Daily supplements of L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea, may help people with anxiety focus on their daily activities, suggests a new study from Japan.
On the other hand, people with minimal anxiety levels did not experience any benefits from supplementation, according to findings published in the Journal of Functional Foods.
“Given that L-theanine is a relaxant, it is directly or indirectly involved at the neurochemical level and thus it is impacted by a number of neurotransmitter systems,” wrote the scientists from the University of Shiga Prefecture and Taiyo Kagaku.
“Therefore, 200 mg of L-theanine intake may help normal people with high anxiety propensity to concentrate on their daily activities.”
The study used Taiyo Kagaku’s Suntheanine-branded L-theanine ingredient, and the Japanese company funded the study.
L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea leaves, is thought to help reduce stress, promote relaxation and improve the quality of sleep. L-theanine is found in tea leaves in low concentrations (less than 2 percent), which means that effective dosage levels (of 100 – 200mg/day) cannot be delivered from drinking tea.
Various health effects have been associated with L-theanine, including relaxation, neuroprotective effects, and improved attention.
During rest, L-theanine increases alpha activity in EEG models - suggesting greater relaxation. Whilst the amino acid is known to induce changes in alpha activity that indicates increased attentional processing during tasks that require attention.
The new study confirmed the dose of 200 mg for “enhanced performance in visual attention task, and reaction time response, among the subjects with higher anxiety propensity symptoms”.
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