by Richard
Admit it, you love turkey because it gives you an excuse to nap during the day and not get yelled at for sleeping while you could be getting some chores done or some antiquing. “But, honey, it’s the tryptophan in the turkey. It makes you so sleepy. It’s not my fault. Now shush. I’m about to roll over.”
Well, get over it. It’s not true.
Surprised you with this one, right?
Yes, turkey does contain tryptophan, an amino acid that is a natural sedative. The thing is, though, that there’s not enough tryptophan in the turkey to make any effect on the brain. Not only that, but the full stomach you get from eating all that turkey actually inhibits the uptake of tryptophan.
Still, there is an actual soporific (sleepy) effect from the huge Thanksgiving meal.
Two other factors that contribute to the desire to sleep at the dinner table are meal composition and increased blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract. Studies have shown that a solid-food meal resulted in faster fatigue onset than a liquid diet. The solid-food meal also causes a variety of substances to jump into action that ultimately leads to increased blood flow to the abdomen. This increase in blood flow and an increase in the metabolic rate for digestion can contribute to the “coma.”
Well, that and the horrible football the league and the networks continue to foist on us every year.
So make sure you dudes don’t let your loving spouses find out about this. It’s a great excuse and I, for one, would hate to lose it.
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