How L-Theanine Promotes Sleep
In our sleep programs, we encourage people to find a healthy evening ritual that helps them ease into falling asleep and supports restful sleep all night long. We have many options or suggestions for people when creating this ritual.
Healthy Sleep Rituals
Having a hot cup of tea in the evening is one of the common choices. Teas that contain L-theanine—anamino acid not produced by the body—are popular because they promote relaxation and healthy sleep. This amino acid is present in green tea, black tea, or certain types of mushrooms. It reduces stress-like feelings, anxiety, and helps people relax by increasing serotonin, dopamine, and GABA levels in the brain, which promote relaxation and improve the quality of your sleep.
In addition, it increases alpha brain waves that are associated with feeling relaxed while awake. As a bonus, its relaxing effects are not accompanied by daytime sleepiness or sedation like with other elements or compounds.
A 2019 study showed that L-theanine also appears to work synergistically with GABA to provide sleep relief. The combined use of GABA (discussed here) and L-theanine reduced the time for subjects to fall asleep and lengthened their sleep time compared to those who only took one of the supplements alone.
Consider Taking an L-Theanine Supplement
In summary, it’s important to create a healthy ritual for transitioning to bedtime in the evening. As part of that ritual, you may find it beneficial to incorporate the use of a tea or supplement—like MANTRA Labs REST—that contains L-theanine (or L-theanine in combination with GABA) as a way to improve your overall sleep.
NOTE: We recommend that you consult your physician about the use of any supplement before taking it to ensure that it will not affect any of your health conditions or interact with your current medications.
Co-founder, Sleep Performance Institute
NOTE: If you are struggling with a sleep challenge, it is important to take a journey of self-discovery to explore the nature of your personal circadian rhythm and how it may affect your sleep quality. Trouble falling asleep? Trouble staying asleep? Not waking up refreshed in the morning? Each individual has unique sleep and needs a customized strategy to help them sleep better. The SPI Sleep Journey App, available in the Apple App Store and on Android, can help. It can help you discover and master great sleep.
For answers to any of your questions about sleep, please visit our website or connect with us at Sleep Performance Institute.
SPI Disclaimer
The information in this blog is not providing you a diagnosis or treatment for your sleep problem and it is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your sleep, health, or a medical condition. SPI recommends that prior to pursuing any suggestions made in this post, you review all information regarding any health issue, sleep problem, or treatment with your physician. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained on or available through this blog post is for general sleep information purposes only. You are encouraged to confirm any information obtained from or through this post with your physician and other qualified sources. External (outbound) links to other websites or educational material (e.g. pdf’s etc.) that are not explicitly created by SPI are followed at your own risk. Under no circumstances is SPI responsible for the claims of third-party websites or educational providers.