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Effects of Tea (Camellia sinensis) or its Bioactive Compounds l-Theanine or l-Theanine plus Caffeine on Cognition, Sleep, and Mood in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

  • 2025-05-02
  • Nutrition reviews 83(10)
    • Edward R Payne
    • Magaly Aceves-Martins
    • Joy Dubost
    • Arno Greyling
    • Baukje de Roos

Study Design

Type
Meta-Analysis
Population
healthy participants
Methods
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, and Ovid Medline were searched up to and including August 2023. Fifty RCTs were included in the review, of which 15 were eligible for at least 1 meta-analysis, most commonly performed by use of standardized mean differences (SMD), in random effects models.

Context

The bioactive compounds found in tea from Camellia sinensis, namely theanine, caffeine, and polyphenols, can potentially improve short-term and long-term health outcomes.

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of tea, theanine alone, or theanine plus caffeine on cognition, mood, and sleep outcomes, using data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in healthy participants.

Data sources

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, and Ovid Medline were searched up to and including August 2023.

Data extraction

Data relevant to the participants, interventions, comparisons, outcomes (ie, cognition, mood, and sleep), and study design were extracted.

Data analysis

Fifty RCTs were included in the review, of which 15 were eligible for at least 1 meta-analysis, most commonly performed by use of standardized mean differences (SMD), in random effects models. After intake of theanine plus caffeine, and of placebo, small-to-moderate differences were found between these interventions in the first hour (h1) and second hour (h2), that favoured theanine plus caffeine, with regard to cognition and mood outcomes such as choice reaction time (h1: SMD, -0.48; 95% CI, -1.01, 0.05), digit vigilance task accuracy (h2: SMD, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.02, 0.38), attention switching task accuracy (h2: SMD, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.13, 0.54), and overall mood (h2: SMD, 0.26; 95% CI,-0.10, 0.63). There was a small-to-moderate difference between the effects of theanine and placebo that favored theanine on choice reaction time (h1: SMD, -0.35; 95% CI,-0.61, -0.10). The CIs frequently highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the direction and magnitude of these differences.

Conclusions

This meta-analysis provides evidence that theanine plus caffeine, and theanine alone, could be beneficial for cognitive and mood outcomes. More research using tea beverages or tea-equivalent bioactive doses and research in free-living participants is needed.

Prospero registration no

CRD42022351601.

Research Insights

  • L-Theanine→Improved Choice Reaction Time

    There was a small-to-moderate difference between the effects of theanine and placebo that favored theanine on choice reaction time (h1: SMD, -0.35; 95% CI,-0.61, -0.10)

    Effect
    Beneficial
    Effect size
    Moderate
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