We all know that turkey makes you sleepy, right? That’s why we all start yawning after the Thanksgiving meal.
But this fact is “mostly fiction,” according to Dr. John Swartzberg, head of the editorial board at the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter.
So why does this myth persist? Dr. Swartzberg says it has to do with the fact that turkey has a moderate amount of an essential amino acid called tryptophan.
“Speculation was that when we consume the tryptophan, it would go to our brain and get converted into serotonin, which has a calming effect. So, this is where the idea that the high concentration of tryptophan in Turkey might translate into a calming effect in helping us get to sleep,” Dr. Swartzberg said. “The fact is that this has never been shown clinically to be the case.”
So, could there be something else at work here?
“What makes us so tired after the Thanksgiving dinner is all that we eat and maybe a little bit about how much we drink,” Dr. Swartzberg told me.
And remember, much of what we eat at holiday meals is loaded with carbohydrates – the rolls, stuffing and gravy, potatoes, and pie – carbs that can trigger sleepiness.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
More Info: The UC Berkeley Wellness Letter is a subscription publication, but NW Newsradio listeners can use this special link to get free access to the article Does Turkey Really Make You Sleepy? until Dec. 23, 2022.