This year, the Internet is awash with articles debunking turkey’s tryptophan as the cause of post-Thanksgiving-bacchanalia drowsiness.
What is tryptophan anyway? Psychology Today states that this amino acid “achieves its effects by way of serotonin, one of the key brain chemicals involved in regulating mood. Among other functions, serotonin promotes feelings of calm, relaxation, and sleepiness. Lack of serotonin is associated with depression.”
According to this Huffington Post infographic, mozzarella trumps turkey as a cause for calm. Bring on the pizza!
TODAY’s IDEA: How about a food product line revolving around natural seratonin-inducing ingredients. (Have you seen such a thing?)
And as for Thanksgiving, what we really need are some controlled Thanksgiving meal experiments:
- a tryptophan-free Thanksgiving dinner loaded with carbs
- a carb-free Thanksgiving dinner loaded with turkey
- a dinner missing both of the above
- oh, and maybe one missing alcohol?
Who’s game? (Better than jeopardize your Thanksgiving, choose another time of year to experiment!)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mozzarella cheese has more calm-inducing tryptophan than turkey. No wonder it’s the perfect food. 🙂
