Posted by chemist on August 17, 2004, at 22:07:05
In reply to Green tea catechins and noradrenaline, posted by KaraS on August 17, 2004, at 20:43:17
hello there, kara....i couldn't resist, although larry will have the final word on this one. i am hesitant of any claim that includes the phrase ``theanine is an amino acid,'' as it is actually a derivative of the amino acid L-glutamine, and is not an essential amino acid. aside from what i have read about the antioxidant-heavy green tea - and the potential use of theanine for certain cancers, if memory serves, but i wouldn't take my word for it, as i might be confusing this one with something else! - i am not aware of the magical powers exalted by the claimant. however, my predisposition to ding a post because of a slight error in identifying a compound should be taken into account, and again, ask larry: he'll know! i can safely say that, with a bit of sugar and some soy milk, green tea has, in my experience, been an enjoyable beverage, especially when washing down my xanax, luvox, and dexedrine.....all the best to you, chemist
> I copied part of this post from another site to get people's reactions to it:
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>
> "... I think I've discovered something! I read on a site somewhere that green tea contains something called "catechins". As well as being antioxidant, they stop noradreneline (the neurotransmitter responsible for energy and alertness) from being broken down. Here's a good link that explains the "science bit": http://www.drumlib.com/dp/000018A.htm
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> "So I thought I'd try it. And the result is, I stopped taking SJW 10 days ago, and I feel FINE! I started out drinking 2-3 cups a day, and felt OK. Then yesterday I started on some caffeine-free standardised extract, and got a real boost from that. The effect for me is softer and more mellow than SJW. I feel alert, but also relaxed. (I thought I would try a supplement because it might contain less theanine, as well as less caffeine. Theanine is an amino acid found in green tea that is supposed to be calming, but when I tried it as a supplement a few weeks ago I felt terrible - tense and withdrawn. Though the tea doesn't make me feel like that, I thought that any theanine in it might be making it less effective)."
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> Anyway, I followed this person's subsequent posts and with a few additional weeks, she is still feeling great and attributing it to the green tea catechins. Could something like green tea possibly have that much effect or do you think it's in large part the placebo thing?
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> -K
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>
poster:chemist
thread:378901
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040815/msgs/378940.html