L-Theanine benefits for Dogs and Cats   

L-theanine is an amino acid which is made from tea, primarily green tea. It has been shown to have many benefits in people and animals.

Most notibly L-theanine helps with relaxation and sleep. It is also known to help calm one down without any drowsiness, allowing the person or pet to stay alert, but just feel better.

When mammal bodies get stressed the adrenal glands will produce adrenalin and cortisone. These hormones cause raises in blood pressure, anxiety, weight gain (fat retention especially in midriff), immune suppression and suppression of thyroid hormone which can then cause a raise in cholesterol levels. Being calm and relaxed can prevent and or reverse these issues.

Due to the above, it is no wonder that L-theanine has been attributed to having helped to lower blood pressure, but not too low as some medications or other supplements can. It also, has helped with weight loss and fat retention, and improved cholesterol levels (especially the good/bad cholesterol levels ratio). There has been indicators as well that L-theanine helps support and improve the immune system.

There has been some indication that this supplement helps in cancer treatment as well. It is thought that somehow the L-theanine causes the chemotherapeutic drugs to be attracted to and concentrated around the abnormal cells, providing less damage to normal cells.

And one of the really nice things about this supplement is there are no real known side effects. Of course, as with anything, it is best to check with your veterinarian before starting anything new. And if any bad reaction occurs, stop it immediately-though this is highly unlikely from data available.

Decreasing stress in pets helps in many ways and L-theanine can support calmness. This can be especially true during certain times of the years, such as holidays or other times of extra company, if you are remodeling, having a baby, adopting new pets to the family, 4th of July and New Years since people set off fire works to name some common ones. I am sure you can think of specific stressers for your dog or cat.

Lots of love, plenty of exercise, good nutrition, a known routine, and a calm environment help with keeping your pet calm as well, of course.

There are probably many formulations of L-theanine available. We have a high quality product that is a combination of L-theanine and other relaxing herbs for those really tough times. See our Nutricalm supplement here: www.petnutritioninfo.com/nutri-calm-for-pets-dogs-cats.html for the liquid formula and https://www.petnutritioninfo.com/products.html for capsules (site to be updated to show the 25 mg of L-theanine per capsule.)

RECOMMENDED ENTERTAINMENT: The movie "Dr. Suess's The Lorax". Great animal characters and a story that needs to be told to kids so they understand the importance of taking care of the environment. Plus it is just highly entertaining.

Until next time,

Dr. Jan