"If we feel sleepy after a big meal, it is likely due to not getting enough sleep in the days leading up to the big event and finally being able to relax after the dinner is over. "Turkey doesn't really make us sleepy," Knutson said. So you can't blame the gobbler on your table alone for your sudden sleepiness, said sleep specialist Kristen Knutson, an associate professor of neurology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Despite the fact that turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan, that can make people sleepy, turkey does not contain nearly enough to induce. "Tryptophan from turkey is unlikely to enter the brain and make enough serotonin to make us sleepy," Malin said. The US Department of Agriculture recommends planning for one pound of turkey meat per person when preparing a holiday meal. All meat includes roughly the same amount of amino acid, so it shouldnt make you feel any sleepier than chicken. To get the amount of tryptophan required to cause a food coma, he said, we'd have to eat about 8 pounds of turkey meat - about half of a typical bird meant to serve a crowd. Tryptophan is the chemical in turkey that makes you sleepy, but its not among the highest tryptophan foods. However, we don't consume nearly enough turkey during a holiday smorgasbord - even if we go back for seconds - to create the amount of serotonin needed to make us sleepy, said Steven Malin, an associate professor in the department of kinesiology and health at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Serotonin is one of the "feel-good" hormones, which can calm and relax the body. However, many foods besides turkey contain tryptophan, including cheese, chicken, egg whites, fish, milk, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soy beans and sunflower seeds, according to the National Library of Medicine. "Our bodies do not naturally produce tryptophan, so we have to get it through the foods we eat." "The byproduct of the tryptophan-to-serotonin process is melatonin, another hormone that regulates our sleep cycle," he said. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine. "Tryptophan is an essential amino acid needed to make serotonin, a hormone that has many functions in our body, including balancing mood and sleep," said sleep specialist Dr. A mainstay on the dinner table at this time of year, turkey contains tryptophan, which is widely believed to be responsible for the uncontrollable yawns and sudden snoozes common after huge family feasts, CNN reported. If you're looking forward to a post-Thanksgiving meal nap later, it might not be the turkey that's making you sleepy.
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