Wednesday, December 15, 2010

L-theanine Promotes Relaxation and Deep Sleep

L-theanine is an amino acid found exclusively in tea plants that not only helps relieve stress during the day, but L-theanine promotes relaxation and deep sleep during the night. The calming effect of green tea many seem inconsistent to the stimulating property of tea’s caffeine, but it can be explained by the action of L-theanine. L-theanine acts against the stimulating effects of caffeine on the nervous system. While this amino acid works to create a state of deep relaxation it also helps the brain produce the neurotransmitter GABA. GABA or gamma amino butyric acid naturally reduces stress and anxiety and allows you to fall asleep easy by neutralizing the effects of glutamate, a brain chemical that causes excitement. When there is too little GABA, it causes racing thoughts that keep you up at night.

More information about GABA see: GABA for Sleep

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Stress and anxiety are debilitating conditions that upset the balance of our hormones that causes health issues, performance and even can shorten our lifespan. Stress impairs the immune system and leaves us vulnerable to infections and depression. L-theanine offers a way to relax our physical and mental state without drowsiness or impairment of motor skills. It also alleviates stress by keeping our hormones in balance. A study found that L-theanine produced a notable improvement to sleep’s quality and quantity allowing you to fall asleep easy and stay asleep during the night In addition, because the subjects were fully relaxed when falling asleep they had a decreased occurrence of nightmares and woke feeling refreshed and alert without grogginess often associated with prescription sleep aids and over-the-counter medications.

More information about the quality and quantity of sleep see: Mind Your P’s and Q’s Easy Sleep Techniques Meditation and Self Hypnosis

L-theanine is safe to take without any known side effects. There are no known adverse reactions to other drugs. Tell your physician before taking any supplement especially if you have other medical problems, pregnant or nursing. Testing is under way to use L-theanine as an alternative to Ritalin in children and adults with ADD/ADHD, as a treatment for high blood pressure, to sharpen mental concentration and as an anti-cancer agent. Green tea can help you to relax, but there isn’t enough L-theanine to boost your REM cycles and cause drowsiness. Drinking enough green tea to get a drowsy effect would cause you to wake up during the night to go to the bathroom. Instead other options are to take the supplement Doctors Best Suntheanine, which is pure L-theanine or taking L-theanine with a melatonin supplement.

Melatonin is produced naturally by your body as it is made in the pineal gland. Melatonin’s main function is to regulate your sleep/wake cycle. As day to turns to night your body starts to produce melatonin which prepares your mind and body to go to sleep. As we age our production of melatonin naturally decreases. If you stay up late at night or work night shifts, we keep our body from producing melatonin. If you have a melatonin deficiency you might suffer from insomnia and/or frequent waking.

Supplements comprised of melatonin the “sleep hormone” and L-theanine, the calming amino acid may lower the effects of stress and anxiety while inducing sleep and promote an emotional, mental and physical well-being. The content in L-theanine Promotes Relaxation and Deep Sleep is for information purposes only, intended to raise the awareness of different solutions for your sleep problems and should not be considered medical advice. For medical diagnosis and treatment, please see your qualified health-care professional. Tell your doctor before taking any supplement like Melatonin can cause Easy Sleeping, as it may have an interaction with other medications or health issues.
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