Theanine – Part of the Boost

So, you’re interested in the Queal Boost. But you want to know a bit more about what’s in it, and why it works. In this blog, I’m going to expand on one particular ingredient in the Boost: L-Theanine.

What is L-Theanine?

L-Theanine (also known as 5-N-Ethyl-Glutamine) is an amino acid that is not common in the diet (not one of the essential amino acids or even one of the common nonessential amino acids), and is therefore deemed a nondietary amino acid. L-Theanine is found pretty much exclusively in tea. All kinds of tea, though mostly in Green tea, where L-Theanine comprises up to 50% of the total of amino acids in the tea.

L-Theanine has a structure similar to Glutamine and the neurotransmitters that are produced from it (Glutamate and GABA). It is documented to reach the brain and have an effect on the brain after oral ingestion. This effect has a relaxing quality, which is not sedative (does not cause sleepiness). It has also been shown to reduce the perception of stress and slightly improve attention.

This relaxing but non-sedating effect is why we added it in the Queal Boost.

What does L-Theanine do?

In other words, why did we put L-Theanine in the Queal Boost?

Well, L-Theanine causes a sense of relaxation and calmness. This is a perfect counterbalance to the effect of caffeine, which we’ve added to the Boost through the natural form of Guarana. The combination of L-Theanine and Caffeine is a tried and tested interaction proven to increase alertness, reaction time, and general attention.[1] And although there is some research that indicates that it does not improve the accuracy of sustained attention tasks, it doesn’t seem to hurt accuracy either.[2] It actually alleviates most of the slight negative side-effects of caffeine intake, reducing ratings of headaches and fatigue, and removing the jitteriness? commonly reported with caffeine intake.[3][4]

Combining L-Theanine and Caffeine (Guarana) has also been shown to increase reaction time and the ability to switch effectively and efficiently between tasks, as well as note an improvement in attention by way of subjects being less likely to be distracted during mental tasks.[1]

It’s also interesting to note that the abovementioned effects appear to be present independent of the research subject’s perception of their increase in alertness.[5] In other words; Regardless of whether or not the people who were given this combination of Caffeine and L-Theanine felt like they were more focussed, they improved their performance on mental tasks all the same.
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