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L-Theanine Supplementation & HRV (N=1 Data)

200 mg/day L-theanine: a 2019 crossover RCT in healthy adults reported lower depression/anxiety self-ratings and better PSQI sleep-quality scores vs placebo, plus verbal-fluency gains; separate ring-based N=1 logs report ~+11 ms HRV with replicated washouts.

PubMed crossover anchor (stress, sleep questionnaire, cognition)

Hidese et al. 2019 (Nutrients; PMID 31623400; hidese-2019-l-theanine-stress-cognition-rct) tested 200 mg/day tablets × 4 weeks vs placebo in 30 healthy adults: SDS, STAI-trait, and PSQI improved vs placebo, with PSQI subscales (latency, disturbance, medication use) also favoring theanine; verbal fluency / executive function improved—read the full text for industry tablet supply and crossover caveats (small n, questionnaire-tier sleep).

N=1 Evidence (wearable HRV)

  • Maveric78: 200 mg/day L-Theanine
  • HRV: +11 ms above baseline
  • Replicated ×2 with 4-week washout between trials
  • HRV returned to baseline after stopping
  • Duration: 1 week onset per trial

Double replication with washout — strongest supplement methodology in dataset.

Tertiary map

Wikipedia: Theanine (wikipedia-theanine-overview) covers tea chemistry, supplement regulation, and mixed review quality (EFSA health-claim assessments, recent review skepticism)—stack next to the Hidese RCT for tiered evidence, not as a substitute for primary outcomes tables.

Evidence