L-theanine isn’t exactly a household name just yet, but it sure seems like more and more people are asking about it every day. It’s easy to understand why. A quick glance at the list of its potential benefits is enough to intrigue even the most skeptical among us.
What exactly is L-theanine? Is it safe? Today, we’re going to present as many answers as the scientific community can provide and hopefully give you yet another thing to talk about while hanging around your gym’s water cooler.
What Is L-Theanine?
You may already be an active consumer of L-theanine and not even know it yet. As a naturally occurring compound in black and green teas, trace amounts of L-theanine can likely be found in most of our bloodstreams. Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after all.
It’s an amino acid that was discovered as a component of green tea way back in 1949 and has been consumed safely ever since. L-theanine has since been extracted and is popularly supplemented in pill or tablet form.