Have You Heard of the ‘Relaxed Alertness’ Effect?

If you’ve ever sipped a caffeinated green tea and felt instantly relaxed, you’ve already experienced the cool, calm, collected benefits of L-theanine. The best L-theanine supplement can go beyond relaxing effects to help with focus, sleep, and productivity, too. According to registered dietician Sarah Koszyk , MA, RDN, NBC-HWC, what makes L-theanine, the powerful ingredient prominently found in green tea plants, unique is not only what we know, but also what we’re still learning.

“Structurally, it is an amino acid, but unlike most amino acids, it isn’t incorporated into proteins,” she explains. Instead, L-theanine directly targets the brain. “It works by dialing down excitatory signals while boosting calming neurotransmitters like GABA,” explains Taylor Fazio , a NY-based registered