This website almost certainly violates FDA rules on human subject experimentation because it collects data on the effect of a drug on human subjects. I would stop working on this project until you have advisors (and lawyers) who have experience with regulatory oversight from the FDA. At the bare minimum you are going to need (a) procedures to gain <i>informed</i> consent from trial enrollees and (b) an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to sign off on your trial. Depending on the drug, you might also need an FDA waiver to conduct the trial.<p>The PhD student (Rob Wagner) listed in the about section should have had at least one course on the responsible conduct of research. This course is required for most (all?) scientists working under a training or research grant from the NIH. Design and implementation of clinical trials--along with the ethical and legal issues involves--is standard fare for these courses for precisely this reason!
I love the idea, but the execution seems less than ideal. Besides the research ethics question posed in another comment, what is the dosage of L-Theanine in the capsules? What kind of responsibility does the company take for possible side effects? I understand the side effects should be mild or non-existant in the experiment for L-Theanine, but just a discussion around that issue would be nice.<p>Again, I want to stress that I love the idea, but the web site just feels incomplete.
I tried taking L-Theanine for about 5 days. 30 minutes after taking it each day, I would get very nauseous and usually throw up. I tried varying the dosage from 200mg down to 100mg and then 75mg, I would still get the nausea, no matter if I had an empty stomach or not. I also get the same symptom when drinking more than a cup or so of green tea, and has for years (though I do remember being able to stomach the stuff in the past). It would be interesting to hear if this happens to anyone else.
Yikes! I'm a bit disappointed and slightly surprised that there's no discussion nor consideration of research ethics appearing anywhere on that website.
Interesting concept, shame it's limited to the US (understandable due to dubious legality of shipping unclassified chemicals between jurisdictions).<p>Been interested by the apparent 'attention enhancing' qualities of L-Theanine, although not gone as far as purchasing any. By coincidence someone got me into drinking green tea a couple of weeks ago, I haven't noticed any visible change. Although I expect my problem is concentrating on the right thing, rather than simply failing to concentrate.
Maybe this actually part of a study to research whether having your research subjects pay you (rather than the other way around) has an effect the results of a study.
Hey! I've been taking L-Theanine for the past month. It feels to me like I've been waking up with a clearer mind, but it's super hard to know if that's form the l-theanine or just in general the change in the weather. So many variables.
Show HN when the idea was presented: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10401698" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10401698</a>
Looks promising. While it may seem obvious, I would spell out what double-blind means, the problem it solves, and how it is used elsewhere. That then sets you up to point out how doctors use these study types, adding credibility.