What is theanine? What are the effects and functions of theanine

Theanine is a free amino acid unique to tea. It is the ingredient in tea that helps produce body fluids and moisturize the field. Most of the health foods on the market are for adults to prevent or improve diseases. Health foods like theanine, which have no hypnotic effect but can relieve fatigue, lower blood pressure and improve learning and memory abilities, are rare and eye-catching. In addition, theanine has been found to have liver protection and anti-oxidation effects. The safety of theanine has also been proven.

(1) Absorption and metabolism.

After oral theanine enters the human body, it is absorbed through the intestinal brush border mucosa, enters the blood, and is dispersed to tissues and organs through blood circulation. A portion of it is excreted from the urine after being broken down by the kidneys. Theanine absorbed into the blood and liver decreases in concentration after 1 hour, the concentration of theanine in the brain reaches its highest point after 5 hours, and all theanine in the human body disappears after 24 hours and is excreted in the urine.

(2) Regulate changes in neurotransmitters in the brain.

Theanine affects the metabolism and release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine in the brain, and brain diseases controlled by these neurotransmitters may be regulated or prevented as a result.

(3) Improve learning ability and memory.

In animal experiments, it was also found that mice taking theanine had better learning ability and memory than the control group. Animal experiments found that after mice took theanine for 3-4 months, their learning ability was tested. The test results showed that the dopamine concentration of mice taking theanine was high. There are many types of learning ability tests. One of them is to put a mouse in a box with a light in the box. When the light is on, press a switch and food will come out. The mice that took theanine were able to master the essentials in a shorter time and had a higher learning ability than the mice that did not take theanine. The second method is to take advantage of the mouse's habit of hiding in dark places. When the mouse runs to a dark place, it is shocked with electricity. The mice taking theanine tend to wander in the light to avoid being shocked, indicating that they have a stronger memory of the danger of dark places. It can be seen that theanine has the effect of improving the memory and learning ability of mice.

(4) Sedative effect.

Caffeine is a well-known stimulant, but people feel relaxed, calm and happy when drinking tea. It has now been confirmed that this is mainly the effect of theanine.

(5) Improve premenstrual syndrome.

Most women experience PMS. PMS is a set of symptoms of mental and physical discomfort that occur in women aged 25-45 years old 3-10 days before menstruation. Mentally, the main symptoms include irritability, anger, depression, anxiety, inability to concentrate, etc. Physically, the main symptoms include fatigue, insomnia, headache, chest pain, lower abdominal pain, back pain, cold hands and feet, etc. Theanine's calming effects have led to its potential to improve premenstrual syndrome, and clinical trials on women have demonstrated its effectiveness.

(6) Protect nerve cells.

Theanine can inhibit the death of neurons caused by transient cerebral ischemia and has a protective effect on neurons. The death of nerve cells is closely related to the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. When there is too much glutamate, cells die, which is often the cause of diseases such as Alzheimer's. Theanine has a similar structure to glutamate and will compete for binding sites, thereby inhibiting nerve cell death. Theanine may be used to treat and prevent brain disorders caused by glutamate, such as cerebral embolism, cerebral hemorrhage and other cerebral strokes, as well as anemia and Alzheimer's disease caused by brain surgery or brain injury.

(7) It has the effect of lowering blood pressure.

In animal experiments, when theanine was injected into rats with spontaneous hypertension, their diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure and mean blood pressure all decreased, and the degree of decrease was related to the dose, but there was no significant change in heart rate; theanine had no effect on lowering blood pressure in rats with normal blood pressure, indicating that theanine only has a blood pressure-lowering effect on rats with hypertension. Theanine may lower blood pressure by regulating the concentration of neurotransmitters in the brain.

(8) Enhance the efficacy of anticancer drugs.

The incidence and mortality of cancer remain high, and drugs developed to treat cancer often have strong side effects. In cancer treatment, in addition to using anticancer drugs, multiple drugs that suppress their side effects must be used simultaneously. Theanine itself has no anti-tumor activity, but it can enhance the activity of a variety of anti-tumor drugs. When theanine is used together with anti-tumor drugs, theanine can prevent the anti-tumor drugs from flowing out of tumor cells, thereby enhancing the anti-cancer effect of the anti-tumor drugs. Theanine can also reduce the side effects of anti-tumor drugs, such as regulating lipid peroxidation levels and alleviating side effects such as the reduction of white blood cells and bone marrow cells caused by anti-tumor drugs. Theanine also has the effect of inhibiting cancer cell infiltration, which is a necessary way for cancer cells to spread. Inhibiting its infiltration can stop the spread of cancer.

It is well known that drinking tea can help lose weight. Drinking tea for a long time can make people thinner and remove fat. In addition, theanine has been found to have liver protection and anti-oxidation effects. The safety of theanine has also been proven.