# L-Theanine



## poot

Anyone ever try this? Its supposed to promote relaxation if I'm correct. I'm taking Valerian root right now and it seems to be working well so I figured I might give this a shot as well.


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## wxolue

what type of valerian root do u take? mine seems to last for like 45 min, and then goes away.


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## euphoria

Theanine is awesome. I buy 100g packets of it online and cap them myself. Calms my mind down quite significantly and adds a stimulatory angle to my mood.


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## poot

wxolue said:


> what type of valerian root do u take? mine seems to last for like 45 min, and then goes away.


Vitamin Shoppe 450mg. I take several. Probably ~3000mg a day because they do tend to wear off but they have been GREAT.

Guess I'll buy some L-Theanine....its $25 at Vitamin Shoppe


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## QuakerOats167

would L-theanine help take the edge off of someone with mild anxiety attacks? i think i just have too much adrenaline going through me or something because i get nauseous and anxious really easily and im wondering if something like L-Theanine will help me relax a bit? the closest place for me to buy supps is GNC and they dont have L-Theanine specifically but they have this Suntheanine product which is supposed to basically be the same thing...

http://allnutri.com/pid10425/suntheanine.aspx#detail

is it worth giving a shot?


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## poot

QuakerOats167 said:


> would L-theanine help take the edge off of someone with mild anxiety attacks? i think i just have too much adrenaline going through me or something because i get nauseous and anxious really easily and im wondering if something like L-Theanine will help me relax a bit? the closest place for me to buy supps is GNC and they dont have L-Theanine specifically but they have this Suntheanine product which is supposed to basically be the same thing...
> 
> http://allnutri.com/pid10425/suntheanine.aspx#detail
> 
> is it worth giving a shot?


Its definitely worth trying, why not? I just bought the L-Theanine today and will be taking it tomorrow. If you haven't tried Valerian root I would suggest buying that. It has helped me be more comfortable when I was job searching and allowed me to be calm and collected during my interview that got me the job.

Instead of having nervous little "jolts" like I normally would (kind of squirmey and probably visibly uncomfortable to the interviewer), I was relaxed and mature. I'll definitely keep taking Valerian root...I'll let you know how the L-Theanine is. And you can also order products online if you can't get them at a local nutritional store.


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## CopadoMexicano

poot said:


> If you haven't tried Valerian root I would suggest buying that.


I agree I bought some valerian 500mg capsules from bodybuilding.com and one bottle from Walgreens that contains valerian, hops. passion flower, and lemon balm. All the supplements calmed me down but I couldnt tell any difference using L-theanine.


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## Hikerman

*L-Theanine and 5 HTP*

L-Theanine and 5 HTP are a good combination. Definitely takes the edge off. My kids keep saying how I've mellowed in the past few years - and I know why.


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## Think_For_Yourself

I take 2-6g of L-Tryptophan daily. I truly recommend it to everyone since it's not only healed me from SA, it's provided me with zero negative side effects, which is much more than I could say about benzos.


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## AEB

For those of you taking L-Theanine make sure that you are buying the Suntheanine® brand of it. All of the other forms of this amino acid use a different manufacturing process which does not provide the same effect and could be toxic. Suntheanine is produced my a natural method and all others are produced by chemicals. The ones produced by chemicals product 2 forms of theanine and the other form is R-Theanine which can be toxic. Hope this helps!


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## Addler

I haven't noticed any benefit from daytime use, though I've only used 100-200 mg of it. It works for me in combo with valerian and melatonin to make me sleep (straight valerian stopped putting me out recently).


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## andrewcubbie

Theanine has definitely helped me. Moreso with sleeping, but I still felt the effects nevertheless.


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## sleepytime

Anyone know how much Theanine there is in a cup of green tea?


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## CopadoMexicano

Gatorade focus that contained L theanine that is discontinued I think helped my depression.


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## PickleNose

sleepytime said:


> Anyone know how much Theanine there is in a cup of green tea?


 I know that tea seems to work better than Theanine pills do. And don't worry about the caffeine. Though caffeine makes you nervous and jittery on it's own, it has a synergy with Theanine where it gives you energy without the jitters while the theanine simultaneously relaxes you.

Tea is one of the best things you can consume for relaxation. Green tea or black tea. Doesn't really matter. As long as it's real tea leaf. I'm a huge advocate of it because I've been drinking tea for it's calming (and mind sharpening) effects for several years. I have not yet had a time when I drank a cup and didn't get a wonderful feeling before I finished the cup.

I would recommend you try tea before you spend too much on theanine pills. I bought a bottle of the vitamin Shoppe brand and they didn't seem to do a thing.


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## Keith

I had one instance where i took a gram of theanine and it felt like a benzo but a subsequent use a week or more later did not have the same effect, same dose too. After that "failure" I didnt try it again but i probably will experiment with it some more at alater date. Valerian root doesn't do anything for me even high quality with a massive dose same thing with kava :sigh I wish it did...


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## PickleNose

Keith said:


> I had one instance where i took a gram of theanine and it felt like a benzo but a subsequent use a week or more later did not have the same effect, same dose too.


 Did you take it with or without caffeine? Like I said, it sounds counter-intuitive but I think theanine works better with caffeine. At the very least, you'd need to drink a cup of Coke or something with the theanine or get some caffeine pills. Ideally just make up a big batch of the most potent tea you can find. PG Tips is pretty good but I can't drink it without milk and sweetener (I think it's made to be drank that way). Anyway, it seems to be very potent if you get it fresh.

Green tea is pretty good too but you have to get high quality green tea. Often that's only available if you order it. I can't find much quality green tea where I live. The kind in the teabags just isn't very good tea (usually).



> Valerian root doesn't do anything for me even high quality with a massive dose same thing with kava :sigh I wish it did...


 Valerian is a strange one because when I first started taking it, I would feel a very pronounced effect in about half an hour. After taking it for a few weeks, it still relaxes me but it's far more subtle. It's one of those things where I don't notice what it's doing for me until I've been taking it for a while and then I don't take it for a few days and get that really tight, nervous feeling.

Don't take huge doses of Valerian all the time because it MIGHT be bad for your liver. But I've taken normal doses of it for years with no ill effects.


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## Odin Rossi

Hello,

I know this forum may be a bit old ( Last post was in 2009), anyways, I have a question.

I'm developing a product base on the L-theanine, a product that anyone can use on a daily base.

My question was : What is the minimum quantity that someone should take to feel the effect of the L-Theanine ?

What is the exact feeling that this person will feel ?

Thank you in advance all of you for your answers ! :clap


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## Dolphin North

Odin Rossi said:


> Hello,
> 
> I know this forum may be a bit old ( Last post was in 2009), anyways, I have a question.
> 
> I'm developing a product base on the L-theanine, a product that anyone can use on a daily base.
> 
> My question was : What is the minimum quantity that someone should take to feel the effect of the L-Theanine ?
> 
> What is the exact feeling that this person will feel ?
> 
> Thank you in advance all of you for your answers ! :clap


I think the absolute minimum is 100 to 200mg. I have read it stated like that in otehr places when I was trying to figue out how much to take. I think it is common to take caps of 200mg twice a day. I do it only once a day. Supposedly it lasts about 8 hours and in my experience that is about right.
Really it depends on the person, but if I were making a product, like a drink, with some L-theanine, I would go with 200mg which is a very low and reasonable amount, but would probably be a lot more likely to give the desired effect to people. This would keep them coming back if they like your product's taste and want to have the implied benefits.

Also, I would look into getting Suntheanine, which I believe is often referred to as a superior version. Maybe better quality control? Not sure.


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## Dolphin North

Odin Rossi said:


> Hello,
> 
> I know this forum may be a bit old ( Last post was in 2009), anyways, I have a question.
> 
> I'm developing a product base on the L-theanine, a product that anyone can use on a daily base.
> 
> My question was : What is the minimum quantity that someone should take to feel the effect of the L-Theanine ?
> 
> What is the exact feeling that this person will feel ?
> 
> Thank you in advance all of you for your answers ! :clap


Sorry, forgot to talk about the effects. Main thing you'll hear about it is it reduces stress / anxiety, but without drowsiness. In fact, another effect is that it makes you more able to focus. There are more effects, like feeling more positive and less irritable if you have those problems. I would say these are all true in my experience. Those are the main things you see.


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## Dolphin North

Oh and also, the FDA says to stay within 1.2 grams per day.


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