Ingredient Spotlight — L-Theanine (Suntheanine®) · PM Formula
Calm, on Cue
Relaxation is easy to claim and hard to prove. So researchers stressed people on purpose, then measured two things you can't fake — brainwaves and cortisol — after a single dose of L-theanine.
Everyone sells "calm." Almost no one shows it happening. The interesting version of this ingredient isn't a mood you report on a survey — it's a shift you can see on an EEG and in a saliva sample, on demand, when the pressure is actually on. This trial engineered exactly that test.
The trial
In a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, healthy, moderately stressed adults took a single 200 mg dose of L-theanine or placebo. Stress was induced with a timed mental-arithmetic challenge, and researchers measured EEG alpha-wave activity, salivary cortisol, blood pressure, heart rate, and self-reported stress.
What they found
- More alpha power — the relaxation signature. L-theanine produced a greater increase in frontal and whole-scalp alpha activity versus placebo (p ≤ 0.050), the brainwave pattern linked to a calm, settled state.
- Lower cortisol, fast. Salivary cortisol dropped more with L-theanine than placebo just one hour post-dose (p < 0.001).
- Safe and well tolerated. No safety concerns were reported.
The authors concluded a single dose of L-theanine "significantly increased frontal region alpha power in response to an acute stress challenge," changes "indicative of relaxation in the brain."
Calm you can measure — in brainwaves and in cortisol — within an hour of a single dose.
Why it's in the PM formula
The evening job is to bring the day's stress down so rest can begin — and this is the mechanism, measured: more alpha, less cortisol, quickly. We formulate with Suntheanine® L-theanine (the same 200 mg dose studied here, in a different branded material), paired with PharmaGABA®, precisely because that alpha-up, cortisol-down shift is the physiology of a real wind-down.
Reference: Evans M, McDonald AC, Xiong L, Crowley DC, Guthrie N. A Randomized, Triple-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study to Investigate the Efficacy of a Single Dose of AlphaWave® L-Theanine on Stress in a Healthy Adult Population. Neurology and Therapy. 2021;10(2):1061–1078. doi:10.1007/s40120-021-00284-x.
Read it: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34562208/
Suntheanine 200 mg is in NeuraLegend AM and in NeuraLegend PM. The reports for the lot now shipping are on the AM 3rd party testing reports and the PM 3rd party testing reports. It is also in the Full System.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.