Page 58 - South Mississippi Living - November, 2017

HEALTHY LIVING “food coma” Thanksgiving
story by Susan Ruddiman photo courtesy of Memorial Hospital at Gulfport
Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a day of giving thanks for the bountiful harvest. Families and friends are invited to indulge in a feast of turkey, cranberry sauce, dressing, potatoes, vegetables, rolls and pies, and then encouraged to go back for seconds. Before you know it, you are sitting down in front of the television to watch football, but your eyes get heavy, the yawns won’t stop, and you fall asleep.
DOES TURKEY
MAKE YOU SLEEPY?
Did the turkey make you sleepy?
No, according to dietician Melissa Spiers- Ladner, manager of Memorial Hospital at Gulfport Clinical Nutrition Services. “Contrary to popular belief, Thanksgiving turkey alone does not make you feel sleepy,” she said.
Turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan which aids in the production of serotonin, a calming chemical in the brain, she said. Serotonin is further broken down
to the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. Beef, chicken and some cheeses have the same amount of tryptophan as turkey.
“The widespread belief that turkey alone makes you tired is a very common misconception,” Spiers-Ladner said.
The tryptophan in turkey needs to be combined with a carbohydrate to really boost serotonin levels to help with a good mood and restful sleep, according to WebMD. The turkey gets blamed for the drowsy feeling after eating a Thanksgiving meal, but it’s actually the overeating that does it.
“The reason we feel like taking a long nap after Thanksgiving dinner is the consumption of high-caloric carbohydrates and possibly alcohol,” Spiers-Ladner said. “Thanksgiving meals consist not only of turkey, but mostly carbohydrate-based foods such as stuffing, potatoes, yams, rolls and desserts.”
Thus, it’s only natural the large meal containing tryptophan and lots of carbohydrates can trigger feelings of sleepiness by increasing the production of melatonin
in the brain. This is particularly true for the person who got up early to start the meal preparations, and already had a long day.
To avoid the Thanksgiving “food coma,” Spiers-Ladner suggested moderation. “Make smart choices and be mindful of portion sizes. Survey the food choices, select your favorites. Include lots of non-starchy vegetables and limit the carbohydrate-rich foods and alcohol,” she said.
And, best of all, once the meal is over, take a walk instead of a nap.
58 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • November 2017
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DIETICIAN Melissa
Spiers-Ladner