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Anti-aging Research > Theanine
Theanine
Specific Recommendations:
News & Research:
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The top ingredients for cognition, focus and mood - Nutra USA, 7/14/17 -
"omega-3 ... Phosphatidylserine (PS) ... B-vitamins ...
Vitamin E ... Lutein ... Citicoline ... Magnesium ... L-theanine ... Curcumin
... Resveratrol ... Blueberry anthocyanins ... Inositol-stabilized arginine
silicate ... Spearmint extract ... Ashwaganda ... Bacopa ... Teacrine"
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L-theanine may boost attention for anxious folks: Study - Nutra USA, 5/11/11
- "L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea leaves, is
thought to help reduce stress, promote relaxation and improve the quality of
sleep. L-theanine is found in tea leaves in low concentrations (less than 2
percent), which means that effective dosage levels (of 100 – 200mg/day) cannot
be delivered from drinking tea ... Student with high anxiety were put in one
group, while students with minimal anxiety were put in another group. Both
groups received water or water plus 200 mg of L-theanine per 100 ml of water.
The test was performed repeatedly and assessments performed between 15 and 60
minutes after ingestion ... Results showed that highly anxious students
receiving the L-theanine displayed a slowing of their heart rate, improved
attentional performance, and better reaction times, compared to members of the
same group receiving placebo ... It is noteworthy to mention that unlike other
conventional anti-anxiety treatments, L-theanine did not result in increased
drowsiness, slowed reflexes, or impaired concentration ... Results of a present
study showed that ingestion of 200 mg of L-theanine changes the electrical
activity in the brain by increasing alpha electric band measured by EEG"
- See theanine at Amazon.com
 .
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Tea compounds may boost attention span: Unilever - Nutra USA, 1/19/10 -
"This study provided further evidence that the
L-theanine/caffeine combination improves attention on the switch task ... The
improvement in accuracy in combination with unaltered response speed is in line
with previous studies ... Tentative evidence was [also] found that the effect of
the L-theanine/caffeine combination on attention is not specific to the visual
modality, as we found faster responses in both the visual and auditory modality
on the intersensory task after the combination as compared to placebo ... Taken
together with the previous studies, we conclude that a high dose of L-theanine
combined with caffeine, at the level of a single cup of tea, can help to improve
attention" - [Abstract]
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L-theanine and caffeine improve task switching but not intersensory attention or
subjective alertness - Appetite. 2010 Jan 13 - "The
results support previous evidence that L-theanine and caffeine in combination
can improve attention"
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Green,
Black Tea Can Reduce Stroke Risk, Research Suggests - Science Daily, 3/4/09
- "By drinking three cups of tea a day, the risk of a
stroke
was reduced by 21 percent. It didn't matter if it was green or black tea ... the
effect appears to be linear ... researchers have speculated that the antioxidant
epigallocatechin gallate
(EGCG) or the amino acid theanine may be what helps. Antioxidants are believed
to help prevent coronary artery disease ... we do know that theanine is nearly
100-percent absorbed .... It gets across the blood-brain barrier and it looks a
lot like a molecule that's very similar to
glutamate, and
glutamate release is associated with stroke" - See
green tea extract at Amazon.com
and theanine at Amazon.com.
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L-Theanine: the
Next Supplement Superstar - Dr. Murray's Natural Living, 9/20/06
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Are You Easily Distracted? Try Some Tea - US News and World Report, 10/8/07
- "the amino acid theanine, which is found in green,
black, and oolong teas, causes a decrease in the brain's "alpha rhythms" when
people perform complex attention tasks, causing them to pay closer attention.
His ongoing research, funded by the food and beverage conglomerate Unilever,
suggests that theanine and caffeine together improve performance more than
either substance alone ... in mice, at least—tea's main antioxidant shows an
ability to curb brain cell death and encourage neurons to repair themselves"
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Theanine - Natural Support for Sleep, Mood, and Weight
- Life Extension Magazine, 1/06 -
"Preliminary studies show that blocking certain
signals in the brain activated by glutamate may be as effective as prescription
antidepressants.36,37 L-theanine may act as a glutamate antagonist.38
Researchers believe that glutamate receptor antagonists may offset the harmful
effects of high glucocorticoid levels and offer neuroprotective effects against
both acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases"
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Natural remedies ease anxiety - Natural Food Merchandiser, 10/05 -
"Relora ... L-theanine ... Phosphatidylserine"
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Wrong form of theanine interferes with absorption - Nutra USA, 5/10/05
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Sleep easy with green tea - Nutra USA, 3/16/04 -
"200mg of L-theanine or a placebo ... all subjects reported a significant
absence of feeling exhausted and a reduced need for sleep when administered
with the L-theanine, compared to the placebo"
- An Anti-Anxiety Agent
in Tea? - Dr. Weil, 3/11/04
- Health Benefit
of Tea: Add Immune Boost That Helps Fight Germs - WebMD, 4/21/03
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Stress, Cortisol and Health - Supplement Watch Newsletter, 10/02 -
"several lines of evidence have converged to
solidify the concept that stress makes us fat (because of
cortisol), thins our bones (because of cortisol), shrinks our brains
(because of cortisol), suppresses our immune system (because of cortisol),
saps our energy levels (because of cortisol), and kills our sex drive
(because of cortisol) ... Take a daily multivitamin/multi-mineral supplement
- because calcium,
magnesium, vitamin C and
B-complex vitamins are needed for a proper stress response ... Chief
among the supplements with documented cortisol-controlling effects are
Phosphatidylserine, Beta-sitosterol,
Magnolia bark, Theanine,
Epimedium, Ashwagandha and
Passionflower"
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Theanine Enhances Chemotherapy And Reduces Side Effects - Life Extension
Magazine, 7/02
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The
Ultimate Relaxant - Life Extension Magazine, 1/02 -
"Theanine is an amino acid found in green tea. It
helps to produce a calming effect in the brain and induces a feeling of
relaxation and well-being. Best of all, it does all of this without causing
drowsiness. In fact, studies have shown that theanine enhances the ability
to learn and remember. One of the other benefits of this amino acid is that
it helps to lower blood pressure naturally, by enhancing GABA in the brain"
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A New Natural Relaxant - Life Extension Magazine, 10/01 -
"Theanine readily crosses the blood-brain barrier of
humans and exerts subtle changes in biochemistry. An increase in alpha waves
has been documented, and the effect has been compared to getting a massage
or taking a hot bath. Theanine is different than kava-kava in that it
doesn’t cause drowsiness. And unlike tranquilizing drugs, it doesn’t
interfere with the ability to think ... Theanine increases GABA, while
caffeine decreases it. GABA doesn’t just relax, it also creates a sense of
well-being. Theanine’s ability to increase this brain chemical can put you
in a better mood by changing biochemistry. Theanine also increases levels of
dopamine, another brain chemical with mood-enhancing effects"
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Shelf Stockers for 2001 - Nutrition Science News, 1/01 -
"The mechanism involved appears to be the way
theanine affects the metabolism or the release of the neurotransmitters
dopamine and serotonin"
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Nutraceutical of the Year - Nutrition Science News, 9/00
Abstracts:
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Dose-response effect of
L-theanine on psychomotor speed, sustained attention, and inhibitory control: a
double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study - Nutr Neurosci 2022 Oct
20 - "L-theanine is a non-protein-forming amino acid
found in tea. Previous research shows high doses (100-400 mg) of L-theanine
enhances attention, mainly by reducing mind wandering and distracter processing.
We hypothesized that these indirect mechanisms could significantly improve the
performance of low-level attentional tasks, whereas the relative contribution
could be less in complex attentional tasks that require active, higher-order
processing of target stimuli ... conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled,
counterbalanced, four-way crossover study in 32 healthy young adults, where we
compared the effects of three doses of L-theanine (100, 200 and 400 mg) with a
placebo (distilled water), administered before and 50 min after dosing, on three
attentional tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery
[viz. Reaction Time (RTI)-visuomotor speed, Rapid Visual Information Processing
(RVP)-sustained attention, and Stop Signal Task (SST)-inhibitory control].
Results were analyzed in dose × time repeated measures ANOVA models, with
subsequent pairwise comparisons ... Active doses significantly improved reaction
times in the RTI (100-200 mg) and RVP (200-400 mg) tasks from baseline (p <
0.05), but once controlled for the change-from-baseline caused by placebo, only
the RTI simple reaction times showed significant improvements, following 100 mg
(Δ = 16.3 ms, p = 0.009) and 200 mg (Δ = 16.9 ms, p = 0.009) of L-theanine"
- See
L-theanine at Amazon.com.
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Protective Effect of
l-Theanine against DSS-Induced Colitis by Regulating the Lipid Metabolism and
Reducing Inflammation via the NF-κB Signaling Pathway - J Agric Food Chem
2021 Nov 16 - "In summary, l-theanine plays a protective
role in DSS-induced colitis via downregulating the NF-κB signaling pathway and
regulating lipid metabolism disorders"
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Effects of
l-Theanine on Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged and Older Subjects: A Randomized
Placebo-Controlled Study - Journal of Medicinal FoodVol. 24, No. 4 -
"The single dose of l-theanine reduced the reaction time
to attention tasks (Stroop test, Part 1), and it increased the number of correct
answers and decreased the number of omission errors in working memory tasks
(4-Part continuous performance test, Part 4). In conclusion, our study indicated
that l-theanine may contribute to improving attention, thus enhancing working
memory and executive functions" - [Nutra USA]
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Theanine and cancer: A
systematic review of the literature - Phytother Res 2021 Apr 23 -
"A growing literature indicates several health benefits
of theanine, a major nonprotein derivative amino acid special to tea, and a
nonedible mushroom ... Most of the included in vitro and ex vivo studies
reported beneficial effects of theanine on the proliferation, apoptosis,
metastasis, migration, and invasion in various cancer cell lines. The in vivo
studies also supported the potential impacts of theanine on cancer incidence or
progression. Theanine exerted its anticancer function by inhibiting EGFR, VEGFR,
Met, and Akt/mTOR, JAK2/STAT3, and ERK/NFκB pathways, as well as activating the
intrinsic apoptosis pathway and caspase-independent programmed cell death. In
conclusion, the results indicated moderate apoptotic, antimetastatic,
antimigration, and anti-invasion effects, along with the mild antiproliferative
influence of theanine on cancer"
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L-theanine improves
neurophysiological measures of attention in a dose-dependent manner: a
double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study - Nutr Neurosci 2020 Aug
11;1-11 - "L-theanine, a non-proteinic amino acid found
in tea, is known to enhance attention particularly in high doses, with no
reported adverse effects ... The findings indicate L-theanine can increase
attentional processing of auditory information in a dose-dependent manner"
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Theanine, the Main Amino
Acid in Tea, Prevents Stress-Induced Brain Atrophy by Modifying Early Stress
Responses - Nutrients. 2020 Jan 8;12(1) - "Npas4 and
Lcn2 are involved in the brain atrophy and stress vulnerability of SAMP10 mice,
which are prevented by the consumption of theanine, causing changes in the
expression of these genes"
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L-Theanine
Improves Immunity by Altering TH2/TH1 Cytokine Balance, Brain Neurotransmitters,
and Expression of Phospholipase C in Rat Hearts - Med Sci Monit. 2016 Feb
28;22:662-669 - "Administration of 400 mg/kg
BWL-theanine improved immune function of the rats by increasing the splenic
weight, altering the Th2/Th1 cytokine balance, decreasing the corticosterone
level in the serum, elevating dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in the brain, and
regulating the mRNA expression of PLC isomers in the heart" - See
theanine at Amazon.com.
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Acute
effects of theanine, caffeine and theanine-caffeine combination on attention
- Nutr Neurosci. 2016 Feb 11 - "In a placebo-controlled,
five-way crossover trial in 20 healthy male volunteers, we compared the effects
of l-theanine (200 mg), caffeine (160 mg), their combination, black tea (one
cup) and a placebo (distilled water) on cognitive (simple [SVRT] and recognition
visual reaction time [RVRT]) and neurophysiological (event-related potentials
[ERPs]) measures of attention ... Mean RVRT was significantly improved by
theanine (P = 0.019), caffeine (P = 0.043), and theanine-caffeine combination (P
= 0.001), but not by tea (P = 0.429) or placebo ... A dose of theanine
equivalent of eight cups of back tea improves cognitive and neurophysiological
measures of selective attention, to a degree that is comparable with that of
caffeine. Theanine and caffeine seem to have additive effects on attention in
high doses"
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Advantageous
effect of theanine intake on cognition - Nutr Neurosci. 2014 Feb 7 -
"Theanine, γ-glutamylethylamide, is one of the major
amino acid components in green tea. On the basis of the preventive effect of
theanine intake after weaning on stress-induced impairment of recognition
memory, the advantageous effect of theanine intake on recognition memory was
examined in young rats, which were fed water containing 0.3% theanine for 3
weeks after weaning ... The levels of brain-derived neurotropic factor and nerve
growth factor in the hippocampus were significantly higher in
theanine-administered rats than in the control rats. The present study indicates
the advantageous effect of theanine intake after weaning on recognition memory.
It is likely that theanine intake is of advantage to the development of
hippocampal function after weaning" - See theanine at Amazon.com.
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Green tea extract shows memory boosting activity: Study - Nutra USA, 5/4/11
- "A combination of a green tea extract with L-theanine
was associated with improvements in immediate and delayed recall, and general
memory, according to findings published in the Journal of Medicinal Foods ... As
a natural ingredient with a long history of consumption, LGNC-07 [ – a
combination of green tea extract and L-theanine - ] should be considered as a
potential nutraceutical candidate for enhancing cognitive performance" -
[Abstract]
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Antidepressant-like Effects of L-theanine in the Forced Swim and Tail Suspension
Tests in Mice - Phytother Res. 2011 Mar 21 -
"L-theanine (γ-glutamylethylamide), an amino acid component of green tea, has
been shown to reduce mental and physical stress, and to improve memory function.
In this study, the antidepressant effect of L-theanine was investigated in mice
using the forced swim test, tail suspension test, open-field test and reserpine
test. L-theanine produced an antidepressant-like effect, since the
administration of L-theanine at doses of 1, 4 and 20 mg/kg for 10 successive
days significantly reduced the immobility time in both the forced swim test and
tail suspension test, compared with the control group, without accompanying
changes in ambulation in the open-field test. Moreover, L-theanine significantly
antagonized reserpine-induced ptosis and hypothermia. Taken together, these
results indicate that L-theanine possessed an antidepressant-like effect in
mice, which may be mediated by the central monoaminergic neurotransmitter
system"
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Neuroprotective effects of the green tea components theanine and catechins
- Biol Pharm Bull 2002 Dec;25(12):1513-8
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