Appetite 56 (2011) 235–240

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Appetite
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/appet

Research report

Black tea improves attention and self-reported alertness§

E.A. De Bruin a,*, M.J. Rowson b, L. Van Buren a, J.A. Rycroft b, G.N. Owen b,c
a
Unilever R&D Vlaardingen, Olivier van Noortlaan 120, PB Box 114, NL-3130 AC Vlaardingen, The Netherlands
b
Unilever R&D Colworth, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedford MK44 1LQ, United Kingdom
c
National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Tea has previously been demonstrated to better help sustain alertness throughout the day in open-label
Received 3 August 2010 studies. We investigated whether tea improves attention and self-reported alertness in two double-
Received in revised form 30 November 2010 blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, crossover studies. Participants received black tea (made from
Accepted 13 December 2010
commercially available tea bags) in one condition and placebo tea (hot water with food colours and
Available online 21 December 2010
flavours) similar in taste and appearance to real tea in the other condition. Attention was measured
objectively with attention tests (the switch task and the intersensory-attention test) and subjectively
Keywords:
with a self-report questionnaire (Bond–Lader visual analogue scales). In both studies, black tea
Attention
Alertness
significantly enhanced accuracy on the switch task (study 1 p < .002, study 2 p = .007) and self-reported
Mood alertness on the Bond–Lader questionnaire (study 1 p < .001, study 2 p = .021). The first study also
Tea demonstrated better auditory (p < .001) and visual (p = .030) intersensory attention after black tea
Caffeine compared to placebo. Simulation of theanine and caffeine plasma time–concentration curves indicated
Theanine higher levels in the first study compared to the second, which supports the finding that tea effects on
Plasma levels attention were strongest in the first study. Being the second most widely consumed beverage in the
world after water, tea is a relevant contributor to our daily cognitive functioning.
ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction reaction time performance (Hindmarch et al., 2000) and higher

Being able to concentrate and attend to the job at hand are
important in our everyday life, whether at work, in your car driving
home, or helping the kids with their homework in the evening. In
this context, simple actions that could help sustain cognitive
abilities throughout the day are welcome. Tea is the second most
frequently consumed beverage in the world being only surpassed
by water, and is often credited with cognitive benefits by
consumers. A decade ago, scientists have started exploring the
cognitive effects of tea. In these intial open-label studies, it was
demonstrated that having a few cups of tea during the day
increased subjective alertness and helped sustain arousal (Hind-
march, Quinlan, Moore, & Parkin, 1998; Hindmarch et al., 2000;
Quinlan et al., 2000). Specifically, performance on the critical
flicker fusion task was improved after tea as compared to water
indicating higher levels of arousal (Hindmarch et al., 1998, 2000).
In addition, tea consumption was associated with faster choice
§
The authors would like to thank Nick Tyrrell, Mano Pillai, Suzanne Einöther,
Vanessa Martens, Kay Budd-Fletcher, Daniel Rycroft, Nelly van der Meer, Selina
Hira, Solene Naveos, and Timo Giesbrecht for their support. The studies were
sponsored by Unilever.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Eveline-de.Bruin@unilever.com (E.A. De Bruin).
levels of self-reported alertness (Quinlan et al., 2000).
The effects of tea on arousal and alertness may be due to its
natural ingredients such as caffeine. Many studies have reported
that caffeine improves performance on attention tests (e.g., Brice &
Smith, 2002; Horne & Reyner, 1996; Lieberman, Tharion, Shukitt-
Hale, Speckman, & Tulley, 2002; Rogers et al., 2005), even at levels
comparable to those in a cup of tea (35–60 mg; Durlach, 1998;
Lieberman, Wurtman, Emde, Roberts, & Coviella, 1987; Smit &
Rogers, 2000; Smith, 2009; Smith, Sturgess, & Gallagher, 1999). As
tea is one of the main dietary sources of caffeine globally, it may
thus significantly contribute to improved cognitive function in
many people (Bryan, 2008; Ruxton, 2008).
In addition to caffeine, a cup of tea naturally contains 5–23 mg
theanine (g-N-ethylglutamine), an amino acid virtually exclusive
to tea. Theanine when ingested on its own increases calmness and
relaxation (e.g., Abdou et al., 2006; Lu et al., 2004; Nobre, Rao, &
Owen, 2008). In vitro work suggests that theanine interacts with
the effects of caffeine (Kimura & Murata, 1986), which is supported
by EEG studies showing that theanine alone significantly
synchronises brain activity related to attentional processing
(Gomez-Ramirez et al., 2007; Gomez-Ramirez, Kelly, Montesi, &
Foxe, 2009), but in combination with caffeine induces even greater
synchronisation (Kelly, Gomez-Ramirez, Montesi, & Foxe, 2008).
Behavioural studies confirmed the positive effects of theanine and
caffeine on attention (Einother, Martens, Rycroft, & de Bruin, 2010;

0195-6663/$ – see front matter ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.appet.2010.12.011
[()TD$FIG]
236 E.A. De Bruin et al. / Appetite 56 (2011) 235–240
Fig. 1. Plasma time–concentration profiles of caffeine (a) and theanine (b) based on
the dosing regime in study 1 (boxes) and 2 (circles).
Giesbrecht, Rycroft, Rowson, & de Bruin, 2010; Owen, Parnell, de
Bruin, & Rycroft, 2008). Moreover, tea is associated with more
consistent levels of alertness throughout the day than coffee, even
when matched for caffeine content (Hindmarch et al., 1998),
suggesting that tea ingredients such as theanine may modify the
alerting effect of caffeine. Besides caffeine and theanine, prelimi-
nary evidence indicates that flavonoids may also improve cognitive
performance (Macready et al., 2009), and there may be other tea
ingredients with a positive impact on attention yet to be
discovered.
Thus, tea may be a likely candidate for improving attention in
everyday life. In the two systematic studies described in the
present paper we investigated the effects of two commercially
available black tea blends on attention and self-reported alertness
using a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled, cross-over
design. In the first study, a relatively strong tea blend containing
2.6 g/L tea solids (PG Tips tea) was used as this was the first
randomised and placebo-controlled study on tea and attention. As
the results were positive, the study was repeated with a slightly
less strong tea (Lipton Yellow Label tea; 1.9 g/L tea solids) to find
out whether the effects were dose-dependent. Plasma curves were
simulated based on the dosing regime and population character-
istics of the two current studies and pharmacokinetic data on
caffeine and theanine from previous studies (see Van der Pijl, Chen,
& Mulder, 2010 for theanine; caffeine data unpublished) in a
Table 1
Amount of tea solids and caffeine and theanine content per serving and in total per visit for each study.
Tea solids Caffeine Theanine
Per 200-ml serving (mg)
Study 1 520 50 23
Study 2 380 30 12
physiologically based pharmacokinetic model (GastroPlus; Parrot
and Lavé, 2008). These simulations indicated that the caffeine and
theanine peak plasma levels in the second study were very likely to
be slightly lower than those in the first study (see Fig. 1a for
caffeine and b for theanine) thus allowing for first indications of
dose dependency.
Methods
Twenty-six volunteers (20 females) aged on average 30.7 years
(SD = 11.2) took part in study 1, and 32 volunteers (15 females) aged
on average 30.3 years (SD = 10.1) participated in study 2. The sample
size of study 1 was loosely based on the observational tea studies by
Hindmarch et al. (1998, 2000) and Quinlan et al. (2000). The sample
size required for study 2 was calculated to be 36 based on the first
study, taking a smaller effect size and an anticipated drop-out rate of
20% into account. Participants were regular caffeine consumers
(average caffeine intake 306.4 mg/day (SD = 148.6) in study 1 mg/
day and 280.1 mg/day (SD = 142.2) in study 2), and had a body mass
index (BMI) between 18 and 32. Exclusion criteria were allergies to
caffeine or herbal supplements, colour blindness, dyslexia, preg-
nancy, breastfeeding, and use of recreational drugs and medication
with the exception of the contraceptive pill. The studies were
approved by the Unilever Colworth Research Ethics Committee and
were carried out in accordance with the ethical standards laid down
in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. Participants provided written
informed consent prior to inclusion in the study and were paid for
their participation.
A crossover, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled
design was used in both studies. In study 1, participants received
two servings of placebo tea in one condition and two servings of
black tea in the other condition over the course of 60 min. In study
2, participants received three servings of placebo tea in one
condition and three servings of black tea in the other condition
over the course of 90 min. Treatments were allocated using a Latin
square design such that the order of treatments was counter-
balanced across participants. Visits were separated by at least 6
days and at most 14 days.
For study 1, the tea was prepared by pouring 235 ml of
boiled, de-ionised water onto a PG Tips tea bag. The tea was
passively infused for 60 s after which the tea bag was removed
and allowed to drip over the cup for 3 s. 200 ml of the infusion
was then poured and served in a fresh cup. The placebo was
prepared by adding 10 mg caramel colour 602, 10 ml red
food colour, 7 mg tea flavour 502840, 150 mg oak tannin, and
150 mg grape seed tannin powders to 200 ml boiled, de-ionized
water.
For study 2, the tea was prepared by pouring 190 ml of boiled,
de-ionised water onto a Lipton Yellow Label tea bag. The tea was
passively infused for 90 s, after which the tea bag was removed and
allowed to drip over the cup for 3 s. Ten milliliter water at room
temperature was added. The placebo was prepared by adding
190 ml boiled, de-ionized water to a 10-ml aliquot at room
temperature containing 20 mg caramel colour 602, 4 ml red food
colour, 3 mg tea flavour 502840, and 120 mg oak tannin.
See Table 1 for the amount of tea solids, caffeine, and theanine
in each study. The tea flavours and colours used have no known
Servings Tea solids Caffeine Theanine
Per visit (ml) In total per visit (mg)
2  200 1040 100 46
3  200 1140 90 36
 E.A. De Bruin et al. / Appetite 56 (2011) 235–240
effects on cognition. Experienced tea tasters rated the taste and
appearance of the placebo teas in both studies as very similar to the
respective real teas.
Procedure
Participants arrived at the laboratory at 12:00 midday having
consumed only their normal breakfast and water, and having
abstained from alcoholic beverages and caffeinated foods and
medications from 9 pm the previous day. Participants were
provided with a standardized lunch, and were required to consume
an identical meal on each visit.
Following lunch, participants completed a set of attention tests.
After this first set of tests (baseline), they consumed the first drink
during a 10-min break. They then completed the second set of tests
(session 1), after which they consumed another drink during the
second 10-min break. After that, another set of tests (session 2)
followed. In study 1, the participants received two drinks and
completed three test sessions per condition in total. In study 2, the
participants received three drinks and completed four test sessions
per condition in total (see Table 2).
Test battery
The switch task measured the ability to shift attention between
different task sets (Monsell, 2003). During each trial, one letter and
one number were displayed on the screen simultaneously for 1 s.
The letters were randomly drawn from a set of four vowels (A, E, I,
or U) and four consonants (G, K, M, or R) and the numbers from a
set of four even (2, 4, 6, or 8) and four odd numbers (3, 5, 7, or 9).
Participants were required to respond to even numbers, but only
when the font colour was purple, or to vowels, but only when the
font colour was red (instruction counterbalanced between
sessions). The font colour and therefore the task ‘switched’ every
three trials in a predictable manner. Participants completed four
2.5-min blocks of 144 stimulus pairs during each session in both
studies. This test has repeatedly been shown to be sensitive to the
effect of caffeine and theanine on attention (Einother et al., 2010;
Giesbrecht et al., 2010; Owen et al., 2008).
The intersensory attention task measured the ability to
selectively deploy attention to stimuli presented in the visual
and auditory modalities (Foxe, Simpson, & Ahlfors, 1998). Each trial
consisted of an auditory cue instructing participants to attend to
either the auditory or visual modality followed by auditory stimuli
or visual stimuli (unisensory), or both auditory and visual stimuli
(intersensory) after 1200 ms. Participants were required to
perform a discrimination task (same or different) in the cued
modality. Participants completed six (study 1) or four (study 2)
blocks of trials during each session, each containing a total of 100
cue–stimuli pairs and lasting approximately 5 min. This test has
previously been shown to be sensitive to the effect of theanine on
attention (Gomez-Ramirez et al., 2007; trend for the effect of
caffeine and theanine in Einother et al., 2010).
Self-reported mental state was measured using the Bond–Lader
visual analogue mood rating scales (Bond & Lader, 1974).
Participants were asked to indicate how they felt at that moment
on sixteen 100-mm visual analogue scales anchored at either end
by an adjective pair (e.g., Tense/Relaxed). The individual scores
were combined to form three factors: Alertness (alert, strong,
Table 2
Timing of test sessions in minutes relative to the first drink in each study.
Baseline Drink Session 1
Study 1 40 0 10
Study 2 30 0 10
237
clear-headed, co-ordinated, energetic, quick-witted, attentive,
proficient, interested), Contentedness (contented, happy, amica-
ble, gregarious, tranquil), and Calmness (calm, relaxed). The Bond–
Lader mood rating scales are frequently used in studies of
pharmacological drugs and previously demonstrated increased
self-reported alertness following caffeine with or without theanine
(e.g., Giesbrecht et al., 2010; Haskell, Kennedy, Milne, Wesnes, &
Scholey, 2008; Owen et al., 2008).
The order in which the tests were administered was fixed in
each session in both studies in the following order: intersensory-
attention task, switch task, Bond–Lader mood rating scales.
Analysis
Proportion correct responses and reaction times on the
attention tests, and subjective factor scores were analysed using
a 2  2 mixed model ANOVA with a repeated-measures covariance
structure. Subjects were modelled as a random effect, and
treatment (black tea or placebo tea) and session (2 sessions after
the drinks in study 1; and 3 sessions after the drinks in study 2)
were used as within-subject factors. Baseline scores and treatment
order were employed as covariates. For the switch task, trial type
(1st, 2nd, and 3rd trial after switching to another rule within the
test) and response type (correct hit, correct withhold) were used as
additional within-subject factors. Alpha was set at 5% (two-sided).
Only significant main effects and interactions involving tea are
reported here. Figures depict means and standard errors corrected
for baseline.
Results
Study 1
Intersensory attention
Participants made more correct responses on the intersensory
subtasks (auditory: F1,79.7 = 14.2, p < 0.001; see Fig. 2; visual:
F1,63.7 = 5.2, p < 0.030; see Fig. 3), and responded faster (visual:
F1,18.6 = 4.7 p = 0.043) after tea compared to after placebo. There
were no main effects of tea or tea-by-session interactions for
correct responses or reaction times on the unisensory subtasks.
Task switching
Participants made more correct responses after black tea than
after placebo tea (F1,22.4 = 12.0, p = 0.002; see Fig. 4). There was no
main effect of tea on reaction times. Switch costs were present as
expected but not influenced by tea.
Mental state
Participants felt significantly more alert and less calm after tea
than after placebo (Composite Alertness F1,22.9 = 23.83, p < 0.001,
see Fig. 5; Composite Calmness F1,25 = 8.20, p = 0.008; due to a
decrease on the item ‘relaxed’). There was no difference in
Contentedness between the conditions (F1,25 = 0.63, p = 0.44).
Study 2
Intersensory attention
There were no significant differences in the number of correct
responses or reaction times between the tea and placebo
Drink Session 2 Drink Session 3 End
50 60 100 – –
40 50 80 90 120
[()TD$FIG]
238
E.A. De Bruin et al. / Appetite 56 (2011) 235–240
Fig. 2. Percentage correct responses on the auditory intersensory attention subtask
(study 1). Main effect of tea (p = .001).
[()TD$FIG]
Fig. 3. Percentage correct responses on the visual intersensory attention subtask
(study 1). Main effect of tea (p = 0.030).
[()TD$FIG]
Fig. 4. Percentage correct responses on the attention switching task (study 1). Main
effect of tea (p < .002).
conditions, but there was a trend for more correct responses in the
visual unisensory subtask after tea (F1,31.4 = 3.1, p = .09).
Task switching
Participants made more correct responses after tea than after
placebo (F1,28.9 = 8.53, p = 0.007; see Fig. 6). There was no
difference in reaction times between the conditions. Switch costs
were present as expected but not influenced by tea.
Mental state
Participants felt significantly more alert (Composite Alertness
F1,34.2 = 5.9, p = 0.021, Fig. 7) and there was a tendency towards
greater feelings of contentedness (Composite Contentedness
[()TD$FIG]
Fig. 5. Change from baseline in self reported alertness (study 1). Main effect of tea
[()TD$FIG]
(p < .001).
Fig. 6. Percentage correct responses on the attention switching task (study 2). Main
effect of tea (p = 0.007).
[()TD$FIG]
Fig. 7. Change from baseline in self reported alertness (study 2). Main effect of tea
(p = 0.021).
F1,28.6 = 3.2, p = 0.085) after tea than after placebo. There was no
difference in feelings of calmness between the conditions
(Composite Calmness F1,30.2 = 0.03, p = 0.86).
Discussion
The aim of the current studies was to find out whether black tea
influences attention. Following previous open-label studies
indicating positive effects (Hindmarch et al., 1998, 2000; Quinlan
et al., 2000), in the current studies two commercially available tea
blends without modified levels of caffeine or theanine (or any
other ingredient) were tested using a double-blind, randomised,
placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Both studies indicated that
tea improved attention as demonstrated with improved perfor-
mance on objective attention tests and as self-reported on a
mental-state scale.
 E.A. De Bruin et al. / Appetite 56 (2011) 235–240
In both studies, tea improved overall accuracy on the switch
task indicating that both teas enhanced the ability to attend and
respond to stimuli according to the rule cued by the colour of the
stimuli. Subjects responded more slowly after switching from one
rule to another within the test as expected; these ‘switch costs’
(Monsell, 2003) were not differentially influenced by tea. In
addition, tea also improved accuracy and reaction times on the
intersensory-attention test in the first study study indicating that
the slightly stronger tea enabled the participants to respond more
correctly and faster to stimuli in the task-relevant modality while
ignoring stimuli simultaneously presented in the irrelevant
modality. This simultaneous increase in accuracy and reduction
in reaction time after tea is in line with findings from previous
studies on theanine and caffeine and enhanced attentional
processing (Gomez-Ramirez et al., 2007; Kelly et al., 2008).
Together, the findings on the switch task and intersensory-
attention task suggest that tea improves the ability to focus
attention on the task at hand but does not influence switching
between task rules. Alternatively, the finding that the effects of tea
were strongest on the task performed towards the end of the test
session could also indicate that tea may counteract effects of
fatigue. Caffeine is known to reduce fatigue in low-arousal
situations such as working at night and driving (e.g., Brice &
Smith, 2001; Lieberman et al., 2002; Smith, Sutherland, &
Christopher, 2005). It would be interesting to examine the effects
of caffeine in combination with theanine on these real-life
activities. Possibly, tea can help sustain attention in everyday life
by reducing momentary lapses of attention in fatiguing situations.
The improvements in attention after tea that were measured
with objective tests of accuracy and response speed were
associated with increased self-reported alertness in both studies.
This indicates that the improvements in attention after tea
measured objectively with standardised cognitive tests were
noticeable to the participants and are thus relevant to tea
consumers. In addition, in the first study, self-reported calmness
decreased after tea. More detailed exploratory analyses revealed
that this was due to a decrease on one item measuring relaxation,
which is consistent with increased subjective alertness after tea.
This lends support to the idea that theanine, while increasing
calmness and relaxation in isolation, modulates attentional
processing when combined with caffeine.
Although both studies indicated that black tea improves
attention, the effects were stronger in the first than in the second
study. This could be due to differences in caffeine and theanine
plasma levels resulting from differences between studies in tea
blends and timing of consumption of the drinks. Moreover, the fact
that the intersensory attention test, which was always adminis-
tered first after any drink, only four blocks were completed in study
2 versus six blocks in study 1 may have allowed for a lower build-
up of plasma levels of active ingredients during this test in the
second study as compared to the first. Thus, the present findings
provide tentative evidence that the attention effects of tea behave
in a dose-dependent manner. Yet, a more thorough study with a
dose–response design using different levels of tea strength, and
consequently of caffeine and theanine, is needed to further support
this assertion.
As the participants in the current studies were habitual caffeine
consumers abstaining from caffeine the night before each visit, it
may be argued that the positive effect of tea on attention reflects
reversal of caffeine withdrawal rather than a net effect (cf. the
caffeine studies of James & Rogers, 2005; Keane & James, 2008;
Rogers et al., 2005; Yeomans, Ripley, Davies, Rusted, & Rogers,
2002). However, caffeine has been demonstrated to improve
performance in non-withdrawn as well as withdrawn participants
(Smith, 2002; Smith et al., 2005), in withdrawn participants after
very short abstinence periods (1 h; Warburton, 1995), and also in
239
light, non-dependent caffeine users (Childs & de Wit, 2006;
Hewlett & Smith, 2006) and in non-users (Smith, Christopher, &
Sutherland, 2006), suggesting a net effect of caffeine on attention.
Moreover, adding the amount of caffeine habitually consumed as a
covariate to the analyses of the current studies did not change the
results. Thus, relief from caffeine withdrawal seems unlikely to
account for the currently reported effect of tea on attention.
To our knowledge, this paper reports the first two studies on the
effects of tea on attention using a double-blind, randomised,
placebo-controlled design. Both studies indicated that black tea
improves attention. To conclusively determine whether differ-
ences in tea strength and dosing regime can explain the subtle
differences in results between the studies, a dose–response study
on tea and attention should be carried out. A study with a full
factorial design contrasting tea with and without theanine and/or
caffeine could shed more light on the relative contribution of
theanine and caffeine to the effect of tea on attention. Being the
second most widely consumed beverage in the world after water,
tea is a relevant contributor to our daily cognitive functioning.
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