Every year millions of people feast on turkey for Thanksgiving with their family and friends. Everyone knows someone in their family who has a seat comfortably on the couch after consuming the goods, and then falls into a fast all-consuming slumber. Perhaps they sleep so well they even tell you about it by snoring! What if this Thanksgiving you can say it isn’t their fault? It’s the chemicals in their brains that made them do it! Yes that’s right!
We are talking about Tryptophan. It’s an amino acid that the body does not make on its own. Turkey has it. Chicken does too. There are other foods and drink that have Tryptophan amino acid in it as well. Whole Milk has the most at 732 mg. per quart, and 2% milk has 551 mg per quart, canned tuna has the next highest amount at 472 mg per ounce! Oats, cheese, nuts and seeds, bread, chocolate, and apples/bananas have the lowest levels of Tryptophan. Chicken and turkey range from 238 mg. per lb. to 410 mg per lb, which is a sizable amount comparative to whole milk.
Whole Milk has the most Tryptophan! Let’s let that resonate a moment. Anyone who has ever fed a baby a bottle of milk has witnessed the significant effects of warm milk on a baby’s nestling body. Their eyes flit and flutter and roll back in their head while their suckling slows of the deliciously warm contents. But, attempt to take away that bottle of milk and they will look at you with one eye open and start suckling once again, as if to say, “Please don’t take it away, it’s not empty”. Milk is delicious to a baby and that milk-induced coma is rewarding to a parent attempting to get their baby to fall asleep.
Tryptophan is an amino acid that helps with mood and serotonin levels and is acquired through the diet. It also helps with melatonin, niacin/Vitamin B3 levels. It gets a bad rap when people say they feel so tired after Thanksgiving dinner, which is partially true. The Tryptophan can help with melatonin and sleep production, however, the large carbohydrate-laden meals that are eaten on Thanksgiving Day spike insulin levels and insulin prevents the body from eliminating the amino acid, which allows it to hang out in the brain.
Without enough Tryptophan absorbed into the body, nutritional diseases can develop. Bottle up Tryptophan and take some for a good night’s sleep. We have all heard of purchasing melatonin for the same reason. For those who choose to absorb their vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids from our diets however, they choose to eat/drink instead. So have some milk with that turkey dinner this Thanksgiving Day.
