Every year I Promise yourself not to go into a coma from eating food. Eat responsibly, pre-stuff your salads and go light on the turkey and gravy. Instead, I woke up three hours after Thanksgiving dinner, sprawled out like Robinson Crusoe on the living room floor under a pile of my nephew’s toys. My shirt was covered in light brown stains and greasy handprints stained my jeans.
What is it about Thanksgiving that sends me, and millions of other Americans, into digestive oblivion? Are we all happy eating turkey, or is there another reason why Thanksgiving is a sloth holiday?
You’ve probably heard that turkey meat is dripping with a sleep-inducing drug called tryptophan. And while it’s true that they play a role in guiding the brain to sleep, saying they do it alone is like saying Neil Armstrong jumped to the moon by himself.
First, turkey is not particularly high in tryptophan. Ounce to ounce for roast chicken, grilled steak, and pork spareribs are all equivalent amounts. Freeze-dried tofu has about twice as much tryptophan as turkey, and you’ll never hear your cousin from Southern California complain about feeling sleepy after eating meat.
The real culprit behind Thanksgiving sleepiness is carbohydrates. I shift my heavy-lidded gaze to the side dish. Mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pie are rich in carbohydrates, which load your bloodstream with glucose, a type of sugar. To regulate the amount of glucose that enters the muscles, the body releases insulin, which commandes large amounts of amino acids to aid in its work. Tryptophan is also an amino acid, but it does not help regulate blood sugar levels. Instead, it is primarily used by the body to make mood-regulating hormones.
Typically, tryptophan is blocked by other amino acids, which limits its access to the brain. However, when tryptophan is called upon to help regulate blood sugar levels, tryptophan comes into play. In the brain, it is converted to serotonin, which is then converted to melatonin, which is known to cause sleepiness.
Turkey is not special. Foods that contain a moderate amount of tryptophan followed by about 30 grams of carbohydrates (about 1 medium plate of spaghetti) distract the rest of the amino acids long enough for the brain to feel groggy. That’s it. However, the combination of tryptophan and carbohydrates is only part of the cause of lethargy. Even worse is the fact that they eat. So. Fuck. many.
(Tag Translation) Science
