Monday, Dec. 2, 2024
Is turkey the main reason you’re tired after a Thanksgiving meal?
While turkey contains tryptophan, an amino acid the body uses to create sleep-regulating compounds like melatonin and serotonin, it’s not present at high enough quantities to be the sole cause of drowsiness.
Many foods, including chicken, milk, and tofu contain similar or higher amounts of tryptophan, but they don’t put you to sleep on their own either.
To induce a food coma, you’d need to eat around 8 pounds of turkey, a Rutgers University professor told CNN. In contrast, the USDA recommends preparing a 1-pound serving of turkey per person.
Overeating and drinking are the main culprits behind Thanksgiving tiredness. Consuming large amounts of food directs blood away from the brain to the digestive system, causing drowsiness. Drinking alcohol slows down the nervous system, also triggering sleepiness.
The high sugar, carbohydrate and fat content in Thanksgiving foods, as well as travel and family stress, also contribute to holiday exhaustion.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Health Why Does Turkey Make You Sleepy?
- Scientific American Does Turkey Make You Sleepy?
- Britannica Does the tryptophan in turkey actually cause sleepiness?
- MedlinePlus Tryptophan
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Let’s Talk Turkey
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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