Managing Work Stress Series: Are you a "Matcha Guy" yet?

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⭐ Key Points

• L-theanine creates "calm alertness" - focused yet relaxed mental state that's impossible with caffeine alone

• Unlike calming supplements that make you drowsy, L-theanine enhances cognitive performance while reducing stress by 32%

• Combines perfectly with caffeine: prevents jitters while maintaining energy, with 13% better attention accuracy

• Effects last 2-4 hours - perfect timing for deep work sessions without the typical caffeine crash

📊 Research

Key finding: L-theanine's stress-reducing effects are measurable at the neurological level. A landmark study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that L-theanine supplementation (200mg daily) reduced stress-related symptoms by 32% compared to placebo, with participants showing significantly lower cortisol levels and improved sleep quality scores (Hidese et al., 2019). The researchers noted that "L-theanine administration resulted in reduced stress and improved cognitive function under stressful conditions."

The focus-enhancing properties are equally impressive. Research from the University of Oxford demonstrated that L-theanine combined with caffeine (in a 2:1 ratio) improved attention accuracy by 13% and reduced mind-wandering by 27% compared to caffeine alone (Dodd et al., 2015). EEG studies show that L-theanine increases alpha brain wave activity within 40 minutes of consumption, creating what researchers describe as "relaxed alertness" - a state typically achieved through meditation.

Perhaps most importantly for stressed professionals, a study in Nutrients journal found that L-theanine helped participants maintain cognitive performance under acute stress. When given challenging mental tasks designed to induce stress, those taking L-theanine (200mg) showed 23% less decline in working memory and 31% faster recovery to baseline stress levels compared to the control group (Unno et al., 2013).

How this translates: When you take L-theanine with your morning coffee, you're essentially hacking your brain chemistry for optimal performance. The L-theanine prevents caffeine's jittery side effects by modulating neurotransmitter activity, while the caffeine maintains alertness and energy. This creates a sustained focus state without the typical crash, allowing you to tackle demanding work with both mental clarity and emotional calm.

☕️ Storytime

Have you ever gotten the jitters from drinking too much coffee? Feel your heart rate pulsing and your voice gets a little shaky? If not, you might be one of the lucky ones who’ve reached peak zen and don’t get anxious from over stimulation.

If you do, have you ever wondered why you don’t get those same jitters from drinking teas like green tea or matcha? Sure a cup of green tea/matcha doesn’t have as much caffeine as coffee but it’s because L-theanine is nearly exclusively native in tea plants.

For those in New York, remember the post covid era around 2021 when everyone and their dog had a lingering cough that lasted 6+ months? That’s when I first got into tea, I was drinking all sorts of herbal teas when I felt that icky feeling in my chest that I wanted to get out and I would pound detox teas, drink boiled ginger tea, all sorts of “healthy” caffeine-free teas to get that phlegm in my chest to move.

Anyway, that was when I first got into drinking tea, but after that whole endemic subsided I branched off into green tea and eventually matcha because of the health benefits that they came with (antioxidants, heart health, etc.). Fast forward to the more recent years to when I started drinking coffee, I noticed that I could feel my heart rate pulsing if I drank too much coffee, but I never felt that way before with green tea.

When I learned about matcha and its benefits for providing “smoother energy” compared to coffee was when I learned that it was from this one component called L-theanine and how it’s the reason why green tea and matcha are able to provide that similar caffeine boost alertness without the physical restlessness.

For days when I wanted to load up on coffee without those jitters I would pair it with a 200mg L-theanine supplement and my heart rate would relax and I could be alert without the jitters. It’s a popular agent that’s used in sleeping aids, that one caffeinated energy gum, and even recommended for individuals dealing with anxiety who have trouble falling asleep. I personally take L-theanine (100mg or 200mg) when I want to drink extra coffee in the morning to hit the ground running or if I’m mentally distressed and want to calm my mind before going to bed.

References

Hidese, S., Ogawa, S., Ota, M., Ishida, I., Yasukawa, Z., Ozeki, M., & Kunugi, H. (2019). Effects of L-theanine administration on stress-related symptoms and cognitive functions in healthy adults: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 80(4), 18m12503.

Dodd, F. L., Kennedy, D. O., Riby, L. M., & Haskell-Ramsay, C. F. (2015). A double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the effects of caffeine and L-theanine both alone and in combination on cerebral blood flow, cognition and mood. Psychopharmacology, 232(14), 2563-2576.

Unno, K., Tanida, N., Ishii, N., Yamamoto, H., Iguchi, K., Hoshino, M., ... & Yamada, H. (2013). Anti-stress effect of theanine on students during pharmacy practice: positive correlation among salivary α-amylase activity, trait anxiety and subjective stress. Nutrients, 5(11), 4788-4801.

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🙂 Know someone with anxiety who avoids coffee because of the jitters? Share this with them! They'll finally be able to join you for morning coffee.