Tired, Don't Blame The Turkey

We are sure many people have become "sleepy" after having turkey on Thanksgiving. It is generally believed that the turkey is the reason for being tired. Some of this belief may be true, although there can be many reasons for why we are tired on Thanksgiving. The amino acid L-tryptophan is commonly believed to put us to sleep, but according to some researchers L-tryptophan has a significant sleepy affect when it is processed on any empty-stomach with no other protein. L-tryptophan is found in other foods such as eggs, milk, bananas and yogurt; yet we don't find too many people claiming to be tired after eating such foods. Therefore being tired after your Thanksgiving meal may not be solely due to the turkey, rather it may be due to a number of reasons, such as eating too much, drinking alcohol, and/or being bored at the table.