in Lifestyle, Nutrition

You’ve Been Drinking Your Morning Coffee All Wrong

by TK Sanders July 29, 2022, 9:51 pm 175 Views 150 Comments

So you’re ready to take your health more seriously, but don’t know where to start? At 247Health, we recommend starting with parts of your life that mean the most to you. In other words, look to optimize the aspects of daily living that naturally take up most of your time. Sleep is a big one for many people. Posture is important since so many of us work at computers. And of course, because we all gotta eat, diet should eventually become a focus, as well.

If you’re anything like most modern Americans, coffee is probably the most reliable staple of your diet. Other types of food make regular appearances, but coffee drinkers are habitual and daily and dedicated. So while taking care of smaller aspects of your life is important for optimizing wellness, it makes more sense to key-in on the major players like your morning cup of joe.

The most common complaint from coffee drinkers is issues with the caffeine crash. A lot of the negative side effects of coffee trace back to the quality of the beans and the mold content in those beans. However, if you can’t improve coffee quality, or work in an office with cheap coffee readily available, an easy way to improve the daily experience is to stack the coffee with L-theanine.

Simply known as ‘theanine’ to many, L-theanine is a non-protein amino acid mainly found naturally in green tea, some mushrooms, and isolated in supplements. Theanine is related to glutamine, and is speculated to increase levels of GABA, serotonin, and dopamine in the brain.

Click HERE for a good brand of L-theanine we love to add to our coffee

Why does theanine work well when stacked with caffeine? Because it promotes feelings of restfulness, relaxation, and satisfaction without any drowsiness. It also does not affect heart rate in any way, so you’re not artificially suppressing the effects of coffee by counteracting the stimulation that caffeine provides. The two substances are working in different portions of the body in their own unique way; and they just so happen to work quite nicely together.

Basically, theanine can help promote feelings of calm despite the “crash” of caffeine by regulating blood pressure. Many users also report enhanced feelings of energy and focus when stacking theanine with caffeine.

Generally, you want to include theanine at a 1:2 ratio of caffeine to theanine. So for a single cup of coffee that contains roughly 100mg of caffeine, you want to add about 200mg of theanine for the best effects.

Lastly, it’s always smart to start small when adding a new stack to your health regiment. Theanine, itself, does not pose any known health risks; but since it will likely enhance the effects of caffeine, the combination may feel powerful at first. But you should settle into the buzz pretty easily and start reaping the rewards of a calmer nervous system soon thereafter. Just don’t use your new biohack and better feeling body as an excuse to triple your coffee consumption.