Eating Turkey=Sleepiness

Alyssa: Whats the chemical in Turkey that makes you sleepy??
Me: Ummmm hahaha I have no idea
Alyssa: hahahaha you are so gonna look it up arn't you
Me: Noooooo lol ... yeah ok ... YESSSSSSS


WELL HERE IS THE ANSWER




Here's why: Turkey meat contains a lot of an amino acid called L-tryptophan (say: el-trip-teh-fan). Amino acids are the "building blocks" for the proteins that make up our muscles and other important parts of our bodies. (L-tryptophan is just one kind of amino acid — there are many different kinds of amino acids in the foods we eat.)
When we eat foods that contain L-tryptophan, this amino acid travels in the blood from the digestive system and later enters the brain. The brain then changes the L-tryptophan into another chemical called serotonin (say: sare-uh-toh-nin). Serotonin calms us down and helps us sleep.

But scientists now know that L-tryptophan can really only make a person tired right away if it is eaten or taken by itself without any amino acids. And the protein in turkey contains plenty of other amino acids!

More Than L-tryptophan
Instead of just turkey being to blame, nutrition experts and scientists believe that one reason you may feel sleepy after your Thanksgiving feast is because of all those carbohydrates (say: kar-bo-hi-drayts) you ate. Carbohydrates are found in starchy and sugar-containing foods like breads, yams, potatoes, pumpkin pie, and other yummy Thanksgiving desserts.

There's another reason why this special meal might make you drowsy. Eating a big Thanksgiving dinner causes increased blood flow to the stomach (needed to help digest the meal) and less blood flow to the brain.