BrainStuff Classics: Does Turkey Really Make You Sleepy?

natural sedative in it an amino acid called tryptofin. Tryptofin is an essential amino acid, meaning that you need it, but your body can't manufacture it. The body has to get tryp to fin and other essential amino acids from food. A triptfin helps the body produce the B vitamin nysin,

which in turn helps you produce serotonin. Serotonin is a remarkable chemical that acts as a sort of calming agent in the brain and plays a key roll in sleep and Tryptofin is also a precursor to another common compound, melatonin. So you might think that if you eat a lot of turkey, your body would produce more serotonin and melatonin, and you would feel calm and maybe more likely to

fall asleep. But nutritionists and other experts say that the tryptofin in Turkey probably won't trigger the body to produce more serotonin. Because tryptofin works best on an empty stomach. The triyptfin in Thanksgiving Turkey has to vie with all of the other amino acids the body takes in in order to pass the blood brain barrier and get to work. Only part of the tryptofin in a Turkey dinner will

make it to the brain to help produce serotonin. The fact that Thanksgiving meals are often carbohydrate heavy actually does help. I think of all the bread stuffings, potatoes, corn, and candied tubers covered in marshmallows that we eat before we even get to the real desserts. The insulin our bodies releases to process all of that also serves as sort of ride share vehicles for a lot of amino acids, but not for tryptofin, which hitches a ride to the

brain on a protein called albumin. So with most of the competition out of the way, it is in fact easier for triptofin to get into our brain and start the process that leads to the production of more serotonin. Melatonin, meanwhile, is produced outside of the brain, so you don't have to worry about that competition at the blood brain barrier, but you do have to worry that you have all

the other compounds necessary for your body to create it. Overall, researchers think it's neither the melatonin nor the serotonin produced from tryptofin that leads to rampant late afternoon napping on Thanksgiving. Most likely it's the whole traditional meal together producing lethargy. The average Thanksgiving meal contains three thousand calories, more than most of us usually eat in a whole day, and

your body works hard to digest all that food. After all, your nervous system is set up to prime your body for maximum nutrient absorption every single time you eat. A part of this is called our rest and digest response. When we eat, we excrete more saliva and gastric juices, and our heart rate and blood pressure lower. Also, our bodies are sending more blood to our guts in order to help out, meaning that less is available for the brain and the skeletal system. All of this can make

you feel lethargic, limb, heavy and relaxed. Also, if you drink alcohol with your dinner, you'll likely feel the sedative effect of that as well. But there is a way to take advantage of the tryptofin in turkey. If you have trouble getting to sleep one night while there's still leftover turkey in the fridge, you could have a late turkey snack and that nutritionists say might be the right amount of tryptofin on an empty stomach to help produce

some serotonin. Today's episode is based on the article does Turkey make You Sleepy? Written partially by me and partially by contributors to how stuffworks dot com whose names have been lost to the sands of time. If it was you right in a brain? Stuff is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with hou stuffworks dot Com, misproduced by tail are Clang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.