Green tea extract effect on anxiety & stress
/I've been carrying a small bottle of L-Theanine in my work bag for years.
I discovered a few years ago that it has acute and significant cognitive enhancement effects: it increased my focus and mental sharpness.
I don't take it often. I usually take it only before big and important meetings (e.g. board presentations) or big public speaking events (e.g. when I'm speaking in front of large groups of people and I want to make a strong impression).
The cognitive (mental) benefits of L-Theanine have been documented in the research for years (https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jmf.2009.1374).
L-Theanine is an amino acid found in green tea. It increases your ability to focus "without the jittery side effects you commonly get from caffeine".
And because it's NOT caffeine: it doesn't affect your sleep. You can take it to work on something in the evening and still be able to go to sleep afterwards and get good quality sleep.
A new metastudy (review of multiple studies) from the University of Canberra in Australia investigated the effects of L-Theanine supplementation on "anxiety" and "ability to manage stress".
The metastudy revealed that "supplementation of 200-400 mg/day of L-THE may assist in the reduction of stress and anxiety in people exposed to stressful conditions".
You can get T-Theanine naturally from green tea, or a good quality supplement.
