| That drowsy sleepy, after-dinner feeling will see millions | | | | equally with virtually all other meats. In fact the finger of |
| of us fall into our favorite armchairs and nap this | | | | suspicion points firmly elsewhere - to other foods |
| Thanksgiving. Those satisfied snorers wearily | | | | which contain far more tryptophan. |
| acknowledging the widely held belief that the delicious | | | | Candidates include egg, cheese and many seeds, |
| Turkey meat contained high levels of sleep-inducing | | | | some of which contain 5 times the amount of the |
| chemicals. | | | | sleep-inducing chemical than turkey. In fact the meat |
| The chemical in question is known as 'Tryptophan' and | | | | which contains the highest levels is actually reindeer |
| is in fact an amino-acid commonly found in most of the | | | | and not Turkey at all. |
| foods we consume on a daily basis. Tryptophan in turn | | | | Before resting the case against Turkey, there is one |
| controls the brain-chemical called Serotonin, which has | | | | more suspect to examine - alcohol. In the short term |
| a major role in alertness - and conversely in sleep. | | | | Alcohol is sleep-inducing (though the sleep you receive |
| Medical studies have shown that consuming foods | | | | will not be of great quality). Come Thanksgiving dinner |
| with high levels of Tryptophan does indeed induce | | | | that glass of wine which helped the food go down |
| drowsiness and ultimately sleep. In fact a well known | | | | was tasty, but the question is whether it was |
| cure for the symptoms of insomnia is to consume | | | | responsible for that drowsiness afterwards? Most of |
| foods containing this chemical in the hours before | | | | us will not be used to consuming alcohol during the |
| sleep. | | | | daytime, making this a likely contributing factor. |
| Turkey does in fact contain Tryptophan, apparently | | | | It seems like the Turkey was innocent all along. The |
| sealing it's fate as the cause of our after Thanksgiving | | | | real reason for that after dinner sleep being a |
| dinner snoozes. | | | | combination of Tryptophan-rich foods, alcohol and the |
| Busting this myth is surprisingly easy - by comparing | | | | sheer amount of delicious Thanksgiving dinner |
| Turkey with other meats, and indeed other foods in | | | | consumed. |
| terms of the levels of this key amino-acid. In the | | | | Remember to go easy on that apple-pie! |
| Turkeys defense comes the fact that this compares | | | | |