Should I Drink Tea, or Take L-Theanine?
A simple amino acid may help with focus and sleep.
Recently, Joe, one of my patients, asked if he should start taking L-theanine. Joe has ADHD, and he had found an online supplement site selling L-theanine as an aid for both improving attention and decreasing anxiety.
Joe had felt overly revved up on coffee, but still relied on it on occasion when deadlines loomed at work. He knew that tea, like coffee, contained caffeine. He had wondered why tea affected him substantially differently than coffee.
I discussed with Joe some of the properties of L-theanine, a chemical abundant in tea. I compared the likely effects of taking L-theanine supplements to drinking tea. We also reviewed some of the uncertainties inherent in consuming any plant-derived product, and the loose regulation of supplements in the US.
Joe decided to hold off on trying L-theanine. That had less to do with the content of our discussion, and more to do with his ADHD trait of waffling rather than making a decision. He wasn’t sure that L-theanine was his cup of tea. But he felt that much of what we had talked about would be useful to share with others.
