Endurance athlete and Spartan Race founder Joe De Sena created his lifestyle company to challenge athletes of all levels mentally and physically. Overcoming obstacles means equipping yourself with the best advantages possible. On a recent episode of De Sena’s Spartan Up podcast, functional medicine expert and runner Bryce Wylde shared nutrition hacks to support the minds and bodies of Spartans. We’re excited he singled out Suntheanine, and we loved De Sena’s story connecting it with ancient warriors.
Suntheanine is a pure form of L-theanine, an amino acid found in green tea. Wylde emphasized that not all L-theanine supplements are created equally: “There’s only one (ingredient) out there that works, and it’s in dozens and dozens of products, whether beverage, or supplemental or tablets, and it’s called Suntheanine,” said Wylde.
Extracting L-theanine from green tea is prohibitively expensive, he explained, so if you see products claiming to contain “pure theanine from green tea,” that’s most likely untrue. Suntheanine is produced through a slow fermentation process that mimics the natural process in green tea leaves.
Wylde said it’s important to look for quality ingredients on product labels. “I’m the ingredients guy; I travel the planet; I go all around the world, boots on the ground in the manufacturing centers of the companies that make the raw materials that service consumer facing brands.”
Because Wylde visited Suntheanine’s manufacturer Taiyo in Japan, he knows this ingredient is backed by science. “It’s been proven in 70 human clinical trials to improve focus, attention, alertness, concentration and sleep,” said Wylde. “It improves alpha waves … that state of focused attention without being overstimulated.”
For centuries, people have been drinking green tea for relaxation. While visiting the ancient Greek city of Sparta, De Sena asked about the herbs being gathered in the mountains. “That’s the tea that Hippocrates and Socrates would drink. That’s the tea that the warriors would boil and then drop it on their cuts and bruises,” he was told.
Today, athletes who want the benefits of L-theanine can choose one of many products that are made with Suntheanine. They make it easier to get enough L-theanine to experience the benefits.
Try Suntheanine if you need help to calm down, focus and get better sleep. “What we need as runners and endurance athletes is better focus, better coordination, better brain function, and that’s going to lead to better physical outcomes,” said Wylde.
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