Busting the Turkey Myth

I woke up around midnight of Thanksgiving with vivid dreams that were almost hallucinogenic in nature. My computer-gaming husband was still up, and offered this explanation: it's the turkey. Half asleep, I agreed, remembering that turkey was rich in the amino acid tryptophan.

This morning I found that yet another brain myth has been busted:

Turkey's Imagined Tryptophan Effect
Posted by Zack Lynch on The Brain Waves Blog

As most Americans prepare to gorge ourselves tomorrow, I'd like to set the record straight about the sedative effect of the amino acid tryptophan found in turkey: IT'S A MYTH.

Tryptophan is the key ingredient in making serotonin; without it, serotonin won't be produced. Because the body can't make it's own tryptophan, it must be taken in as part of the diet; for this reason tryptophan is known as an "essential" amino acid. Typtophan achieves its effects by way of serotonin which promotes feelings of calm, relaxation, and sleepiness. Lack of serotonin, on the other hand, is associated with depression. Many of today's antidepressant drugs work to increase the level of available serotonin in the brain.

However, eating turkey with lots of other foods on a day like Thanksgiving will actually lower your tryptophan. That's because tryptophan uses the same means of transport into the brain as other amino acids, and has to compete against them to cross the blood-brain barrier. As it happens, tryptophan is the least abundant amino acid in protein. Forced to fight for access against the more common amino acids, tryptophan is left waiting at the gate: the amount of tryptophan entering the brain actually decreases.

Why, then, the post-turkey torpor? It's more likely due to the combination of drinking alcohol and overeating - not just turkey, but also mashed potatoes, ham, creamed onions, cranberries, sweet potatoes, peas, stuffing (or dressing, if you prefer), carrots, bread, pies, and whipped cream - all of which have the effect of puling the blood away from your brain to help your digestive tract do it's work, and the sugar/insulin effect. Put simply, you've stuffed yourself.

Still no explanation for the dreams. But I find reassurance in the fact that we ate reasonably, with delicious turkey breast, carrots, brussel sprouts, a small portions of mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry jelly. No dessert except for a popsicle. Why this obsession with overeating, I don't get it. It's not that I don't overeat occasionally, but never just because it's Thanksgiving. I prefer to not feel stuffed.

I've often heard that eating seafood will cause vivid dreams. At least that's what they say in France. Anybody out there with other food/brain myths?

Comments

[brando]

I read somewhere that when you eat dessert with meat the sugar raises insulin which blocks most other amino acids except tryptophan. Is this or that or both articles hogwash?