theanine @ doses of 100-500mg, 500mg actually gave me a headache.

green tea hits the spot, as long as im not abusing caffeine.

[zoolander]

I don't like this report at all. First of all it's best to keep below 200mg of caffeine if you want to avoid the negative side effects such as anxiety, headache, panic and insomnia.

Second, has anyone cared to look at the poster presentation (see provided link above)?

Something smells rather fishy here. The so-called study does not appear to be published in any peer reviewed journal. The design of the poster is terrible and does not provide enough information to check the validity of their results/summary/conclusion.

The graphs go from reading positive in the upper and negative in the lower from negative in the upper and positive in the lower. WTF? There are no units given and no definitions are given for the stars above some graph points. What do these stars mean?

I'm not saying that the above mentioned stack wouldn't or doesn't work but I would definiately question assumptions based on the provided poster presentation. Can someone provide a link to the actual study?

I've taken up to a gram of caffeine w/ 500-600mg theanine and feel absolutely nothing.

I hope you're watching your blood pressure on this much caffeine. I would not recommend that much caffeine to anyone

[stayin_alive]

my experience is that theanine cancels out the effects of caffeine. People were using theanine to negate the caffeine in AMP, such that they could take much larger doses of AMP (a patrick arnold formulation) and get a much better buzz from the active ingredient (at the time it was undisclosed.)

but iirc, 100 mg of theanine before drinking coffee in the morning, led to no stimulant effect at all. At first this meant I drank much more coffee attempting subcon., to get the typical coffee buzz in the am.

Over time, maybe a week or two, I found that I stopped drinking coffee - I'd make a pot, but after time I found I wouldn't drink from the cup as I once did.

Taking theanine in the morning led to me to easily get rid of coffee in my normal routine. But I wanted it back, I like the morning kick.

Theanine several times a day leads to prolonged sleep. I find the stuff interesting.

[Jiufe]

This thread caused me to do some deeper research and almost everything I found mentioned the theanine removing the "bad" (aka unpleasant) parts of caffeine and leaving a moderate boost so I did a couple trials.

1 Nano Coffee Energy Tablet
(200mg caffeine, vitamin c, niacin, b6, b12, b5, guarana, taurine)

1 Theanine Serene With Relora tablet (taurine, GABA, Theanine, Holy Basil Lead, Relora)

1 B complex (most of the B's, includes choline, inositol, PABA, passionflower, skullcap, valerian)

Together I felt very very energised. As if I had the best sleep of my life. For the first 20-30 minutes I was little out of it, like I needed a nap. But after that wore off it was straight energy for the next 6-8 hours. No jitters, clarity, focus, good comprehension.

What'r your guys' take on this stack.

[edward]

This thread caused me to do some deeper research and almost everything I found mentioned the theanine removing the "bad" (aka unpleasant) parts of caffeine and leaving a moderate boost so I did a couple trials.

1 Nano Coffee Energy Tablet
(200mg caffeine, vitamin c, niacin, b6, b12, b5, guarana, taurine)

1 Theanine Serene With Relora tablet (taurine, GABA, Theanine, Holy Basil Lead, Relora)

1 B complex (most of the B's, includes choline, inositol, PABA, passionflower, skullcap, valerian)

Together I felt very very energised. As if I had the best sleep of my life. For the first 20-30 minutes I was little out of it, like I needed a nap. But after that wore off it was straight energy for the next 6-8 hours. No jitters, clarity, focus, good comprehension.

What'r your guys' take on this stack.

sounds like an herbal/legal "speedball" of sorts, throw in some Kratom or something and you will be flying lol

Edited by edward, 25 February 2008 - 04:46 AM.

[graatch]

Put some datura in there.

[Jiufe]

Put some datura in there.

Datura is supposed to be horrible, tasting, feeling, etc. I don't want to be seeing things just want to feel really really energised. Kratom is completely legal? Can I get it in capsules or does it need to be mixed with something? Or were you just joking aobut that.

[edward]

Put some datura in there.

Datura is supposed to be horrible, tasting, feeling, etc. I don't want to be seeing things just want to feel really really energised. Kratom is completely legal? Can I get it in capsules or does it need to be mixed with something? Or were you just joking aobut that.

I was and I believe graatch was also completely joking, though it might be fun in a recreational kind of way not nootropic

[edward]

The original thought when I saw your stack was that there are so many "up" and "down" things going on that its pretty hard to evaluate it.

[Jiufe]

The original thought when I saw your stack was that there are so many "up" and "down" things going on that its pretty hard to evaluate it.

Yeah that makes sense. But given the fact that theanine somewhat disables caffeine it is actually much mellower than you might think. Not really a recreational feel either, feels natural (aside from all the tablets)

[amber2100]

My sister and i now buy a new drink called element caffeinated water that has natural caffeine and theanine. We are hooked.

[sleightly21]

Do you guys cycle l-theanine/caffiene? If so, how?

[Anewlife]

Both are present in tea and l-theanine does antagonize caffeine in some way.

[sleightly21]

As in, do you take high dose L-theanine and Caffiene i.e 400mg/200mg tds one day, then stop it for a few days after before restarting?

[Galaxyshock]

Green tea also contains EGCG which binds to caffeine and modulates it's effects.