Summary
Skeptical investigators Ross and Carrie spend a month testing nootropics including L-theanine powder and Alpha Brain capsules, tracking their effects on working memory, IQ scores, and subjective focus. They take L-theanine (99.9% purity powder at 1/8 teaspoon doses) alongside caffeine and Alpha Brain pills, using cognitive tests, the Elevate app, and multiple IQ tests to measure any changes. Their self-experiment yields underwhelming results: working memory scores remain flat at around 5.5 items regardless of nootropic use, IQ scores stay in the same range (130s), and Elevate app scores show steady improvement that predates nootropic use. Ross experiences initial jitters and fuzzy thinking on L-theanine without caffeine, noting his thoughts were noticeably slower. They discuss how L-theanine from green tea extract is believed to smooth caffeine's stimulating effects, but find that without caffeine it didn't seem to boost cognitive function on its own. The episode offers an honest, entertaining first-person account of what nootropics actually feel like versus the marketing hype.
Key Points
- Ross and Carrie self-tested L-theanine powder and Alpha Brain capsules for one month alongside cognitive tracking
- L-theanine is derived from green tea extract and is claimed to enhance mental clarity while reducing jitteriness from caffeine
- Without caffeine, L-theanine alone made Ross feel fuzzy and mentally slower, the opposite of the expected effect
- Working memory scores remained flat at 5.5 items whether on nootropics or not
- IQ test scores stayed in the same range (130s) regardless of nootropic use
- The caffeine plus L-theanine combination showed the most promise for focus, consistent with research on the pairing
- Alpha Brain ($26 for 30 capsules) lists L-theanine among its ingredients but showed no clear cognitive benefit in their testing
- Both hosts experienced initial jitters when starting L-theanine, which is notable since it's marketed as calming
Key Moments
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."
