The Gnome King said:
Thank you. I believe our house is an interesting place as well.
Quick question about your experimentation with L-theanine megadoses... what was the effect like, taking the theanine (Isn't is suntheanine brand or somesuch?)
What did it do to you psychologically and physiologically?
I am curious since I love matcha and I drink it like its going out of style. I wonder what it would be like to just take a couple theanine capsules with coffee? It's easy to buy here in America, most online herbal supplement retailers have it. Expensive, but easy to get.
Yes, it is suntheanine, and I highly recommend only getting that, as it is the only pure product on the market (other brands are commonly tainted with the other chirality as well, which isn't well researched and potentially harmful). The psychological effects.. Let me see:
- Strong feeling of calmness (especially pronounced when trying to go to sleep)
- I start having a more focused mind on objects (hard to really explain that one)
- Similar to when I've consumed a lot of tea, I start feeling slightly euphoric, and use occasional bursts of laughter to vent it. (Though this might be a subjective effect)
- The world around me start making more sense, and it enhances my natural dreamlike thought patterns (equally difficult to explain). One particular example of this is that I had taken 200 mg of it before playing Go (the board game) against someone. I felt like I understood the game better and actually could play better (I won the two times this has been the case, and I barely had to think about my moves).
As for the physiological, I don't think I've noticed anything. Maybe a little bit of sweating and a feeling of tighter skin, but it is hard to tell.
There aren't noticeable adverse effects though, unless going above 400 mg. At those levels, I feel unpleasant afterwards, sort of like anxiety coupled with a sensation that the body isn't in optimal shape. I especially remember when I tried 1 g of it, felt quite uneasy for the rest of the evening that day (a few hours after "hour zero"). It vanishes the next day though.
200 - 400 mg seems to be the optimal amount from what I can tell, probably depends on the person though. Although I've never tried it with coffee, I imagine it isn't much different from a few cups of matcha in terms of psychological effect.