L-Theanine

L-Theanine

L-Theanine

What is it:

L-theanine is a natural amino acid primarily found in tea leaves, especially in green tea. It is known for its calming and relaxing properties, often used to promote a sense of relaxation without causing drowsiness. L-theanine is most commonly extracted from tea leaves, which involves steaming the leaves to release the L-theanine, followed by filtration and purification processes. Once extracted, L-theanine can be used in the food industry as a natural flavoring agent or dietary supplement, often added to various products such as functional beverages, health drinks, and supplements aimed at promoting relaxation and reducing stress.

Rating:

L-theanine has demonstrated a variety of psychiatric health benefits, including improving cognitive function, improving parameters of mental health, and reducing anxiety and stress. Additionally, it has immunomodulatory effects. Extracting it from green tea leaves is a gentle process, however, it is also possible for L-theanine to be enzymatically or chemically synthesized from glutamine/glutamate and ethylamine, which is toxic. On ingredient labels, manufacturers may designate if the L-theanine is derived from green tea leaves.

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How we rate ingredients

Health is like a bank account, certain ingredients make a deposit into your health bank, meaning they add to
your health. Certain ingredients withdraw from your health bank. We want health promoting ingredients in our diet. To keep things simple, we rate ingredients on a green, yellow, red scale:

Clean

It is naturally occurring in food and has no harmful effects on the body. It is real food. It is health promoting.

Caution

It goes into one or more of the below categories

We Avoid

It is known to have a harmful effect on the body (ex. All food colorings, Natural Flavors, MSG, Potassium bromate, aspartame, artificial flavors)

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