Happyzine 2015 = exciting times ahead

“If you are cold, tea will warm you; If you are too heated, it will cool you;

If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you.”

(William E. Gladstone, British Prime Minister, 1868­–1874)

“How true,” I thought, “And how very clever.” What is it about this simple beverage that can lift your spirits, calm your nerves AND relax your mind? Is there some magical element in our humble cuppa that understands our needs and can respond accordingly? Surely not, and yet just think, after a hard afternoon digging the garden, you grab a cuppa and instantly feel refreshed; and after a stressful day at work, you sink into your armchair with a steaming cup of tea and lo and behold, you feel relaxed. But of course, there’s no magic involved. So how does tea work in so many wonderfully different ways? I decided to do a bit of research and find out.

What I learnt was that there is a chemical in tea called L-theanine that is found almost exclusively in tea leaves. This chemical is an amino acid that affects the electrical activity in our brains – namely by increasing the activity of the alpha brain waves. When these alpha brain waves are activated, they promote a state of relaxed alertness and calm focus.

How many cuppas do we need to drink in order to induce this positive effect? Apparently not that many ­– studies carried out in 2009 by the Lipton Institute of Tea in conjunction with Oxford University (UK) have shown we only need an intake of 50 mg of L-theanine per day to increase alpha brain wave activity. Measured in tea cups, that’s approximately 2–3 cups of black tea. I think most of us tea drinkers knock back quite a few more than that before the day is done.

But isn’t it the caffeine that causes these changes in mood? Up until recently, this has been the understanding, but as Dr Gail Owen (Lead Scientist at the Beverage Global Technology Centre, UK) has discovered in her research, “the alertness felt by drinking tea throughout the day has always been attributed to the existence of caffeine, we now believe that there is another component in tea which is responsible for the unique effect that people feel from tea and that is Theanine.” Caffeine works differently to L-theanine in that it triggers beta brain wave activity and at the same time suppresses alpha brain wave activity giving us a short sharp kick into wakefulness but also reducing our levels of calm and alertness. Certainly L-theanine creates more positive effects on our mood than ‘quick-fix’ caffeine.

So the magic of tea turns out to be the unique ingredient, L-theanine, activating our alpha brain waves to create a state of relaxation, alertness and attentive focus. This “exciting new understanding of Theanine in tea shows what tea drinkers have instinctively known; that tea can revive, relax and refresh all at the same time.” Quite a remarkable beverage don’t you think?

“Tea, anyone?”

Tags: good news, positive news