I bet a ton of you folks out there were sleepy, sleepy, sleepy yesterday after eating all that turkey. Know why? Turkey naturally contains an amino acid called Tryptophan. It’s something our bodies need and don’t produce. We use the tryptophan to convert to niacin which is essential to the human body. The niacin then converts to seratonin. Seratonin is a calming agent and plays a role in inducing sleep.
Tryptophan is used in some medical supplements as well. People take it as a sleep aid and for seasonal affective disorder. It has also been used as an antidepressant. Personally, I don’t know about all this. I do know I get sleepy every Thanksgiving after lunch, but it could just be that I’m not used to such a heavy meal in the middle of the day and my body thinks it’s bedtime.
What do you think? Truth or myth?
Jillian Chantal 
This is so funny because we had this same discussion last night. And I got totally grossed out when I found this website: http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000079000000000000000.html
I googled foods high in tryptophan. The #1 food is sea lion! Ugh! Do people actually eat sea lion? Ugh!
By: Laurie Ryan on November 25, 2011
at 3:48 pm
Ooooh. Sea lion? Really? Gross. That’s funny that you had the same conversation last night.
By: Jillian Chantal on November 25, 2011
at 3:53 pm
And raw elk? Who the hell eats raw elk? Lions?
By: Jillian Chantal on November 25, 2011
at 3:54 pm
Maybe the Eskimo’s eat sea lions and raw elk. I think I might have an over abundance of Tryptophan in my system because I LOVE naps.
By: Lavada Dee on November 26, 2011
at 12:13 pm
Hehhee. Yeah. I’m thinking you’re right. I’m super sleepy, too. Last 2 days.
By: Jillian Chantal on November 26, 2011
at 12:21 pm