Short answer: what makes you tired when you eat turkey:
Turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan which can make people feel sleepy or tired. However, the amount of tryptophan in turkey is not significantly higher than in other meats. The post-meal fatigue may be due to overeating and the body’s natural response to digesting a large meal.
A Step-by-step Breakdown of What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Turkey
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and for many people, that means feasting on a delicious turkey dinner. But have you ever wondered why eating turkey can make you feel so sleepy? Or what actually happens to your body when you consume this popular holiday bird? In this blog post, we’ll provide a step-by-step breakdown of exactly what happens to your body when you eat turkey.
Step 1: You Start Salivating
The first thing that happens when you smell or see cooked turkey is your mouth starts watering. That’s because saliva contains digestive enzymes that help break down food before it even enters your stomach.
Step 2: Your Stomach Starts Digging In
Once the turkey reaches your stomach, it begins to get broken down further by gastric juices. These juices contain hydrochloric acid and enzymes like pepsin and lipase, which work together to liquefy food into chyme (a semiliquid mass). The proteins in turkey are particularly challenging for your digestive system – they require more time and energy to break down than most other foods.
Step 3: Nutrients Get Absorbed into Your Bloodstream
After chyme leaves the stomach and passes through the small intestine, nutrients from the digested food begin entering the bloodstream. This includes everything from carbohydrates and fats to vitamins and minerals found in the turkey meat.
Step 4: Tryptophan Enters Your Brain
Tryptophan is an amino acid commonly found in poultry products such as chicken or turkey. Once tryptophan enters one’s body due to consuming Turkey Meat as part of our diet; it gets converted into serotonin- neurotransmitter helping regulate mood/happiness- producing neurotransmitter as well dopamine – hormone amplifying satisfaction levels too high!
Step 5: Serotonin Production Increases
Serotonin production increases after consuming tryptophan then primarily helps with balancing mental wellbeing against depression rates etc., it is one reason many people feel happier or more relaxed after consuming turkey.
Step 6: Melatonin Levels Rise
Once the body starts to produce serotonin, some of that will be converted into melatonin. Melatonin is responsible for helping us sleep and keeping our circadian rhythms in check. So if you’re feeling particularly sleepy after your Thanksgiving meal, thank (or blame) your brain’s increased melatonin production!
Conclusion:
In conclusion, eating turkey on Thanksgiving can impact everything from saliva levels to brain chemistry. From breaking down proteins like pepsin and lipase by enzymes; tryptophan conversion through digestion creating dopamine/serotonin levels boosts psychological well-being while increasing happiness rates within a person- contributing towards better sleeping cycle timing which all help lead towards handling stress with less friction! It makes sense why this delicious bird has become such an essential part of our holiday celebrations!
Frequently Asked Questions: What Makes You Tired When You Eat Turkey?
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means a lot of turkey would be consumed during this time. Turkey has become synonymous with Thanksgiving feasts, but do you know what makes you feel so lethargic after eating it? Many people believe that tryptophan is the culprit; however, there’s more to it than just that one amino acid.
To understand why we feel tired after consuming turkey, we need to dig deeper into how our body processes food and what goes on inside when we eat bird meat.
Firstly, let’s address the elephant in the room – tryptophan. Yes, turkey contains an amino acid named tryptophan which promotes relaxation and sleepiness by producing serotonin in your brain. However, before you blame all your drowsiness on this fabulous fowl for its high levels of tryptophan content- think about all those other foods like milk or cheese from dairy products-All these contain way higher amounts of tryptophan than turkey does! Besides, only a minuscule amount of tryptophan passes through your brain barrier due to competition with other proteins present in abundant quantities- So ultimately not enough is making you sleepy!
What really makes us sluggish after indulging in our favorite Thanksgiving feast is overeating good old carbs & fats! When carbohydrate intake increases beyond bodily needs’ capacity (which inevitably happens during such grandiose meals), insulin release mechanism triggers—but as soon as blood glucose surpasses energy requirements-they are stored as glycogen reserves-an energy source readily available for later “just-in-case situations .” In simpler words: Eating carbohydrates stimulate Insulin-the hormone responsible for regulating glucose taking place—producing lots/gobs-of-energy-storage molecules(known as Glycogen)that offer reserve power ready-to-use; thus contributing to feelings of weariness/sleepiness right-after-that-indulgent-feast!
Secondly-Turkey takes significant amounts of energy!! Our body’s metabolic mechanism has A LOT going on and breaking down food is a big task! When we eat turkey, our stomach requires a lot of oxygenated blood to break it down. Similarly, since some protein sources require more effort by the digestive system(calories used) than others like carbohydrates. Thus due to catabolic reactions( “using up” biological structures-of proteins in synthesizing Energy molecules-ATP)- more fuel/calories are burned off during its breakdown process compared to other nutrients; leading us towards fatigue.
Lastly overhydrating yourself along with having large meals(Turkey inclusive) tends— which puts an extra strain on your cardiovascular system thus causing drowsiness & increases digestion workloads in your gut-to put it simply-More you load-up-more-you-work(pump blood through your veins faster). Ultimately as per this overflow principle-naturally occurring after filling ourselves further would result in hours of unwanted slumber too!
In conclusion, while tryptophan from turkey does have mild sleep-inducing effects-the actual source-of-fatigue from all that holiday indulgence is mainly because eating carbs + fats stimulates insulin production- giving way to stored glycogen use—protein-rich foods requiring additional energy for their breakdown leading us feeling lethargic through increased oxygen demands and expended calories; paired-with drinking plenty H2O beforehand causes cardiovascular-stress making you tire quicker—all adding up to inducing natural exhaustion post-mealtime festivities!
Top 5 Facts to Know About the Link Between Eating Turkey and Feeling Drowsy
As the holiday season approaches, we all look forward to indulging in a delicious Thanksgiving feast with our loved ones. Turkey is often the centerpiece of this traditional meal and has been associated with one particular side-effect for as long as anyone can remember: feeling drowsy after eating it.
So, what’s the connection between turkey and sleepiness? Here are five facts that shed some light on this popular belief:
1. Tryptophan
Turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan which is known to play a role in promoting relaxation and sleep. This essential amino acid is used by your body to produce the neurotransmitter serotonin which regulates mood, appetite, and sleep. Serotonin then gets converted into melatonin – a hormone responsible for regulating your sleep-wake cycle.
However, contrary to popular myth, turkey doesn’t actually contain more tryptophan than other types of meat or many vegetarian protein sources like soybeans or tofu.
2. Carbohydrates
Traditional Thanksgiving meals tend to be rich in carbohydrates such as mashed potatoes, stuffing or pumpkin pie. When you eat carbs, they trigger your brain to produce insulin which helps regulate blood sugar levels in your body. Insulin also promotes the production of another amino acid called branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) except Tryptophan competition against these BCAAs limits its uptake resulting even lessening effect on drowsiness posture.
3. Portion size
We all know how easy it is to overeat during festive occasions especially those who diet conscious because moderation goes out-of-the-way during such circumstances leading harm instead of benefitting us hence results too much intake may take longer time period stomach release digestion from gut creating laziness feeling afterward.
4 . Alcohol consumption
Festive events can involve alcohol consumption like wine/beer/drinks alongside dinner particularly revolving around cheers spirit occurring across tabletops table-to-table moves among invitees unitedly celebrating across the floor.
Alcohol has a sedative effect on your body that can contribute to feeling drowsy when combined with tryptophan from turkey and carbohydrates rich meals like pumpkin pie. Body ends-up busy breaking down alcohol leaving less energy behind exhausting the effectiveness of other healing proteins & amino acids included in our meal altogether takes extended time affecting us next day.
5. Psychological belief
The turkey-drowsiness link may be partly psychological influenced too: we’ve heard so long-gone this myth even growing up more as conventional passed over generations where just mentioning “turkey” could set off a chain reaction of yawns – creating an expectation-effect (placebo) that makes us feel sleepy during festive moments post having food, no matter what it contains hence mental conditioning playing role out here which is totally subjective based on individual experiences or beliefs whatsoever they might hold upon.
Final thoughts
Despite popular opinion, it seems that simply eating turkey alone isn’t enough to make one feel drowsy; rather, consumption within context with carbohydrate-rich meals and/or alcoholic drinks among moderate portions certainly plays some role into contributing the sense of being heavy or full physically thereby influence mood mind by impacting digestion speed inducing relaxation in order for proper digestions ahead though each case varies person-to-person’s health accordingly perhaps consulting experts dieticians/physicians for better advice helps regulate and balance nutrition intake effectively benefiting wellness ultimately!
