Theanine Stops And Reverses The Stress Reaction (cortisol, Noradrenalin, Dopamine)

haidut

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Theanine seems more and more like a really good tool in the fight against stress. These two studies basically show that theanine should be able to stop the stress reaction in its tracks and also reverse whatever cognitive damage chronic stress exposure did to the organism. The major findings from chronic stress exposure was that it caused learned helplessness characterized by sharply increased cortisol, and deranged catecholamines (very low dopamine and noradrenalin (norepinephrine)). As a result the animals had chronic anxiety and memory problems. A low dosage of theanine completely reversed these changes, while having virtually no effect on the healthy control group. The most effective dose was 4mg/kg per mouse per day, which translates to about 15mg-25mg theanine per day for a human - i.e. the amount found in a cup of green tea. The second study used a much higher dose, equivalent to about 5g per day for a human and achieved the same reduction of cortisol. So, it looks like for lowering cortisol to baseline levels during stress you may not need a high dose.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 9313001856
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 3013000397

From the first study:
"...In summary,continuous consumption of L-theanine throughout the whole period of chronic restraint stress reduced oxidative stressand CORT levels, prevented the decline in monoaminergic content. It also improved cognitive decline, all of which were induced by chronic physical restraint stress. All of these suggest that L-theanine can be of therapeutic value for stress related disorders, and the mechanisms underlying its anti-stress action may be related with its antioxidant activity along with its ability to regulate HPA axis and the levels of catecholamines."

Thus, theanine may be a good regimen for those that struggle with learned helplessness and cognitive problems as a result of chronic stress. There are probably 20 threads on this forum asking how to lower cortisol, and it looks like theanine may be able to help with that. In addition, as a result of chronic stress some people experience symptoms of the so-called "adrenal fatigue". In regards to the "adrenal fatigue", I posted another study earlier, showing that theanine in human dosages of 100mg-200mg per day prevented the adrenal hypertrophy and reduced secretion caused by stressors and caffeine (when used in the same dosage as theanine).
 

nikotrope

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Here's an article from my tea vendor: http://hojotea.com/en/posts-47/

The more umami in the tea, the more theanine. People usually say green tea for japanese green teas but there are green teas in other countries and they are certainly less concentrated in theanine than japanese green teas (because they have less umami).

And lower brewing temperature (70-80C) will extract more theanine.

I thought wild tea had more theanine but apparently not. So my guess in this thread may be incorrect: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5798
 

north

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From purebulk description:
"You are buying L-theanine (also known as gamma-glutamylethylamide or 5-N-ethyl-glutamine), which is an amino acid and a glutamic acid analog commonly found in tea (Camellia sinesis) as well as other species of Camellia."

So this type of tea, Camilla, might be a good option.
 

messtafarian

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I've really wanted to drink more green tea in life because of all its benefits but it doesn't agree with my stomach. The pills work too :)
 

north

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Ok apparently Camellia is the plant which is "tea" so i guess all tea is that plant, but different quality maybe.
Anyway, this topic is very related to my situation at the moment so i tried some strong green tea already, which is very high quality, and I do feel a difference. I don't know if its placebo at this moment, but i ordered theanine and will start trying 500mg doses. I did have a slight headache, which i saw in another thread some studies showed subjects reported some headaches, so i take this as a positive sign that it did have an effect which isn't only placebo.

This is awesome! Thanks Haidut! I will let u guys know how it goes after testing more.
 

SQu

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Perhaps this explains why a cup of tea at the end of the day gives such relief. More and the volume cancels out the benefit in my case, unfortunately. Theanine is blissful but pricey and of course there's the silicon dioxide to consider. So how to get the most theanine per cup of tea, preferably black tea?
 
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nikotrope said:
Here's an article from my tea vendor: http://hojotea.com/en/posts-47/

The more umami in the tea, the more theanine. People usually say green tea for japanese green teas but there are green teas in other countries and they are certainly less concentrated in theanine than japanese green teas (because they have less umami).

And lower brewing temperature (70-80C) will extract more theanine.

I thought wild tea had more theanine but apparently not. So my guess in this thread may be incorrect: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5798

I've eaten sulbutiamine and aniracetam powders without a flinch, but theanine is the worst thing I've tasted. It tries really hard to have this extreme savory taste, but it's also very chemical and rotten. Then it sticks to your mouth and overruns all other food.
 

Peata

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Fall 2013 I experimented with theanine in various dosages. As far as the noticeable effects, i built a tolerance very fast, to where i could take more and more without feeling it. i would sometimes divide doses, other times take one large one. some days i took over 1 g. over the day. But even though I stopped feeling an immediate effect, I think it still works on a sort of 'background level'.

i used a powder because the capsules got too expensive for how much I was using.

I would wash the powder down and sometimes i would stir it into a strong cup of green tea. i started drinking green tea quite a bit during all this to hopefully enhance the effect.

i recall it was strong but more of a "mushroomy" or savory taste, if you can understand what i mean, but sort of bitter if you put it right in your mouth. so that's why i would toss and wash or stir it into the tea.

one reason i stopped using it, i ran out of the powder i liked and tried a different one, but couldn't tell if it was doing anything. perhaps i was just tolerant to it by then.
 
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haidut

haidut

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To all the people in this thread - I think green tea is very estrogenic. One cup a day is probably fine but drinking it every day in large quantities has been shown to have highly estrogenic effects in the breast and uterus (of rats). So, I think tea (especially green) should be used in moderation.
 

Peata

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haidut said:
To all the people in this thread - I think green tea is very estrogenic. One cup a day is probably fine but drinking it every day in large quantities has been shown to have highly estrogenic effects in the breast and uterus (of rats). So, I think tea (especially green) should be used in moderation.

Thanks for the warning. I gave up the green tea after my short theanine experiment.
 

sweetpeat

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Is it necessary to take theanine on an empty stomach to be most effective? The directions on my container say to take it away from food, I guess because it's an amino acid. But I'm using it to take the edge off coffee/caffeine so that's when I remember to take it. And I usually have milk and sugar in my coffee, or take caffeine pills with food.
 

SaltGirl

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haidut said:
To all the people in this thread - I think green tea is very estrogenic. One cup a day is probably fine but drinking it every day in large quantities has been shown to have highly estrogenic effects in the breast and uterus (of rats). So, I think tea (especially green) should be used in moderation.

This seems to be a rather conflicted topic. There are studies showing both(raising/lowering) and people are not sure which it does.
 
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haidut

haidut

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SaltGirl said:
haidut said:
To all the people in this thread - I think green tea is very estrogenic. One cup a day is probably fine but drinking it every day in large quantities has been shown to have highly estrogenic effects in the breast and uterus (of rats). So, I think tea (especially green) should be used in moderation.

This seems to be a rather conflicted topic. There are studies showing both(raising/lowering) and people are not sure which it does.

I think the opinion on tea catechins is pretty much settled - they are highly estrogenic. Of course, opinion being settled does not mean it is true. But green teat is now prescribed to women with osteoporosis due to its estrogen increasing effects by catechins, which modern medicine delusionally believes is supposed to help with their bone strength. Also, green tea specifically has been shown to induce gynecomastia in monkeys, which I regard as basically human equivalents. Black tea has shown some testosterone increasing effects in rats but in doses that would equal 1 cup. More than one cup also becomes estrogenic in the rats.
Unless someone can do a blood test after drinking large amounts of green teat and convince us that it is safe, I'd stick to 1 cup a day of green or black tea.
 

SaltGirl

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This was posted in an old thread here regarding green tea. It talks about green tea potentially lowering estrogen whereas black tea raises it.

http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/5/976.full

I also see green tea often mentioned when it comes to anti-estrogen treatments so at least on the surface I feel there is a lot of conflict. I am currently experimenting with it and so far I have experienced less bloat and indigestion(green tea has antibacterial properties) among other things. Going to experiment with it through the month and check the results. I just never feel good from coffee(cola is a different matter) and I personally dislike the taste which doesn't help.

In regards to "feminizing" effects I wonder if that's not because of the DHT lowering effect of green tea, which is well recorded and most people agree upon. It's why hairloss communities were salivating over Green and Black Teas some time ago as they inhibited DHT considerably. So if you are concerned about lowered DHT then yes, green tea(as well as black) is a concern.

I checked on the oestoporosis link, but most of the stuff I get up talk about how green tea reduces inflammation and therefore can increase bone strength.

Seems green tea is linked to a lot of positive benefits, but in the studies no one really knows the mechanism and usually end up hypothesizing what may be the primary cause. I have to admit it's a bit annoying. :D
 

jyb

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haidut said:
I think the opinion on tea catechins is pretty much settled - they are highly estrogenic.

It seems like milk (casein) binds to catechins. I am not sure how significant this would be. It would be interesting to know if it offers some meaningful protection.

I guess there are potential problems with tea (both green and black) like fluoride. However, the content of these contaminants depends on the leave, geography, drying method, etc. It seems possible to find some teas that are lower in fluoride by about 10 times than the average commercial green or black tea, if one knows where to look.
 

nikotrope

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For low fluoride teas, white teas and spring teas are good because it will be the buds and the 2 leaves next to the bud, so pretty young leaves. 1st flush Darjeeling and shincha (spring sencha, japanese green tea) for spring teas, and silver needles for white tea.

Here's my two sources of teas that I trust the most:

http://www.thes-du-japon.com/index.php? ... anguage=en (for the large selection of japanese teas)

http://hojotea.com (you need to send him an email to order teas, tea list is here: http://hojotea.com/img/tealineup10.pdf)
 

north

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I took 250mg theanine like 45 min ago and my pulse is crazy low, and pounding heart...
 

Peata

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north said:
I took 250mg theanine like 45 min ago and my pulse is crazy low, and pounding heart...

Do you, or anyone, know if that reaction means it lowered cortisol too much?
 

sweetpeat

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In addition to Peata's good question, does anyone know how long the cortisol-lowering effect lasts? Like say, if I take theanine at bedtime, will it keep cortisol low throughout the night? Or at least most of the night?
 

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