BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Thanksgiving food coma is real and for some reason, turkey takes the blame. Many say eating the bird makes us tired because it contains tryptophan. However, one doctor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, said turkey isn’t the only food item.
Dr. Jacob Mey with Pennington said turkey gets a bad rap, because it contains a large amount of Tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that promotes sleepiness.
“One of the things your body uses tryptophan for is creating melatonin and serotonin, two agents that promote sleepiness. Tryptophan is in a lot of other protein foods as well, like tuna, or chicken or even steak,” said Dr. Jacob Mey, Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Dr. Mey also said consuming tryptophan alone doesn’t cause sleepiness. It’s how much you eat that can also make you feel groggy.
“When you eat a lot of foods, especially large volumes of carbohydrates like we have in our sweet potatoes or our stuffing, and certainly all of our desserts, that causes a large increase in blood sugar, and then what does your body do when it sees that? It releases insulin and then you have a fast decrease in blood sugar and that can cause sleepiness,” said Dr. Mey.
Alcohol and your environment can also be to blame.
“Thanksgiving is often a very emotionally and physically energetic day, right. You are talking with new family and friends that you haven’t seen in a while. You’re out at a thanksgiving turkey bowl or you are preparing that thanksgiving dinner and all of that energy crescendos into your dinner and then you have that sleepiness drop-off afterwards,” said Dr. Mey.
So, what can you do to avoid the post-meal nap? Dr. Mey said take a 10-minute post meal walk, eat throughout the day, drink plenty of water and pace yourself.
“One of the things you can do is practice eating mindfully or just slow down your eating habits,” said Dr. Mey.
So, it’s not only the turkey. It has to do with how much you eat, what you eat and your environment that all play a role in that Thanksgiving food coma.