Suntheanine vs. L-Theanine: Understanding the Distinction
Shopping for a supplement can be overwhelming, to say the least. Every brand proclaims its formula as superior, and it’s hard to know exactly what supplements you need to begin with.
The process gets even more complicated when you factor in different forms or brands of the same ingredient. For instance, Suntheanine is often said to be a superior version of L-theanine. Which is best — and what are the differences to begin with? Here’s everything you need to know.
What Is L-Theanine?
In order to understand exactly what Suntheanine is, we first need to go into the details of L-theanine and how it works. Theanine is an amino acid found in the tea plant.
Theanine is found only in teas made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, so you won’t find this compound in chamomile or peppermint tea. However, you can find theanine naturally in green tea, black tea, oolong tea, and white tea.
There are two forms of theanine: L-theanine and D-theanine. L-theanine is more commonly found in natural foods, opens in a new tab, and it’s much more bioavailable than D-theanine.
If you take a supplement with D-theanine, it’s like the theanine is locked in a chest — your body doesn’t have the key, so it can’t access the theanine. D-theanine can also prevent the body from properly absorbing L-theanine.
L-theanine can have many benefits on mood and brain health, which is why so many people take it. Although it is found naturally in the tea plant, many people take extra supplements to increase the benefits they experience.
What Is Suntheanine?
First of all, what is Suntheanine? This supplement is basically L-theanine with a trademark.
Where normal L-theanine is sourced from tea leaves, Suntheanine is made using bacteria and enzymes. This means the manufacturers are able to better control the production of L-theanine and ensure that the end product is 100 percent L-theanine with no D-theanine mixed in.
The patent for Suntheanine is currently held by Taiyo, a German company that also owns a variety of other supplement brands. The patent covers the unique production process of Suntheanine.
Suntheanine vs. L-Theanine: Which Is Better?
So, which is better? The answer depends on who you ask. Here are a few of the factors at play.
Purity
You may have seen marketing efforts claiming that Suntheanine is pretty much the only way to make sure you’re getting 100 percent pure L-theanine in your supplement. This is based on the fact that the FDA doesn't regulate supplements like medications — they don’t test formulas and verify ingredient lists.
This means that some supplements may not contain what they advertise. Supplement companies looking to cut corners and reduce costs can use a mixture of D-theanine and L-theanine, which can cause health problems. Then, they can put “L-theanine” on the label, and no one will check to make sure the product is actually 100 percent L-theanine.
This may be true for low-quality supplements, but it’s not a universal rule. As with any supplement, it’s important that you buy L-theanine from a company that is committed to high-quality products. More importantly, it’s possible to buy 100 percent L-theanine supplements that don’t use Suntheanine.
For instance, our mushroom blends, opens in a new tab contain tested and pure L-theanine. We did all the research and found a source that we feel good about — we would never use an ingredient in our products that we wouldn’t ingest ourselves on a daily basis.
Research
There’s a ton of research out there on L-theanine. As a prominent component of tea, we’ve been taking it for thousands of years, and we’ve been using L-theanine supplements since 1950. A simple search of the term “L-theanine” in the National Library of Medicine database yields over 1,600 results. And that’s just a single database!
Since Suntheanine is a trademarked supplement, there are plenty of studies on its effectiveness as well. A search in the National Library of Medicine shows 22 articles that specifically discuss Suntheanine and its benefits.
Also, it’s important to remember that Suntheanine is L-theanine — any study that discusses the effectiveness of Suntheanine can be extrapolated to purer L-theanine supplements in general.
Cost
The last main difference between Suntheanine and L-theanine is cost. Some Suntheanine supplements may sell at a premium because of the ingredient’s patented status. This isn’t true for all Suntheanine supplements, but there are definitely some out there that do this.
At Everyday Dose, we know that quality comes at a cost, but we also believe that supplements should be accessible. What good is it to find a supplement that works if it’s too pricey to take? We don’t follow the crazy price trends that can be seen with some brands — instead, our mushroom blends are about a dollar a serving.
What Are the Benefits of L-Theanine?
Why are people so crazy about these supplements? Here are just some of the benefits you can experience when taking L-theanine (or Suntheanine):
- Supports Focus: L-theanine can support focus and mental clarity, opens in a new tab, which makes it a great supplement for busy people who tend to be forgetful.
- Eases Feelings of Stress: L-theanine can help ease feelings of stress, opens in a new tab by encouraging alpha brain wave activity, which is responsible for relaxation and focus.
- Supports Cognitive Health: This amino acid can support long-term brain health, opens in a new tab, especially in those who are aging.
- Minimizes Negative Effects of Caffeine: When you take L-theanine alongside caffeine, it can actually minimize the negative effects of caffeine, opens in a new tab.
The Bottom Line
Suntheanine gets a lot of hype in the supplement community, but let us set the record straight. This supplement certainly can have many health benefits, but they don’t come about because of its patented or trademarked status — they’re a result of the L-theanine the supplement is made of.
When it comes to benefits, L-theanine can support focus, ease feelings of stress, and even support brain health. And the best part? You can skip the middleman and get 100 percent pure L-theanine without splurging on the inflated price tag of Suntheanine.
At Everyday Dose, we’re picky about what ingredients we include in our mushroom blends. Our blends are made using 100 percent pure L-theanine, double-extracted functional mushroom fruiting bodies, and grass-fed collagen protein. If what we give is what you get, then you can rest assured that you’re getting the best of the best. Learn more by visiting the Everyday Dose blog, opens in a new tab today!
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