{"id":7194,"date":"2019-11-19T11:12:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T17:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/?p=7194"},"modified":"2023-06-29T16:08:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T21:08:53","slug":"thanksgiving-sleepy-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/2019\/11\/19\/thanksgiving-sleepy-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving Sleepy Syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every year over Thanksgiving we over eat and typically fall\nasleep early from being overfull, unless you are out shopping at 6pm to get\nyour hands on a good deal. So what is it about Thanksgiving food that makes us\nso sleepy? Is turkey to blame? Despite popular belief turkey is not the only\nreason we become sleepy after a delicious Thanksgiving meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey contains tryptophan which is protein that the body\ncannot make by itself so it must be consumed through our diet. Tryptophan is\none component of a brain chemical called serotonin that the body converts to\nmelatonin which helps induce sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey isn\u2019t the only food that contains tryptophan and in\nfact per gram, cheese contains more tryptophan than turkey. \u201cTryptophan competes\nwith all of the body’s other amino acids to enter the brain, through a strict\ngatekeeper known as the blood-brain barrier. It’s the heaps of carbohydrates \u2014\nthe stuffing, potatoes and yams smothered in marshmallows \u2014 that are the true\nproblem, according to medical experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consuming carbs triggers the release of insulin, which\nremoves most amino acids from the blood, but not tryptophan \u2014 that dearth of\ncompetitors allows tryptophan to enter the brain and form serotonin and,\nultimately, melatonin. (Melatonin can also be produced in the intestine, and a\nsmall amount of that may ultimately leak out into the bloodstream and end up in\nthe brain, too.)\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/41543-thanksgiving-myth-busted-eating-turkey-won-t-make-you-sleepy.html<\/a>)\nThe body is a complex system and over the holidays we tend to throw our\nvacation hat on and indulge a little too much. If you drink alcohol over Thanksgiving\nand also over eat, these two factors play a big role in the sleepy syndrome\nthat follows this divine meal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few tips to help combat sleepy syndrome:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Eat a good breakfast
    1. Don\u2019t wait until Thanksgiving meal to eat for\nthe day. When you eat on an empty and an overly hungry stomach, it encourages\nyou to over indulge even more and leads to becoming too full because you eat so\nfast. Eating a hearty breakfast will help give your body energy and help you\neat a little less later in the day.<\/li><\/ol><\/li>
    2. Know that there is always more food
      1. Thanksgiving feast can be one of the best meals\nof the year but that doesn\u2019t mean it is the only time of the year when turkey,\ngreen bean casseroles, sweet potato casseroles, and desserts are available. You\ncan always make these components throughout the year.<\/li><\/ol><\/li>
      2. Leftovers
        1. One thing about such a feast is that there are\ngenerally always leftovers to take home. If you eat a little less during\nThanksgiving feast, that\u2019s more leftovers available for the taking. Left overs\nalways taste great and allow for one less night of cooking following a busy\nholiday. <\/li><\/ol><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Enjoy the time with family and friends over this Holiday season. Remember, moderation is key!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Written By: Rachael Omdoll, Campus Dietitian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Every year over Thanksgiving we over eat and typically fall asleep early from being overfull, unless you are out shopping at 6pm to get your hands on a good deal. So what is it about Thanksgiving food that makes us… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7946,"featured_media":7196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1068027,887185],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-uw-w-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7946"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7194"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8113,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7194\/revisions\/8113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/ucinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}