Knowledge
| What is theanine used for? |
| 2025-06-27 |
| 1. It helps relieve anxiety and reduce the impact of stress
One of the most thoroughly studied benefits of L-theanine is that it can promote relaxation and combat stress. It is said that it is a "relaxant that does not cause sedation", which means it can help improve your ability to cope with stress without making you feel sleepy or tired. If you suffer from tension, anxiety, depression or other stress-related problems, you may benefit from the relaxing effect of L-theanine, although it may not have a strong enough effect to alleviate severe anxiety. In a study, L-theanine was proven to reduce the scores of the tension and anxiety test compared with the placebo. The effects of L-theanine and caffeine on mental task performance and physiological activities were studied. Participants were placed under conditions of physical or psychological stress. They took L-theanine orally + placebo, caffeine + placebo, or placebo alone. The results after mental tasks showed that L-theanine significantly inhibited the increase in blood pressure related to stress, while caffeine had a similar but smaller inhibitory effect on blood pressure.
2. It may help improve sleep and combat insomnia Why is theanine good for sleep? Mainly because it helps relieve stress and anxiety. If you often worry and toss and turn, stress and anxiety will keep you awake at night. Theanine has a mild effect on sleep, so it won’t be effective for everyone. Although it has a positive impact on sleep quality, it may not be sufficient to help people with moderate or severe insomnia sleep well. Some studies have found that L-theanine can help improve the sleep quality of people with ADHD, including hyperactivity disorder. When it comes to sleep, another positive property of theanine is that it can counteract the effects of stimulants. This means that if you drink a large amount of coffee or use other stimulants for medical reasons, the sedative effect of L-theanine may help reduce wakefulness, tension, etc. Some people choose to take theanine and melatonin simultaneously to help with sleep. The common dosage is to take about 3 grams of melatonin before going to bed, along with 100-200 milligrams of L-theanine. The combined effect of these two substances can relieve stress and help improve sleep quality, although taking large doses of L-theanine (more than 600 milligrams) may have the opposite effect. 3. It may help improve concentration Some people choose to use L-theanine and caffeine simultaneously to enhance alertness, cognitive ability and attention. There is a kind of "synergistic" relationship between the two, which can enhance attention without feeling overly "excited" or nervous. For this purpose, the intake of about 20 milligrams of L-theanine and caffeine often achieves the best effect. 4. It helps protect memory and cognitive abilities In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, patients with mild cognitive impairment were given 360 milligrams of green tea extract and 60 milligrams of theanine (a combination called LGNC-07) three times a day for 16 weeks. Researchers have found that LGNC07 helps improve recognition skills without any negative impact on language and visuospatial memory. According to the researchers, "Brain theta waves, an indicator of cognitive alertness, significantly increased in the temporal, frontal, parietal and occipital regions three hours after opening the eyes and in a reading state." Therefore, this study indicates that LGNC-O7 has the potential to serve as an intervention for cognitive improvement. One way L-theanine may help protect the brain is by preventing excessive glutamic acid from stimulating brain cells (excitotoxicity), which some people believe is related to neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke and schizophrenia. By blocking some of the effects of glutamic acid, L-theanine may be able to provide neuroprotection for the aging brain. |