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If you’re reading this blog post, you’re likely one of the millions of people who are beginning to take notice of the many benefits of L-Theanine. A naturally occurring amino acid found in green tea, black tea, and some mushrooms. L-Theanine has a variety of benefits such as improved focus, anxiety reduction, and it can even be used as a sleep aid.
Given its massive increase in popularity, there has been a corresponding bump in the number of L-Theanine supplements for you to choose from. Typing “L-Theanine” into Amazon or Google returns over 1,000 results!
With all these options, how are you supposed to pick the one that’s right for you? Luckily, we’re here to help you wade through the thousands of different supplements on the market and pick the right one for you.
Factors To Consider When Choosing An L-Theanine Supplement
On first glance, most of the options on the market seem very similar other than the colors on their packaging. But upon closer inspection, there are actually a few key differences to take into consideration.
You’ll first need to decide what your L-Theanine goals are, as well as your preferred ingestion method. After you’ve gotten clarity on those two questions, you can take a look at the active ingredients as well as dose size and pick the right product for you.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these differences.
Pairing L-Theanine With Other Active Ingredients
The biggest difference between L-Theanine supplements is whether or not they contain other active ingredients. It’s extremely important for you to take a close look at the active ingredients list before purchasing.
On just the first page of Amazon’s “L-Theanine” search results, you’ll see the following “extra” active ingredients listed: melatonin, caffeine, magnesium, glycinate, citrate, taurate, apigenin, passion flower, valerian root, gabapentin, 5-HTP, and chamomile.
Overwhelmed yet? Don’t worry, we’ll break down the most important combinations to consider.
Energy & Focus
If your goal is energy, focus, and concentration, try an L-Theanine and Organic Caffeine combination. There is a growing list of studies that suggests the synergistic effects of these two supplements when used together.
L-Theanine can help offset some of the negative physical side effects of Caffeine such as jitters, crashes and headaches. It also works to calm the racing mind giving a long lasting feeling of smooth focus and energy to help you get into the zone for long periods of concentration without feeling on edge.
If you’d like to continue drinking your morning coffee but still love the sound of long lasting focus and concentration, choose a pure L-Theanine supplement with no added ingredients to pair with your coffee.
Sleep
If your goal is instead to use L-Theanine as a sleep aid, consider a supplement that includes melatonin. Most of this type will have the word “Sleep” somewhere on the packaging so it’s usually easy to spot this variation.
Anxiety & Stress
For anxiety and stress reduction, we recommend sticking with a pure L-Theanine supplement with no added active ingredients. Some supplements include other natural additives with supposed benefits to help give a calming effect but the science on many of those ingredients looks dubious at best.
What Dose Should I take?
The number of different dosage options can be overwhelming and the dosage level you choose can make a big difference on the effectiveness towards your desired outcome.
The first page of Amazon shows dosage levels between 25 mg all the way up to 250 mg with later pages of the search results going all the way up to 400 mg. With all those choices, how do you pick the one right for you?
Unfortunately there is no easy answer to this question as factors such as age and body weight can alter the strength of specific doses. Therefore, some trial and error might be required to find the optimal dose for you.
That being said, here are some guidelines to help you get started:
If you’re looking for focus and concentration, try starting with 100 mg of L-Theanine paired 100 mg Caffeine. This 1:1 ratio seems to be the sweet spot for many people looking for mental clarity and energy. 100 mg of Caffeine may be lower than you usually take, but the powerful synergistic effect of Caffeine and L-Theanine can enable you to use lower doses of Caffeine.
For sleep and anxiety relief, the most common dose is 200 mg but you’ll likely need to do some trial and error to find the sweet spot for your body and mind.
What Form Factor Do I Prefer?
Given L-Theanine supplements come in pills, gel caps, powders, drops, and shots, you have a large range of options to choose from. This choice mostly comes down to personal preference, however there is one important difference to consider.
Your body tends to absorb liquids more quickly and completely than solids so drops and shots are an excellent choice, especially if your goal is focus and concentration.
#1 Best For Focus and Concentration:
Proper Wild Clean All Day Energy Shots
While there are many pills on the market, one of the only L-Theanine shots on the market is Proper Wild’s Clean All Day Energy Shots. Proper Wild contains 120 mg of L-Theanine paired with 100 mg of Organic Caffeine from green tea, providing the ideal ratio for energy, focus and productivity.
Their 2.5 oz liquid shots come in three delicious flavors: Peach Mango, Blackberry and Ginger, and are much easier to take than swallowing pills.
And because they are a liquid supplement, the energy and focus will hit you much more quickly and you’ll get increased absorption of the active ingredients.
If your goal is energy and focus and you dislike taking pills, give Proper Wild a try.
#2 Best For Sleep:
Nature Made Softgels
It’s actually somewhat difficult to find a supplement that only contains L-Theanine and Melatonin but Nature Made Softgels fits the bill. Containing 200 mg of L-Theanine and 3 mg of Melatonin, it’s an excellent combination to test out as a sleep aid.
#3 Best For Anxiety and Stress Reduction:
Sports Research
For stress and anxiety reduction, Sport Research 200 mg liquid gels offer a high quality and strong dose of L-Theanine. They are manufactured in the US and Sports Research has been around since 1980.
#4 Best Powder:
Bulk Supplements L-Theanine Powder
If you’re big into Nootropics and morning routine, you may be one of the many people who love to combine their supplements with fresh fruits and veggies into a power shake. If that sounds like you, you might prefer simply adding another powder to the mix.
If so, give Bulk Supplements L-Theanine Power a try. Its ingredients list is extremely simple and the bulk packaging is excellent value for the money assuming you have the cabinet space to store it.
#5 Best Gummies:
Nature’s Way
If you dislike pills and prefer gummies instead, try Nature’s Way gummies. They come in 200 mg doses and are fruit punch flavored.
Their formula’s only active ingredient is L-Theanine so they are a good choice for stress and anxiety reduction.
Conclusion
Given there are so many options on the market, I sincerely hope you now have a much better understanding of how to choose the one that’s right for you.
If you’re looking for enhanced mental clarity and are still unsure which version to try out, give Proper Wild’s Clean All Day Energy Shots a try. Their strong L-Theanine dosage (for reduced jitters) and convenient 2.5oz liquid shot size are a perfect fit for your daily routine.
