Turkey doesn’t make you sleepy. It doesn’t. Stop saying it does, because it doesn’t. Yes, turkey has tryptophan. Yes, tryptophan is used as a sleep aid. NO. Turkey does not make you sleepy. Don’t believe us? Here’s Aaron Carol of the YouTube show Healthcare Triage to explain just why this myth is so completely not true.
Other meat has tryptophan as well. Chicken and beef are on par with turkey, and pork has even more. So does cheese. That doesn’t matter, because even if there was enough tryptophan in turkey to make you sleepy — and there isn’t — it wouldn’t be absorbed because you’re supposed to take it on an empty stomach — not while you’re stuffing your gullet with the spoils of a bountiful harvest or whatever.
Eating big meals makes you sleepy. Drinking alcohol makes you sleepy, and having to deal with your family can be exhausting. That is why you get sleepy at Thanksgiving.
We’re all probably going to get a little drowsy after eating our Thanksgiving meals, but before you pipe up to blame the bird, realize that you’re spouting nonsense. Instead, wait for someone else to mention tryptophan, and then show off what a supercool smartypants you are by explaining to them why they’re wrong. It’s the best feeling in the world.
(via Healthcare Triage)
- Healthcare Triage also explains that sugar DOES NOT make kids hyper
- The White House had people vote on their favorite of the Presidential turkeys
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