As the holiday season comes around again, you will hear many stories centered around how eating your annual turkey feast will make you drowsy due to tryptophan in the turkey.  While it makes a good story and a plausible excuse for a nice afternoon nap, it's not the turkey making you nod off. 

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid.  It is a component of many plant and animal proteins and a part of our diet that people will get from various sources. It is a starting material for serotonin, which is then used to settle you down and make you sleepy.  Tryptophan also helps in the production of niacin (vitamin B3).  

Foods considered good sources of tryptophan are poultry, beef, fish, dairy products, barley, brown rice, peanuts, and soybeans.

To be clear, L-tryptophan is a natural sedative. It is usually found in your holiday turkey meat. Therefore, many believe this is why everyone sleeps on the couch after a Thanksgiving feast. 

Still, is the tryptophan in turkey what makes you sleepy after eating a big Thanksgiving turkey dinner?  

If you're looking for that famous sedative effect, it's not likely that you'll get it from eating that Butterball. L-tryptophan won’t affect the brain as much unless you take it on an empty stomach with no protein consumed. Also, the levels found in a turkey dinner may be too low to have such an effect.  So when you hear about the annual turkey feast causing everyone to take those after-meal naps, ignore the hype and don’t blame post-holiday meal sleepiness on the turkey dinner. That's just an urban myth, not the reality. The tryptophan is not to blame for the sudden drowsiness that hits right when the football games come on, after the meal, and the dishes are waiting! 

The ensuing sloth is more likely due to the combination of overeating and drinking alcohol. Not just turkey, but also ham, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, cranberries, sweet potatoes, peas, stuffing, carrots, bread, pies, and whipped cream - all of which have the effect of pulling the oxygen in your blood away from your brain to help your digestive tract do its work, along with the sugar/insulin effect. 

One way to get L-Tryptophan without all the calories is with SeniorLife Health's Sleep Support Formula™. This formula is a great way to achieve better sleep and better health. It’s formulated with seven ingredients that let you drift into a restful slumber and wake up revitalized, with a mind clear of grogginess. Try it and see how powerful this all-natural sleep aid can be. We think you will agree it’s a surefire sleep solution!