←back to thread

My 16-month theanine self-experiment

(dynomight.net)
817 points dynm | 7 comments | 09 Mar 25 03:08 UTC | HN request time: 0.944s | source | bottom
Show context
pazimzadeh ◴[09 Mar 25 05:51 UTC] No.43306628[source]▶
> I’ve long found that tea makes me much less nervous than coffee, even with equal caffeine. Many people have suggested theanine as the explanation, but I’m skeptical. Most tea only has ~5 mg of theanine per cup, while when people supplement, they take 100-400 mg. Apparently grassy shade-grown Japanese teas are particularly high in theanine. And I do find those teas particularly calming. But they still only manage ~25 mg per cup

It's not uncommon for a substance to have different, even opposite effects at different doses. For example high dose melatonin can keep you up, and stress you out, whereas in most people you only need up to 1 mg to promote sleep.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormesis

replies(7): >>43306760 #>>43307169 #>>43307785 #>>43307993 #>>43309178 #>>43309419 #>>43314129 #
1. dylan604 ◴[09 Mar 25 06:27 UTC] No.43306760[source]▶
I would also look at other ingredients in teas as a knock on effect vs straight supplement extracts. Sometimes the extract as a supplement isn’t the same once separated from the rest of the plant it’s found.
replies(2): >>43306796 #>>43308643 #
2. cluckindan ◴[09 Mar 25 06:35 UTC] No.43306796[source]▶
How about other ingredients in coffee?
replies(3): >>43306822 #>>43308078 #>>43312686 #
3. kerkeslager ◴[09 Mar 25 06:41 UTC] No.43306822[source]▶
That's certainly an interesting thing I wish we knew more about. My qualitative experience is that coffee gives me more anxiety than any other form of caffeine I've tried, including ones that don't contain L-theanine.
replies(1): >>43309089 #
4. FollowingTheDao ◴[09 Mar 25 11:22 UTC] No.43308078[source]▶
Polyphenols...

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8601035/

5. vanderZwan ◴[09 Mar 25 12:46 UTC] No.43308643[source]▶
One proven property of tea (especially green tea prepared at a slightly lower temperature) is that it increases arterial flexibility. Contrast that with coffee, which increases blood pressure. I wouldn't be surprised if the effects on the cardiovascular system plays a large role in the calming effect of teas, and the anxiety-increasing effect of coffee.

Which leads to my other point: these experiments always focus so much on the brain without taking into account that the state of the body has a profound impact on the brain too.

6. cluckindan ◴[09 Mar 25 13:56 UTC] No.43309089{3}[source]▶
Coffee is a significant source of beta-carbolines.
7. IggleSniggle ◴[09 Mar 25 19:21 UTC] No.43312686[source]▶
One obvious one to consider is the diterpenes in filtered vs unfiltered brewing methods. Filtered methods will remove most of these. Diterpenes will help reduce inflammation and may enhance the flavor of the coffee for some, but the ones in coffee are unfortunately also linked to increased LDL (bad cholesterol), so as a drug choice, there's not a clear winner in whether filtered or unfiltered coffee (as in French press, for example), will result in a better black coffee.

From my own anecdotal experience, lower inflammation has a wide variety of cognitive benefits, regardless of the means, while things that increase my inflammatory response (for example, allergies), make it much harder to think clearly.

Side notes: I don't drink milk so can't speak to the lipids that might further influence intake. But even the heat of coffee will have an effect: if it's scalding hot, some of the caffeine will be absorbed in the mouth, and if it's very cold, it'll wind its way further through your system before being absorbed.

I'm just a coffee drinker, so take all of this information with a grain of salt, unless your sodium is too high? Caveat emptor