GREENSBORO, N.C. — Have you ever enjoyed a nice big Thanksgiving meal and felt drowsy afterward? You’ve probably heard the reason you feel tired is because turkey contains tryptophan. It’s an amino acid that can, indeed, make you sleepy.
Dr. Andrew Namen is the Medical Director of the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Sleep Program. Though turkey contains tryptophan, so do other proteins. He said turkey isn’t solely to blame for post-meal drowsiness.
“We would say not entirely related to the turkey,” Dr. Namen said. “Some people feel like, what are you doing at Thanksgiving? You’re eating a lot of carbs; you’re taking in a lot more calories than you’re probably used to. That effect alone may be causing some sleepiness.”
For those who want to avoid feeling exhausted after the meal, Dr. Namen said there are several ways to prevent drowsiness.
“Getting a good night’s rest prior to,” Dr. Namen said. “An early morning exercise routine is a very active way to remain wakeful during the day. If your tendency tends to be that you get drowsy after a large meal, that would be the time that I would take a nice brisk walk outside where there is bright light.”
If you can’t go outside, Dr. Namen recommends going into a well-lit room rather than a dem-lit environment.
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