Green tea.

It’s one of nature’s most beneficial beverages as it contains far reaching health benefits that many other beverages will never manage to provide.

Now, I do want to take a second and talk about a really big problem I have with green tea.

It’s really not green.

It’s more like a clear muddy brown. If it was green, it’d look like broccoli in a glass. But it doesn’t really look like that.

I guess it’d be a little more difficult to tell people to drink some muddy brown tea, right?

Ok, enough of the funny man routine, let’s get down to medical business.

And that’s discussing the health benefits behind one of the compounds found in green tea.

A compound that more and more Americans are turning to in an effort to:

• Think with more clarity
• Help with low mood and nervousness
• Feel a sense of calm and tranquility
• Help prevent mental decline and more

I know you’ve heard about this compound, as it’s become more and more popular amongst those interested in functional and integrative medicine.

Without further ado, let me give you some background info on what makes the star of muddy brown tea… er, I mean green tea, so special.

How L-Theanine
Is Helping People Live Better Lives

L-theanine is an amino acid.

And while that’s what I’ll spend this article focusing on, I don’t want you to think it’s the only reason green tea is great for health. To see what other nutritive compounds are in green tea follow this link.

Anyway, back to L-theanine.

L-theanine is especially helpful for the brain because it resembles one of the brain’s main neurotransmitters called glutamate.

Now, your first thought might be along these lines, “Oh, if L-theanine resembles glutamate then taking it means there’s MORE of a good thing in our brains.”

But actually, the opposite is true.

The interesting thing about glutamate is it’s an excitatory neurotransmitter. So if your brain is teeming with glutamate, it might actually make you feel over-excited.

You might recognize the symptoms of over-excitement as anxiety, skittishness, trouble focusing, etc.

The reason L-theanine works out so well is that it bonds to the receptors glutamate normally bonds to and inhibits further overexcitement.

Essentially delivering a chill pill to your otherwise frazzled brain.

Now this is the main reason L-theanine is such a valuable amino acid to start using.

Here are 4 more reasons to include this supplement in your regimen.

4 Astonishing Benefits
Associated with L-Theanine

1 – L-Theanine Has Been Shown to Relieve Stress: Just as L-theanine inhibits how glutamate stimulates the brain, it also promotes the release of another important brain-health compound called GABA.

GABA works inside the brain to further release other known calming neurotransmitters. This is why the use of L-theanine doesn’t just help block overexcitement from excess glutamate… it packs a one-two punch and inspires the release of more helpful chemicals.

Odds are you’ve heard about GABA and GABA supplements. While those might be of some use to take, studies have shown synthetic forms of GABA aren’t always readily absorbed by your body.

On the other hand, when you take L-theanine it helps release natural GABA supplies which your body uses with greater efficiency.

The release of GABA leads to a reduction of stress, which can lead to greater feelings of mental wellness.

2 – It May Protect The Brain From Dangerous Brain Conditions:

Almost everyone who’s ever dealt with anxiety and other problematic mental states will tell you that living with these conditions can suck the life right out of you.

What many people may not know is, not only do these conditions make daily life a living hell; they’re also likely to damage your brain’s cognitive function.

Which, as you might guess, creates some worry for what might happen down the road.

Because L-theanine is shown to improve mental health, it also protects the brain from cognitive cannibalization.

As Life Extension writes:

“Studies…demonstrate that L-theanine can specifically reduce the molecular impacts of acute stress, and the resulting excitotoxicity (the process of brain neurons dying because of too much glutamate), on brain cells. 

The issue with chronic glutamate-driven excitotoxicity is profound and long-lasting cognitive dysfunction, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s diseases, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The protective effects of L-theanine have been shown in animal models for at least the first three of these disorders, suggesting that regular L-theanine supplementation might be important in fending off these tragic conditions by opposing the destructive effects of long-term glutamate excitotoxicity.”

Essentially what you’re looking at here is L-theanine acting like a soothing balm to your brain, keeping it healthy and safe from too much stress.

L-theanine also acts as a force field around your brain, keeping dangerous elements away from its sensitive tissues.

In fact, some studies have even shown it successfully mitigates the harm of aluminum produced neurodegeneration, a common problem in our chemical heavy world.

3 – It May Help Reduce Strokes and Reduce Stroke Severity: Strokes are the tragic result of blood failing to make it to the brain.

Without blood to carry it, oxygen can’t make it to the brain and the brain suffocates in the process.

L-theanine may help prevent this from happening, as well as improving brain function after a stroke.

Research has shown L-theanine improves the level of nitric-oxide production in the cells lining the walls of arteries and veins. 

And what we’ve come to discover in recent years is nitric-oxide doesn’t just help boost cardiovascular function… It also is a signaling molecule that helps control how much blood moves in and around the body.

In the case of a stroke, where too little blood is making it to the brain, L-theanine may help ensure enough blood is always making it where it needs to be.

And that’s just one way L-theanine positively affects brain health.

“L-theanine has recently been shown to significantly reduce the expression of adhesion molecules to the endothelial wall by inhibiting tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), thereby reducing the risk of an artery-blocking clot or obstruction that produces a stroke.”

And if a stroke were to occur?

Studies conducted in the past few years indicate taking L-theanine might help the brain recover faster, while also minimizing the total area affected by the stroke.

These studies show that when L-theanine is taken within 12 hours of a stroke, the total area affected is reduced in size compared to when it’s not taken.

Surprisingly, it’s even been shown to help improve neurological status when taken up to 24 hours after a stroke.

4 – It Can Improve Focus: If you enjoy drinking caffeine (in tea, coffee, energy drinks, etc.), you’ll enjoy what you’re about to read.

Taking L-theanine with caffeine has been repeatedly shown to increase focus and improve attention.

As reported in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience:

“The combination of moderate levels of L-theanine and caffeine significantly improved accuracy during task switching and self-reported alertness and reduced self-reported tiredness. 

There were no significant effects on other cognitive tasks, such as visual search, choice reaction times, or mental rotation. The present results suggest that 97 mg of L-theanine in combination with 40 mg of caffeine helps to focus attention during a demanding cognitive task.”

Pretty cool, right?

So if you’re not a tea drinker, but want to get those focus effects, you can consider taking supplemental L-theanine to help!

As you might suspect, we carry L-theanine in our store.

The optimal dose for L-theanine is 100 mg.

Which is exactly how much is included in the one we carry at the store. How convenient is that?

If you’re interested in reducing stress, protecting your brain, and increasing focus, there’s a wealth of evidence to support using L-theanine for those reasons.

Click here or on the image below to get yours today!

 

 

 

Talk soon,

Dr. Wiggy
www.HealthAsItOughtToBe.com