What is the chemical that makes you sleep in turkey

What’s that chemical in turkey that makes you sleepy?

http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsnews.aspx?ArticleID=427255&pubdate=11/27/2008

According to howstuffworks.com , turkey has the makings of a natural sedative in it, an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, meaning the body can’t manufacture it. It helps the body produce the B-vitamin niac…

Is there a chemical in turkey that makes you sleepy?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061224111615AArusVy

Of corse not there is not anything in turkey that makes you sleepy. All the people that say that the Tryptophan in turkeys makes you sleepy are just bsing you. Dont listen to them there isnt anything in turkeys that makes you sleepy.(mook)

Related Questions Answered on Y!Answers

What ‘chemical’ in turkey makes people sleepy?

Q: I know there’s a chemical or substance in turkey that makes people sleepy, but I don’t know waht it is…I’m asking ’cause everyone in my family yesterday passed out/went to sleep yesterday after eating it XD

A: L. tryptophan and serotonin (some studies say this isn’t true).this is from wikipedia:”One widely-held belief is that heavy consumption of turkey meat (as for example in a Thanksgiving or Christmas feast) results in drowsiness, which has been attributed to high levels of tryptophan contained in turkey.[47][48][49] While turkey does contain high levels of tryptophan, the amount is comparable to that contained in most other meats.[14] Furthermore, postprandial Thanksgiving sedation may have more to do with what is consumed along with the turkey, in particular carbohydrates and alcohol, rather than the turkey itself. This is demonstrated in a popular episode of the sitcom “Seinfeld” when characters of the show drug a woman using turkey and alcohol in order to play with her toy collection.It has been demonstrated in both animal models[50] and in humans[51][52][53] that ingestion of a meal rich in carbohydrates triggers release of insulin. Insulin in turn stimulates the uptake of large neutral branched-chain amino acids (LNAA) but not tryptophan (trp) into muscle, increasing the ratio of trp to LNAA in the blood stream. The resulting increased ratio of tryptophan to large neutral amino acids in the blood reduces competition at the large neutral amino acid transporter resulting in the uptake of tryptophan across the blood-brain barrier into the central nervous system (CNS).[54][55] Once inside the CNS, tryptophan is converted into serotonin in the raphe nuclei by the normal enzymatic pathway.[50][52] The resultant serotonin is further metabolised into melatonin by the pineal gland.[9] Hence, these data suggest that “feast-induced drowsiness,” and in particular, the common post-Christmas and American post-Thanksgiving dinner drowsiness, may be the result of a heavy meal rich in carbohydrates which, via an indirect mechanism, increases the production of sleep-promoting melatonin in the brain.[50][51][52][53]”

Does turkey really make you sleepy?

Q: I heard that when you eat turkey that you get sleepy, because it has some kind of chemical in it that makes you want to sleep. Is this true? Because it’s after lunch, and I had a turkey sandwich, and I’m feelin like a nap!

A: I just had a turkey sandwich, too !! Night , night !!! Yawn , yawn !

Turkey n Sleep?

Q: Why is it that during the holidays n we eat turkey we get sleepy is there truly a chemical that makes us that way or is it jibbeish??

A: Hi:No it is not gibberish, it is true. The turkey does contain the chemical tryptophan which it the chemical that makes us tired after eating turkey especially noticable since we eat so much turket around the holidays.Milk also has tryptophan in it so when your Grams told you to drink warm milk before bed to help you sleep, she was completely right. When milk is warmed up the tryptophan is activated creating the same reaction as eating turkey. Also the more carbs you eat with turkey or warm milk, the faster you will feel sleepy. The carbs act as a carrier of the tryptophan to you brain and this is where it all happens to make you tired.I hope this helps Be safe and be well