User talk:Sonnenbergn

          What Tom the Turkey Is Really Made Of

The blessing is said, the turkey is carved, and everyone’s plate is heaped like mountains with all sorts of colorfully made dishes. Time whizzes by while everyone literally stuffs their plates, because heaven only knows that nobody has eaten anything so far during the holidays. Then, the pie is served and that disappears like candy at a parade. Not long after everyone has sat around and looked at each other, they all decide to move the festivities to the couches and chairs in the room adjacent. And then- it hits. It’s like a huge wave of sleepiness knocks all your family and friends out! At that time, the noise that consumes the house makes it sound as if an earthquake is striking your very own house. Wait! It’s only all of those lovely family and friends snoring up a huge storm while literally passed out on any piece of covered furniture they can find with their top pant button open for easier breathing. Is this a familiar scene at your house during the holidays? Well, it is my house and many of the households I’ve been to! All of which leads to the burning question: why do we get so tired after we eat exceptionally large amounts of food (which around Thanksgiving is usually turkey)? There are some that believe the popular myth that Tom the Turkey is the culprit behind the sleepiness that gets passed around after “the meal.” Well, in order to solve this popular and controversial myth, lets take a closer look at Tom’s anatomy and physiology.

Tom the Turkey is known to contain one of the body’s twenty amino acids: tryptophan. This special essential amino acid is not manufactured by the body but instead it is obtained from eating foods that are rich with this protein. According to a helpful website called, How Stuff Works, “Tryptophan helps the body produce the B-vitamin niacin, which, in turn, helps the body produce serotonin…” Serotonin is a chemical found in your body which acts as a calming instrument in the brain. This calming cause helps assist in helping one to sleep. In fact it is so helpful that it caused an epidemic outbreak of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) in 1989, in the United States. “This illness is associated with the use of dietary supplements containing L-tryptophan.” (http://www.cfsan.fda.gob/~dms.ds-tryp1.html) After the outbreak, the FDA stepped in and limited the amount of this amino acid that was used in the making/manufacturing of dietary supplements. These dietary supplements were used for insomnia, appetite control, depression, PMS, stress reduction and other problems. So, is Tom really to blame for all of you and your sleeping relatives? Unfortunately, Tom the Turkey gets a bad rap around the holidays. It is a proven fact that unless turkey, and ONLY turkey, is consumed on a completely empty stomach, the tryptophan cannot affect the brain. The lazy and drowsiness feelings that seem to accompany the holidays are easily explained by the overeating of carbohydrate-rich meals and the consumption of alcohol. Added stress around the jolly time of the year can come from late nights and early mornings- which seem to make some of the more trying relatives even more unpleasant. All of these things can go to explain the loud, house-shaking snore fests that seem to make my holidays even more different from normal days. So next time you take a bit of Tom the Turkey, remember that its not his fault your eyelids get extremely heavy after dinner!