L-Theanine for Anxiety and Depression - Does It Work? Evidence?
L-theanine is a supplement that you can take that has evidence behind it that it will help you reach higher levels of serotonin, dopamine and glycine, and a combination of these increases could help relieve anxiety, reduce stress, and maybe even help some depression. L-theanine is something that is primarily found in green and black tea and some mushrooms, but it's also available in a pill or tablet form. In the image to the right, I've got what I've been taking. This is my bottle of L-theanine.
It's not expensive. I don't remember how much I spent on it. I heard from a family member about the effectiveness of this, and that it's indicated for stress and anxiety. I thought, I've got to check this out for myself. So I went online. I bought that bottle. I've been taking it for a few months now. I'll be honest with you, my experience with it hasn't been earth shattering.
I do think at this time in my life, I've got the things that I take for my anxiety. I take L-Methylfolate, which is another supplement I talk about in an article here. I take Prozac, which is an SSRI. I also take magnesium as a lotion. I supplement that and I talk about that in another article here. Between those three things, plus adding this L-theanine, I've been in the best condition of my life. As far as anxiety goes and my overall mental health, I feel great. I have energy. I'm exercising. I'm going to school full time. I'm working. I also have a lot of other stressors in my life, but I'm able to manage, and I'm able to do it and be happy. I'm not miserable doing all these things. I don't really know how much this L-theanine plays a role in how I'm feeling right now, but I know I feel great, and I know it's something that has the evidence behind it, and I'm going to keep taking it.
I want to talk a little bit about what this does. Like I said, it helps increase your serotonin level, increase your dopamine level, and your Glycine level, but it also increases a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor, which I talk about a lot in an article here, which helps you learn. Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) helps your brain adapt and make new connections. It helps you learn, but it also plays a role in mental health, which I talk about in that article. It also increases something called nerve growth factor, which, again, is like BDNF, and helps you make new connections in your brain and within your body. Between all these things, there's a lot of good potential behind L-Theanine use.
“Stress-related symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety-trait, and sleep) scores decreased and cognitive function (i.e., verbal fluency and executive function) scores improved after four weeks of L-theanine administration. The reduction in sleep quality problems (disturbances in sleep latency, sleep disturbance, and use of sleep medication) was greater in the L-theanine administration compared to the placebo administration.”
It helped with sleep, and it helped with anxiety and depression symptoms. There are some other studies that talk about this as well. But my conclusion is, it's cheap, it's easy to get. I ordered that online on Amazon. I feel great. Don't know how much role it's playing, but there may be people out there who are actually really deficient in this stuff. So a supplement might really help you. It's definitely something to look into. With all supplements, you want to tell your doctor that you're taking it. This is to make sure it doesn't interfere with any other medications that you're taking.
Always be safe. Stay within the dosage range on these. I believe this one has a fairly high dosage range; it's suggested that you take 200 milligrams of L-Theanine at bedtime. That's what I take is the 200 milligrams. This might be an option for you.
