Technology Slice Blog

Tryptophan In Turkey Makes You Tired - Everyone knows that Thanksgiving dinner makes you sleepy – I had always heard this was because turkey is loaded with an amino acid called tryptophan. The theory goes that tryptophan gets converted to serotonin in the body, which a chemical that plays a part in the regulation of sleep. I decided to do a little research, and it turns out this is a MYTH! Yes, tryptophan in turkey does get converted to serotonin, but you would need to eat a lot of turkey to increase levels of serotonin in your body to the level that they could make you sleepy. Also, tryptophan is best absorbed on a relatively empty stomach, which you probably don’t have after a big Thanksgiving meal. And finally, turkey has a comparable amount of tryptophan as other meats, so the Thanksgiving turkey shouldn’t make you any more tired than eating a serving of chicken or beef. More likely than not, you feel like you need a nap after Thanksgiving dinner simply because you have eaten ...