Is it really the turkey that makes us sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner?

I’ve always thought that the amino acid in turkey meat, tryptophan, was the reason everyone was tired and sleepy after eating a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

But that’s not the case, according to Brittany Grigorenko, MS, RD, LDN, CDCES, a clinical dietitian with Cape Cod Healthcare.

“You would need to eat 20 servings of turkey to make you sleepy,” she said. “In fact, there is tryptophan in many foods we eat, including soybeans, edamame, fish, dairy, pork, quinoas and whole grains.”

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which our body does not produce and we get it through our diet, according to the National Library of Medicine. In turn, the body uses the tryptophan to make melatonin, which helps regulate your sleep/wake cycle, and serotonin to regulate your appetite, sleep, mood and pain.

So, Why So Sleepy?

If we can stop blaming the turkey, what are the factors that can contribute to becoming drowsy after Thanksgiving dinner?

There are a lot of other factors that can easily make us tired, including stress, fatty foods and alcohol, according to Grigorenko. She lists the following as contributors:

• Stress: During the holidays there are a lot of stressors, including all the holiday planning, family visiting and food preparation. A lack of sleep from being stressed can make us even more tired.
• Alcohol: It has sedative effects and it’s a depressant. It also increases our appetites.
• Fatty foods: During the Thanksgiving meal there may be richer foods containing more fat, which will decrease and slow down digestion. We use more energy trying to digest it and that can make us more tired.
• The volume of food: On Thanksgiving, we usually eat a large amount of food. Our bodies work very hard to break it down, which can tire us.
• High carbohydrate foods: These are most likely one of the major factors that will really make us tired and increase our blood sugars. Some of these foods are mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, juice and desserts.

Healthy Choices

“There are healthy choices that we can make to help prevent the fatigue and feeling of needing a nap,” Grigorenko said. They are:

1. Use the plate method for healthier selections of food. Fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables; things like green beans (not green bean casserole), and plain, lightly-dressed vegetables. Choose a quarter of your plate for protein, like the white meat of the turkey without the skin. The other quarter of the plate will be your starchy sides; the good, yummy high-carbohydrate foods, the mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce. It may be a tiny taste or two of the foods we love but we won’t feel deprived.
2. Be aware of the amount of gravy you are putting on your mashed potatoes or meat, the amount of butter you are using, and the amounts of sauces, such as the cream of mushroom soup in the green bean casserole. Try to skip the rolls, if you can, especially if you are eating stuffing. Try eating one dessert later after some exercise like a walk.
3. Eating slowly helps us to feel fuller faster. Before going back to refill our plate with another helping of food, try to wait at least 20-30 minutes, which is the time it takes for our stomach to let our brain know that it is full.
4. On Thanksgiving Day, try to eat breakfast and other meals at the same time you normally do on any given day. This will help you to not overeat during Thanksgiving dinner.
5. Alcohol has calories, so replace it with sips of water or other zero-calorie drinks, which will also help to keep hydrated. Sip water in between bites of food to help with digestion.
6. Modify recipes to lower fat and sugar content. Use lower-fat or fat-free milk in place of cream and whole milk in dishes. Use non-fat yogurt in place of sour cream. Use two egg whites instead of a whole egg. Applesauce can be used in place of oils and sugar in a lot of recipes. Add more vegetables to the stuffing and use less bread. Try to make turkey gravy ahead of time, place it in the refrigerator and then skim off the fat before putting it on the table. Add more spices and herbs to dishes rather than salt.
7. Chew food well. Make food a part of the dinner conversation, so you are more aware of what you are eating.
8. Stop eating once you feel full.
9. Go for a walk after dinner or play games outside with the children. Any movement helps with digestion and will help with blood sugar regulation.
10. Movement can help to relieve stress, so you sleep better.

Grigorenko recommends that if there are foods we don’t have throughout the year and are special at Thanksgiving, go ahead and eat them, but in a smaller portion.

“The takeaway is to be mindful of our food choices.”