L-Theanine

First-person experience taking L-theanine powder as a nootropic

Ross and Carrie try 99.9% pure L-theanine powder alongside a Neuro Bliss drink containing 200mg of L-theanine. They describe the taste as slightly sweet with powdered sugar consistency, and discuss how L-theanine from green tea is believed to smooth caffeine's stimulating effects.

"But then you're thinking like, OK, and tomorrow I'm also going to do this, this, this. And then you like take on new responsibilities because you're like, I can do all of it. And then you find yourself like, why did I do this to myself? Right. And then you just, or at least with me, like I'll crash and burn. And then for a day I'll be like, yeah, I could, maybe I'll watch this old DVD that I haven't watched in a really long time. And it happens to the best of us. That's kind of productive. So nootropics. Yeah. We took them. They're going to solve everything for us. So the first one we tried was L-theanine. Yeah. You were my dealer. How much did that set us back? This wasn't too bad. I believe this was around 50 bucks. You got a bag of the, uh, self-same white powder. How much did you get for it? 50 grams of more than 99% purity. 50 grams is the same as 1.76 ounces. For how many bucks? Around 50. Okay. So buck per gram. All right. I'm going to, since I still have white powder in this bag of mine, I'm going to take a double dose right now. Oh shit, man. Here we go. Because usually we'd take an eighth of a teaspoon. What the hell are you? What is that? No. What? Whoa, that's neat. Isn't that cool? It adjusts. My friend Jennifer lent this to me because I did not have a way of measuring one eighth of a teaspoon. Oh my gosh. I just have the old school, you know, spoon inside a spoon inside a spoon, but you have a magical device that you just slide this little thing back and forth. I want one of those. Okay. Well, they are made by kitchen art. One word. What a glorious device. Okay. So I'm going to switch to the quarter. So while you're doing that, I'm going to describe what Elfianine is. Okay. So it's something that comes from, in most cases, from green tea extract. Can also come from mushrooms? Yeah, but i think most of the sources of the stuff you would buy at the drugstore is from green tea extract right and allegedly it will do a couple of things it will help with your mental clarity and focus but it will also help to calm you and so one of the claims is that yeah man is that if you take it with caffeine, as you would in green tea, that you get both effects at once, you get that sweet focus, but also not necessarily the jitteriness of, you know, just taking a bunch of caffeine. Right. Because you've got the LP, you need maybe to take the edge off a little bit. Yeah, that makes sense. And there seems to be some experimental support for that. Yep. Okay, I'm going to down this powder. Here you go. Oh, it's gross. Actually, I don't know if I'd really call it gross, but I find it unpleasant. No, I've never taken this much before. Really? Oh, you took two servings. Yeah, I took an eighth of a teaspoon this morning, and now I'm taking the quarter teaspoon. Oh, wow. Yeah, it's a little sweet. There's like a tiny bit of sweetness to it. It's a very fine powder. And there's also like a little bit of, I don't know, like savoriness to it. I don't really taste that savory thing, I don't think. Here, look, can I take a shot too? Oh, do it. Yeah, hold on. Let me finish this one. Sure. So the consistency of the powder is a lot like powdered sugar. It's got that kind of like... Oh, yeah. It totally looks like drugs."

L-theanine without caffeine made thoughts noticeably slower

On the first day Ross took L-theanine without caffeine, he felt fuzzy at a morning meeting with noticeably slower thoughts, the opposite of what he hoped for. Both hosts experienced initial jitters when starting L-theanine, which contradicts its marketing as a calming supplement.

"the very first day I took it, I did not take caffeine with it. And you're right. I wrote here that I felt fuzzy at a morning meeting. My thoughts were noticeably slower. And I had to kind of compensate for this lag I felt."

Working memory and IQ scores showed no improvement from nootropics

After a month of testing, working memory scores remained flat at 5.5 items regardless of nootropic use. IQ scores stayed in the 130s range with no meaningful variation between nootropic and non-nootropic days.

"I got 5.5 nearly every time, whether I'd taken nootropics or not. I did get six twice. So one was on June 24th, but I hadn't taken any deutropics."

L Theanine Discussion

It's more or less interchangeable with magnesium bisglycinate. It has a slight sedative property.

"And this is magnesium taken about 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime. The other one is apigenin, which is essentially a derivative of chamomile. And then the third is theanine, which is known to have a mild anti-anxiety component to it."

Every RCT on L-theanine and stress has shown benefits

All randomized controlled trials on L-theanine and stress have shown positive results, making this one of the clearest findings in supplement research. The magnitude of improvement varies by baseline stress levels and measurement method.

"There are a bunch of randomized control trials that show L-theanine helps with stress. We've linked them in the show notes. Normally I'm a lot more nuanced when talking about research and stuff like that, but the reason I'm keeping this section short and sweet is because of all the randomized control trials that have been done on this topic, to the best of my knowledge, they have"

L-theanine's effect on clinical anxiety is less certain than stress

A 2016 systematic review found that the one study including participants with diagnosed anxiety showed no advantage over placebo. The hosts emphasize the important distinction between stress reduction and clinical anxiety treatment.

"the specific one that did include people with diagnosed anxiety, um, did not find any advantages of L-theanine over placebo for specific anxiety outcomes."

Sleep benefits are indirect, driven by stress reduction

L-theanine does not directly affect sleep, but indirectly improves it through stress reduction. One study found 400mg of L-theanine improved sleep in children with ADHD. Some people report daytime drowsiness, but this may reflect reduced stress rather than a sedative effect.

"The research finds that most people who take L-theanine get better sleep largely due to the reductions in stress slash maybe anxiety."

Caffeine plus L-theanine combo offsets caffeine's negative side effects

L-theanine can offset caffeine's negative effects like increased heart rate, jitters, and anxiety while retaining focus benefits. The hosts are more confident in this pairing than in L-theanine for generalized anxiety alone.

"if we look at L-theanine, L-theanine has evidence it can potentially offset some of those specific things. So utilizing the combination of the two could be beneficial for reaping the rewards of caffeine whilst dulling its negative side effects."

Dosing, timing, and safety profile of L-theanine

Recommended dosage is 200-400mg per day with no common side effects. L-theanine peaks in blood at 30-50 minutes with a 58-74 minute half-life. Rodent studies showed safety at 4,000mg/kg for 13 weeks with no adverse effects.

"It does take 30 to 50 minutes to peak in the blood and has a half-life of anywhere between 58 to 74 minutes."

L-theanine increases alpha brainwaves for calm, focused awareness

L-theanine acts on alpha brainwaves, the state of calm attention associated with relaxed alertness. It lowers mental background noise so you can think clearly without feeling wound up, unlike sedating medications.

"Multiple studies have shown that L-theanine increases alpha wave activity, particularly in regions of the brain tied to attention and emotional regulation."

How L-theanine supports neurotransmitter balance through GABA, serotonin, and dopamine

L-theanine influences GABA, serotonin, and dopamine without flooding the brain with chemicals the way medications do. It supports balanced neurotransmitter function for a gentle, noticeable calm.

"medications do, they just flood the brain and there's not a lot of control, L-theanine appears to support a more balanced environment in which they can function effectively. So think less in terms of forcing a change and more in terms of improving the communication"

L-theanine helps the nervous system shift from chronic stress to regulation

L-theanine may help reduce chronic cortisol and adrenaline output, supporting the parasympathetic nervous system. People describe the effect as gaining perspective on stressors rather than being dominated by them.

"People often describe that experience not as indifference, but it gives you more perspective. The stressor is still there. It's still visible. You're still dealing with it, but it doesn't dominate your entire internal landscape with ruminating thoughts or overreactions."