5 ms·

I've seen this in many places; people will take L-theanine to counteract any jittery effects of caffeine, but I never noticed anything. What L-theanine is helpf

I've seen this in many places; people will take L-theanine to counteract any jittery effects of caffeine, but I never noticed anything. What L-theanine is helpful for is going to sleep and calming one's mind.

srean 5y ago
Indeed. When I am over-caffeinated I am energized but not exactly effective. L-theanine centers my mind.
danielam 5y ago
I have. I can drink green tea (including strong matcha), which does contain l-theanine, probably daily, but I cannot drink coffee daily for more than maybe 2 weeks without experiencing adverse affects. Even one cup of coffee can leave me agitated. Supplementing coffee with l-theanine completely eliminates agitation.
- amelius 5y ago
  Can you drink cola without adverse effects? Because I can. And coffee gives me issues after a week or two. Therefore something seems wrong about giving caffeine all the blame.
  - fighterpilot 5y ago
    > And coffee gives me issues after a week or two. Have you tried drinking an equivalent amount of cola (in terms of caffeine dosage) every day for a week or two?
    - amelius 5y ago
      Yes, I think so. I drank a lot of (diet) cola at some point, like 1 gallon a day. Never got any issues similar to the ones I got from coffee.
      - bagacrap 5y ago
        A gallon of diet coke has less caffeine than one Starbucks venti drip coffee (~380mg vs ~400mg). How much coffee do/did you drink per day?
        amelius 5y ago
        Like 3-5 regular cups a day (not Starbucks). Then after two weeks even 1 cup became too much. Switching to a gallon of cola then didn't cause any problems.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - danielam 5y ago
    I don't drink soft drinks generally, and certainly not in those quantities, but I vaguely recall feeling anxious after drinking cola before. > Therefore something seems wrong about giving caffeine all the blame. Possibly, but in this case, my primary comparison is between coffee and coffee with l-theanine and that one difference by itself produces a very noticeable difference in effect. I do not know what else in coffee could be producing jitters other than the caffeine. Or what in the cola could perhaps be inhibiting the effects of caffeine.
- fighterpilot 5y ago
  Black tea is also very high in l-theanine. Regular green tea is not, but matcha (which you consume) is as well.
  - danielam 5y ago
    I can also drink black tea for longer durations than unsupplemented coffee. When I drink green tea, my typical choice is sencha, but it is not nearly as concentrated as the matcha. So I suspect the caffeine is therefore lower than my typical cup of coffee, hence the reduced agitation?
  - zamfi 5y ago
    > Regular green tea is not Not…very high? Just “regular” high?
deregulateMed 5y ago
I wish caffeine made me feel anything. I would need over 24 oz of coffee for anything. But at that point I'm pushing potentially unsafe levels.. I wish we were taught more about taking drugs. Use caffeine since it's legal, for an example. "Don't have caffeine 2 days in a row. Ask yourself if you really need the energy or are thirsty/bored. Etc...." You could apply the same to alcohol to reduce alcoholism.
- n8cpdx 5y ago
  You might have adhd. I fall into extremely high doses because a high level of stimulant use is needed to get to a “normal” baseline. Of course tolerance is also a factor. I’ve been reducing my intake, for a while it was well over 1g/day, and that wasn’t really about trying to “feel” anything.
- UI_at_80x24 5y ago
  >I wish caffeine made me feel anything. (intentionally NOT quoting the remainder of your post) The only time I ever felt anything from caffine: I was working the midnight shift. (At a service industry job, there were no customers so it was dead.) I took: 2 caffeine pills 4 coffee's 2 cans of coke It worked. I was very jittery, and had the shakes. But I survived the shift, and by the time the shift was over (7am) the sun was up, and I had a 1 hour drive to get home. I was also surprised to learn while driving Truck, that some US States outlawed caffeine pills. (Ohio) It might have been available at a drug store though, I only had access to truck stops.
tylermenezes 5y ago
I am extremely sensitive to caffeine, it makes me super jittery and I can feel my heart race. For the last 4 years I've been adding 100mg of pure caffeine powder and 125mg L-theanine to a non-caffinated morning beverage. I even had someone secretly add or not add the L-theanine without telling me for a while, so it's as well controlled as an n=1 study can be. The difference is pretty night-and-day for me, but obviously ymmv. There's a lot of genetic difference in caffeine processing, and I happen to have almost every genetic variant associated with high sensitivity I could find studied.
- bserge 5y ago
  Taurine and GABA synergize similarly with caffeine.

srean 5y ago

Indeed. When I am over-caffeinated I am energized but not exactly effective. L-theanine centers my mind.

danielam 5y ago

I have. I can drink green tea (including strong matcha), which does contain l-theanine, probably daily, but I cannot drink coffee daily for more than maybe 2 weeks without experiencing adverse affects. Even one cup of coffee can leave me agitated. Supplementing coffee with l-theanine completely eliminates agitation.

amelius 5y ago
Can you drink cola without adverse effects? Because I can. And coffee gives me issues after a week or two. Therefore something seems wrong about giving caffeine all the blame.
- fighterpilot 5y ago
  > And coffee gives me issues after a week or two. Have you tried drinking an equivalent amount of cola (in terms of caffeine dosage) every day for a week or two?
  - amelius 5y ago
    Yes, I think so. I drank a lot of (diet) cola at some point, like 1 gallon a day. Never got any issues similar to the ones I got from coffee.
    - bagacrap 5y ago
      A gallon of diet coke has less caffeine than one Starbucks venti drip coffee (~380mg vs ~400mg). How much coffee do/did you drink per day?
      - amelius 5y ago
        Like 3-5 regular cups a day (not Starbucks). Then after two weeks even 1 cup became too much. Switching to a gallon of cola then didn't cause any problems.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- danielam 5y ago
  I don't drink soft drinks generally, and certainly not in those quantities, but I vaguely recall feeling anxious after drinking cola before. > Therefore something seems wrong about giving caffeine all the blame. Possibly, but in this case, my primary comparison is between coffee and coffee with l-theanine and that one difference by itself produces a very noticeable difference in effect. I do not know what else in coffee could be producing jitters other than the caffeine. Or what in the cola could perhaps be inhibiting the effects of caffeine.
fighterpilot 5y ago
Black tea is also very high in l-theanine. Regular green tea is not, but matcha (which you consume) is as well.
- danielam 5y ago
  I can also drink black tea for longer durations than unsupplemented coffee. When I drink green tea, my typical choice is sencha, but it is not nearly as concentrated as the matcha. So I suspect the caffeine is therefore lower than my typical cup of coffee, hence the reduced agitation?
- zamfi 5y ago
  > Regular green tea is not Not…very high? Just “regular” high?

deregulateMed 5y ago

I wish caffeine made me feel anything. I would need over 24 oz of coffee for anything. But at that point I'm pushing potentially unsafe levels.. I wish we were taught more about taking drugs. Use caffeine since it's legal, for an example. "Don't have caffeine 2 days in a row. Ask yourself if you really need the energy or are thirsty/bored. Etc...." You could apply the same to alcohol to reduce alcoholism.

n8cpdx 5y ago
You might have adhd. I fall into extremely high doses because a high level of stimulant use is needed to get to a “normal” baseline. Of course tolerance is also a factor. I’ve been reducing my intake, for a while it was well over 1g/day, and that wasn’t really about trying to “feel” anything.
UI_at_80x24 5y ago
>I wish caffeine made me feel anything. (intentionally NOT quoting the remainder of your post) The only time I ever felt anything from caffine: I was working the midnight shift. (At a service industry job, there were no customers so it was dead.) I took: 2 caffeine pills 4 coffee's 2 cans of coke It worked. I was very jittery, and had the shakes. But I survived the shift, and by the time the shift was over (7am) the sun was up, and I had a 1 hour drive to get home. I was also surprised to learn while driving Truck, that some US States outlawed caffeine pills. (Ohio) It might have been available at a drug store though, I only had access to truck stops.

tylermenezes 5y ago

I am extremely sensitive to caffeine, it makes me super jittery and I can feel my heart race. For the last 4 years I've been adding 100mg of pure caffeine powder and 125mg L-theanine to a non-caffinated morning beverage. I even had someone secretly add or not add the L-theanine without telling me for a while, so it's as well controlled as an n=1 study can be. The difference is pretty night-and-day for me, but obviously ymmv. There's a lot of genetic difference in caffeine processing, and I happen to have almost every genetic variant associated with high sensitivity I could find studied.

bserge 5y ago
Taurine and GABA synergize similarly with caffeine.