Theanine Completely Abolishes The Cortisol Response To Stress In Humans

[haidut]

I am in the middle of an extreme period of stress, and am feeling the effects physically and mentally. I would love to hear advice on managing my stress in such a way that I don't have to spend the next few years paying the price!

My husband has end stage cancer. He is paralyzed from the chest down, requiring diapers, being moved with a lift, etc. I am the primary caregiver, with occasional respites from family and hospice. I am not sleeping very much. I am physically exhausted. My diet is terrible, neither particularly nutritious nor pleasurable, as all he wants to eat are his childhood comfort foods: potato chips, pretzels, hot dogs, peanuts, doughnuts, and fortunately ice cream. In theory, I could make myself meals separate from his, but the reality is, I just don't have the energy to do it, so I end up eating the same crap as him. I have put on a lot of very uncomfortable weight around my middle, which is causing further stress! I am very bloated and gassy. I alternate between constipation and diarrhea. My nose is always blocked, causing me to breathe through my mouth most of the time. My teeth ache, my gums are receding and bleeding. i am having frequent migraines, shortness of breath, occasional back spasms, and feeling like I am going to faint when I am in public. Also, I am 50, and going through menopause.

I am taking Estroban, Pansterone, aspirin, ubiquinol, niacinimide, a lot of coffee (thank god for coffee). I love carrot salad, but usually just manage to eat a raw carrot while fixing supper.

Any ideas for me? I would love to mitigate the effects of this stressful time. Is there hope??

Sorry to hear about this. May I ask what is his treatment?
As far as your stress - glycine and taurine can also lower it, and progesterone can help a lot too especially in women. Higher dose pregnenolone (100mg+ daily) can sometimes stop the stress reaction completely and within minutes of ingesting it.

 

[StrongMom]

M

It is possible, but as far as I know theanine also lowers adrenaline. If that is the case, you may end up in a situation where stress hormones are lowered and if thyroid is not there to provide metabolic support you may end up feeling worse. How's your thyroid function in terms of temp and pulse?

In general, i am feeling depressed too, but in those periods of heart palpitations I do feel alright. I am normally in 60-70 range, but when i have palpitations, it goes up to high 70s. The temperature is in mid 97s and does not change with hyperventilation. Scared of palpitations, I stopped taking my ndt two days ago, though.

 

[Mmmaurshmallows]

Thank you for your response! I have a cow due to calve in the next 24 hours, so soon I can add a couple of quarts of milk a day, and I feel really good when I drink milk, so you're right--there is hope! I have never tolerated orange juice very well, perhaps I should give it another try...

Wow...fresh raw milk. I think you found your answer!

Back in the 1930s a doctor used The Milk Cure to heal his patients...nothing but raw milk for weeks.

There was also an experiment done in the late 1800s where people ate nothing but animal for one year. All participants came out as healthy or healthier than when they began. Not saying we should do this in our modern chemical world, but I wonder if there is enough carbs in the milk to offset the protein and fat?? My point is, healing and nourishment comes from animal, not plants as we've all been led to believe. As R.P says, plants are poor people food, and they are pushed on us to keep us sick and poor. Some time I will post the history of plant oils, and it all becomes clear that they are a modern day plague. I am convinced it's referenced in the bible somewhere!

 

[moonmeadow]

Yes, I read about the milk cure, and used a milk fast to raise my body temp when nothing else would do it. Here's hoping the milk is enough to offset this particularly stressful time! At least in part!

 

[moonmeadow]

Sorry to hear about this. May I ask what is his treatment?
As far as your stress - glycine and taurine can also lower it, and progesterone can help a lot too especially in women. Higher dose pregnenolone (100mg+ daily) can sometimes stop the stress reaction completely and within minutes of ingesting it.

He isn't getting any treatment now. Just pain relief. Unfortunately, he opted for chemo, and received 2 out of the 8 treatments, and the chemicals attacked his nerves, leaving him paralyzed. That was his last treatment option, so they sent him home. He has declined rapidly ever since.

I have had problems with progesterone messing with my sleep, but maybe it would be worth trying again.

Is the pregnenolone an oral dose?

 

[haidut]

He isn't getting any treatment now. Just pain relief. Unfortunately, he opted for chemo, and received 2 out of the 8 treatments, and the chemicals attacked his nerves, leaving him paralyzed. That was his last treatment option, so they sent him home. He has declined rapidly ever since.

I have had problems with progesterone messing with my sleep, but maybe it would be worth trying again.

Is the pregnenolone an oral dose?

Yes, oral dose.

 

[Elephanto]

L-theanine promotes nitric oxide production in endothelial cells through eNOS phosphorylation. - PubMed - NCBI

I think this ends the debate on whether theanine is beneficial or not.

 

[haidut]

L-theanine promotes nitric oxide production in endothelial cells through eNOS phosphorylation. - PubMed - NCBI

I think this ends the debate on whether theanine is beneficial or not.

Look at the chemical structure of theanine, glycine, taurine, niacinamide, pyridoxal, vitamin K, emodin, etc. Do you see commonality in all of them? They are all powerful electron withdrawing agents, and as such are all pro-metabolic. Think of the organism as a "wire" for flowing electrons. Everything that withdraws electrons will help them flow from their origin (food) to their final destination (oxygen, methylene blue, CO2). And vice versa - everything that inhibits that flow will be disease-causing. Thus, everything that withdraws electrons is most likely beneficial in vivo even though some in vivo studies may show some negative effects. I know I am overgeneralizing, but the principle is correct most of the time.
Btw, the study you posted is about eNOS. It is iNOS we care mostly about as it is the one induced by stress/toxins/aging/disease/etc. And theanine lowers iNOS, in vivo.
Protective effect of L-theanine on carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver injury in mice. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[Elephanto]

Look at the chemical structure of theanine, glycine, taurine, niacinamide, pyridoxal, vitamin K, emodin, etc. Do you see commonality in all of them? They are all powerful electron withdrawing agents, and as such are all pro-metabolic. Think of the organism as a "wire" for flowing electrons. Everything that withdraws electrons will help them flow from their origin (food) to their final destination (oxygen, methylene blue, CO2). And vice versa - everything that inhibits that flow will be disease-causing. Thus, everything that withdraws electrons is most likely beneficial in vivo even though some in vivo studies may show some negative effects. I know I am overgeneralizing, but the principle is correct most of the time.
Btw, the study you posted is about eNOS. It is iNOS we care mostly about as it is the one induced by stress/toxins/aging/disease/etc. And theanine lowers iNOS, in vivo.
Protective effect of L-theanine on carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver injury in mice. - PubMed - NCBI

The study I posted is about nitric oxide production, which we care about. eNos or iNos is irrelevant. In both cases we have increased angiogenesis. Well anyway, you defend a specific substance by saying it's similar to others, except that particular substance may have specificities that make it bad.

Your latter study remind me of probiotics reducing inflammatory cytokines when infected with something major but they induce inflammatory cytokines themselves. Its usage against "carbon tetrachloride" isn't relevant for most people and doesn't indicate what it does when there's no carbon tetrachloride.

Why would you ever ingest a substance that increase nitric oxide production...

 

[haidut]

The study I posted is about nitric oxide production, which we care about. eNos or iNos is irrelevant. In both cases we have increased angiogenesis. Well anyway, you defend a specific substance by saying it's similar to others, except that particular substance may have specificities that make it bad.

Your latter study remind me of probiotics reducing inflammatory cytokines when infected with something major but they induce inflammatory cytokines themselves. Its usage against "carbon tetrachloride" isn't relevant for most people and doesn't indicate what it does when there's no carbon tetrachloride.

Why would you ever ingest a substance that increase nitric oxide production...

I don't think theanine promotes NO synthesis systemically. Obviously I will take into account the study you posted, but there is at least one other in vitro study that shows opposite effects.
L-theanine protects the APP (Swedish mutation) transgenic SH-SY5Y cell against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity via inhibition of the NMDA receptor... - PubMed - NCBI
"...As a natural analogue of glutamate, l-theanine is the unique amino acid derivative in green tea. Although its underlining mechanisms are not yet clear, it has been suggested that l-theanine treatment may prove beneficial to patients with neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective effect and its mechanism of l-theanine in an in vitro model of Alzheimer's disease by using the human APP (Swedish mutation) transgenic SH-SY5Y cell. Amyloid beta (Abeta) neurotoxicity was triggered by l-glutamate in this cell line. Additionally, l-theanine significantly attenuated l-glutamate-induced apoptosis at similar levels to those seen with the NMDA receptor inhibitor MK-801 in the stably expressing APP Swedish mutation SH-SY5Y cells which over-generated Abeta. Meanwhile, the activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and caspase-3 induced by l-glutamate was suppressed by l-theanine. We also found that cells treated with l-theanine showed decreased production of nitric oxide resulting from the down-regulated protein levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). These results indicate that the inhibition of the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors and its related pathways is the crucial point of the neuroprotective effect of l-theanine in the cell model. Thus, our present study supports the notion that l-theanine may provide effective prophylaxis and treatment for Alzheimer's disease."

Theanine, like MK-801, magnesium and zinc is an NMDA antagonist among other things. NMDA antagonists decrease NO production (in general) and the study above supports that mechanism of action. Here is more on NMDA antagonism and NO.
S-Nitrosylation and uncompetitive/fast off-rate (UFO) drug therapy in neurodegenerative disorders of protein misfolding. - PubMed - NCBI

Also, theanine seems to inhibit NO production in vivo, which to me is more relevant than the in vitro study.
L-theanine, a Component of Green Tea Prevents 3-Nitropropionic Acid (3-NP)-Induced Striatal Toxicity by Modulating Nitric Oxide Pathway. - PubMed - NCBI
"...L-theanine pre-treatment (25 and 50 mg/kg/day, p.o.) significantly prevented these alterations. In addition, concurrent treatment of L-NAME with L-theanine (25 mg/kg/day, p.o.) significantly enhanced protective effect of L-theanine (25 mg/kg/day, p.o.) whereas concurrent treatment of L-arginine with L-theanine (50 mg/kg/day, p.o.) significantly ameliorated the protective effect of L-theanine (50 mg/kg/day, p.o.). The neuroprotective potential of L-theanine involves inhibition of detrimental nitric oxide production and prevention of neurotransmitters alteration in the striatum."

l-Theanine alleviates the neuropathological changes induced by PCB (Aroclor 1254) via inhibiting upregulation of inflammatory cytokines and oxidati... - PubMed - NCBI
"...PCB upregulated the mRNA expressions of inflammatory cytokines. Oral administration of l-theanine (200mg/kg b.wt.) increased the status of antioxidants, decreased the levels of LPO, nitric oxide (NO) and increased the activities of CK, AchE and ATPases. l-Theanine restored normal architecture of brain regions and downregulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines. In conclusion, l-theanine shows a protective role against PCBs-induced oxidative damage in rat brain."

Finally, I brought up the similarity of theanine to other compounds to highlight that electron withdrawing chemicals are usually beneficial. Of course, context is everything, so I am not saying theanine will be panacea for everybody.

 

[BobbyDukes]

Does anyone know of a relatively clean pure source of theanine?

 

[Kasper]

Does anyone know of a relatively clean pure source of theanine?

Yes, google "pure bulk theanine".

 

[Drareg]

L-theanine promotes nitric oxide production in endothelial cells through eNOS phosphorylation. - PubMed - NCBI

I think this ends the debate on whether theanine is beneficial or not.

How can one study you found end the debate on Theanine ?
Many other studies have shown NO increasing by other Substance Peat mentions, it's important to find context in everything.
There is no point trying to end the debate.

 

[Elephanto]

Haidut : You may be right. I think it has many benefits and I can attest to its serotonin-lowering/dopamine-raising effect and it's very effective for that. Personally I won't take the chance.

 

[haidut]

Haidut : You may be right. I think it has many benefits and I can attest to its serotonin-lowering/dopamine-raising effect and it's very effective for that. Personally I won't take the chance.

Did it give you symptoms of high NO? Or did you use the saliva test strips to check?
I am honestly curious. Like I said, evidence is evidence, and I would not expect even something as benign as theanine to work for everybody. So, please share.

 

[Elephanto]

Did it give you symptoms of high NO? Or did you use the saliva test strips to check?
I am honestly curious. Like I said, evidence is evidence, and I would not expect even something as benign as theanine to work for everybody. So, please share.

I felt good on it, it's just anectodal evidence that it may increase hair loss. Haven't used it many times though so I couldn't tell. Plus i'm using zinc, niacinamide and high dose magnesium every day so I wouldn't notice symptoms of high Nitric Oxide. It may also be about theanine triggering interferon-gamma in the immune system.

 

[haidut]

I felt good on it, it's just anectodal evidence that it may increase hair loss. Haven't used it many times though so I couldn't tell. Plus i'm using zinc, niacinamide and high dose magnesium every day so I wouldn't notice symptoms of high Nitric Oxide. It may also be about theanine triggering interferon-gamma in the immune system.

Yeah, that last part rings true. Theanine is known to boost IFG synthesis and is proposed as a flu drug in some countries.
OK, thanks for sharing. Personally, I have noticed only good effects from it but the effect wears off after about a week of usage. Even in doses above 1g daily.

 

[milk_lover]

Ok, I mentioned before that I got a "cold" recently. I took theanine two days ago (it was after eating 1kg of grilled shrimp to counter any potential histamine problems) and my cold got instantly better. My nose congestion almost went away. However, I got itchy scalp, which was weird. I attributed it to the large amount of shrimp I ate. However, yesterday I took it and I got itchy scalp at the same time. Today I took it and I got bumps on the back of my scalp. What is this? Could it be the theanine doing something there? I get so many mental benefits from theanine I am not ready to give it up.

 

[haidut]

Ok, I mentioned before that I got a "cold" recently. I took theanine two days ago (it was after eating 1kg of grilled shrimp to counter any potential histamine problems) and my cold got instantly better. My nose congestion almost went away. However, I got itchy scalp, which was weird. I attributed it to the large amount of shrimp I ate. However, yesterday I took it and I got itchy scalp at the same time. Today I took it and I got bumps on the back of my scalp. What is this? Could it be the theanine doing something there? I get so many mental benefits from theanine I am not ready to give it up.

It could be allergic reaction. Never heard of side effects of theanine. It is the one amino acid that they could not find a lethal dose for.

 

[milk_lover]

It could be allergic reaction. Never heard of side effects of theanine. It is the one amino acid that they could not find a lethal dose for.

For what is worth, it has gelatin (capsule) and cellulose as excipients. They're relatively safe I think. Maybe I need to wait few more days for the shrimp effect to disappear and then test theanine again. This time, I will pay close attention to my scalp and hair condition.