4 ms·

Any tea does, just to varying degrees, and it definitely works. This is due to a chemical called L-theanine. I never have caffeine without theanine now. Usually

Any tea does, just to varying degrees, and it definitely works. This is due to a chemical called L-theanine. I never have caffeine without theanine now. Usually I just drink a green tea alongside whatever other caffeine I have (or only drink tea). You can buy it separately but I don't see the point.

davidkopf 3y ago
If you’re lazy like me, you can buy Loud Brew, which is cold brew coffee with L-Theanine.
JohnBooty 3y ago
L-theanine Yeah! I've personally experimented (n=1) quite thoroughly with it. It truly reduces or eliminates caffeine jitters. This product is excellent for energy on the go. Caffeine and l-theanine in a single pill. I keep a few in my bag. I don't know if there's anything special about this particular product. There are other ones that may be better/cheaper. But I've gone through a few bottles of it in the past years and am pleased: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MQWJYJ3 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MQWJYJ3 You can buy it separately but I don't see the point. Well, clearly a lot of people like coffee and probably don't want to have a side of green tea with their coffee, so... you can see the point, right? =) I do buy it separately. It's dirt cheap. I stir it into my coffee. Reduces caffeine jitter. That all said, editorial time: caffeine is not awesome. It is a psychoactive substance (duh) and eventually it goes from "fun boost" to "I need this to feel normal." At least for me. I do have some every day but my goal is always to drink the smallest reasonable amount for me in order to manage my energy. Respect to people who drink 0mg.
- 0_____0 3y ago
  Was your experimentation more casual or rigorous? People take supplements but rarely take the time to even casually log perceived effects or use a self-blinded A/B study (my own lazy ass included). If you took a more rigorous approach I'm curious about your methods.
  - rwilson4 3y ago
    Out of curiosity, how do you self-blind? Do you have a friend make your coffee for you, with/without the additive?
    - tlrobinson 3y ago
      Well, you could make both types in identical cups, put labels on the bottom of the cups, shuffle the cups, drink one, record your observations and take the label from the cup you drank and stick it to your notes.
    - 0_____0 3y ago
      Assuming it's not detectable via taste I would find a way to pre-make and randomize test/control doses of the additive, and add the assigned vial for that day to my morning coffee. Biggest issue I think would be making sure that there aren't any tells like flavor or some quality of the additive.
      - JohnBooty 3y ago
        There's no taste or smell. Brew identical looking bottles of cold brew. Label the bottoms 1 through whatever. Mix them up. Label the lids A through whatever. Probably need to add some creamer to mask any possible sediment. Drink from them throughout the week. Note the lid label and your reaction. At the end of the test period look at the bottoms of the bottles to correlate the controls and placebos with your experiences. I personally don't feel the need with this particular thing though. It's a fairly pronounced difference. It's also not really susceptible to the placebo effect IMO. Could I imagine some vague promised positive effect? Absolutely yes. Could I imagine the erasure of jitters? I don't think I could placebo that away. Anyway as linked in another post this is well-studied.
  - JohnBooty 3y ago
    Totally subjective, completely non-rigorous. That said: - I'm middle aged and have had tens of thousands of cups of coffee - The difference is pronounced, not subtle - It's well-studied https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18296328/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18296328/ FWIW, I've played around with a lot of supplements. Generally the effects are non-existent or subtle. I'm not generally given to a placebo effect wrt this kind of stuff
- digging 3y ago
  > Respect to people who drink 0mg. But caffeine and even coffee specifically seem to have positive health effects. If people are happy with 0mg they should continue that, but if people are happy with low doses of caffeine they should also continue that. Personally I love coffee, but I limit myself to one cup a day and drink yaupon when I want more caffeine. This results in less sweating, nausea, anxiety. Supposedly yaupon should help with stress relief as well, but I doubt it's a strong enough effect to overcome learning that a new ticket is due in 5 hours.
  - sydbarrett74 3y ago
    Is it the caffeine itself or tannins and other substances that have the health benefits?
Projectiboga 3y ago
Oolong is the tea variety with higher L-theanine. In Fugi, where that tea is from they rebrew their tea 4-5 times and they feel 3 & 4 are the best ones as they have more relative Theanine. I've been drinking Yerba Mate stacked w Oolong for 15 years now. Key to tea is careful brewing w attention to temp and duration. One last warning many modern tea bags are plastic, avoid those.
- TheRealSteel 3y ago
  Interesting, I might try oolong! Might save me drinking multiple cups and running to pee so often.

davidkopf 3y ago

If you’re lazy like me, you can buy Loud Brew, which is cold brew coffee with L-Theanine.

JohnBooty 3y ago

L-theanine Yeah! I've personally experimented (n=1) quite thoroughly with it. It truly reduces or eliminates caffeine jitters. This product is excellent for energy on the go. Caffeine and l-theanine in a single pill. I keep a few in my bag. I don't know if there's anything special about this particular product. There are other ones that may be better/cheaper. But I've gone through a few bottles of it in the past years and am pleased: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MQWJYJ3 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MQWJYJ3 You can buy it separately but I don't see the point. Well, clearly a lot of people like coffee and probably don't want to have a side of green tea with their coffee, so... you can see the point, right? =) I do buy it separately. It's dirt cheap. I stir it into my coffee. Reduces caffeine jitter. That all said, editorial time: caffeine is not awesome. It is a psychoactive substance (duh) and eventually it goes from "fun boost" to "I need this to feel normal." At least for me. I do have some every day but my goal is always to drink the smallest reasonable amount for me in order to manage my energy. Respect to people who drink 0mg.

0_____0 3y ago
Was your experimentation more casual or rigorous? People take supplements but rarely take the time to even casually log perceived effects or use a self-blinded A/B study (my own lazy ass included). If you took a more rigorous approach I'm curious about your methods.
- rwilson4 3y ago
  Out of curiosity, how do you self-blind? Do you have a friend make your coffee for you, with/without the additive?
  - tlrobinson 3y ago
    Well, you could make both types in identical cups, put labels on the bottom of the cups, shuffle the cups, drink one, record your observations and take the label from the cup you drank and stick it to your notes.
  - 0_____0 3y ago
    Assuming it's not detectable via taste I would find a way to pre-make and randomize test/control doses of the additive, and add the assigned vial for that day to my morning coffee. Biggest issue I think would be making sure that there aren't any tells like flavor or some quality of the additive.
    - JohnBooty 3y ago
      There's no taste or smell. Brew identical looking bottles of cold brew. Label the bottoms 1 through whatever. Mix them up. Label the lids A through whatever. Probably need to add some creamer to mask any possible sediment. Drink from them throughout the week. Note the lid label and your reaction. At the end of the test period look at the bottoms of the bottles to correlate the controls and placebos with your experiences. I personally don't feel the need with this particular thing though. It's a fairly pronounced difference. It's also not really susceptible to the placebo effect IMO. Could I imagine some vague promised positive effect? Absolutely yes. Could I imagine the erasure of jitters? I don't think I could placebo that away. Anyway as linked in another post this is well-studied.
- JohnBooty 3y ago
  Totally subjective, completely non-rigorous. That said: - I'm middle aged and have had tens of thousands of cups of coffee - The difference is pronounced, not subtle - It's well-studied https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18296328/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18296328/ FWIW, I've played around with a lot of supplements. Generally the effects are non-existent or subtle. I'm not generally given to a placebo effect wrt this kind of stuff
digging 3y ago
> Respect to people who drink 0mg. But caffeine and even coffee specifically seem to have positive health effects. If people are happy with 0mg they should continue that, but if people are happy with low doses of caffeine they should also continue that. Personally I love coffee, but I limit myself to one cup a day and drink yaupon when I want more caffeine. This results in less sweating, nausea, anxiety. Supposedly yaupon should help with stress relief as well, but I doubt it's a strong enough effect to overcome learning that a new ticket is due in 5 hours.
- sydbarrett74 3y ago
  Is it the caffeine itself or tannins and other substances that have the health benefits?

Projectiboga 3y ago

Oolong is the tea variety with higher L-theanine. In Fugi, where that tea is from they rebrew their tea 4-5 times and they feel 3 & 4 are the best ones as they have more relative Theanine. I've been drinking Yerba Mate stacked w Oolong for 15 years now. Key to tea is careful brewing w attention to temp and duration. One last warning many modern tea bags are plastic, avoid those.

TheRealSteel 3y ago
Interesting, I might try oolong! Might save me drinking multiple cups and running to pee so often.