5 ms·

Drink green tea, it obliterates the side effects via L-theanine, while still providing the necessary energy boost

ta988 4y ago
There is really little evidence of L-theanine being responsible of that outside of some papers that used doses in the gram range for adults (their minimal dose was 20mg/kg in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22285321/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22285321/). Some other papers showed that the effects were due to polyphenols that could slow the absorption of caffeine. But one should be careful with polyphenols in academic research as you will always find a paper that says "polyphenol X can do Y". We know that polyphenols cause artifacts in many kind of bioassays and they are rarely taken into account.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
  I mean, compared to caffeine alone, if you take a bunch of L-theanine and caffeine, you can literally feel the difference. With high doses of caffeine, the effects of the L-theanine are strikingly obvious. All the anxiety and jitter just fades away. I also agree with what you're saying, though. The levels of L-theanine in green tea are way, way lower than the supplements I use, and I've literally never noticed any similar effects by drinking green tea, but I do think it's possible that the effects do persist at such low doses even if it's harder to measure and not as blatantly obvious. There's probably a reason Buddhist monks choose to drink it - they're far more in tune with their mental state at any given moment and are much more likely to notice very subtle effects on their consciousness.
- ac130kz 4y ago
  I don't get a rush after green tea, compared to when I take in similarly dosed caffeine with energy drinks. That's what matters
fellowniusmonk 4y ago
yaupon tea has by far the cleanest energy of any naturally caffinated beverage but supposedly it also has the highest l-theanine content as well. I've only found it in north america. The tannins in regular tea are too much for me.

There is really little evidence of L-theanine being responsible of that outside of some papers that used doses in the gram range for adults (their minimal dose was 20mg/kg in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22285321/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22285321/). Some other papers showed that the effects were due to polyphenols that could slow the absorption of caffeine. But one should be careful with polyphenols in academic research as you will always find a paper that says "polyphenol X can do Y". We know that polyphenols cause artifacts in many kind of bioassays and they are rarely taken into account.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
I mean, compared to caffeine alone, if you take a bunch of L-theanine and caffeine, you can literally feel the difference. With high doses of caffeine, the effects of the L-theanine are strikingly obvious. All the anxiety and jitter just fades away. I also agree with what you're saying, though. The levels of L-theanine in green tea are way, way lower than the supplements I use, and I've literally never noticed any similar effects by drinking green tea, but I do think it's possible that the effects do persist at such low doses even if it's harder to measure and not as blatantly obvious. There's probably a reason Buddhist monks choose to drink it - they're far more in tune with their mental state at any given moment and are much more likely to notice very subtle effects on their consciousness.
ac130kz 4y ago
I don't get a rush after green tea, compared to when I take in similarly dosed caffeine with energy drinks. That's what matters

fellowniusmonk 4y ago

yaupon tea has by far the cleanest energy of any naturally caffinated beverage but supposedly it also has the highest l-theanine content as well. I've only found it in north america. The tannins in regular tea are too much for me.