On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:02:22 -0800, Michael Britt wrote: >Lately I've been reading Scott Lillienfeld's great book on myths >and this has perhaps "primed" me into thinking a lot about myths. >So as I lie on the couch after today's turkey dinner thinking that >the L- tryptophan was making me sleepy, I had a faint memory >of hearing that there was perhaps nothing to this belief? Does >anyone know if that's so?
A simple google search for typophan myth turns up thousands of hits. One source that one can rely upon is www.snopes.com http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/turkey.asp other sources are: http://www.livescience.com/health/071120-bad-turkey-sleep.html http://www.openscience.org/blog/?p=124 and one can find site through the google search that satisfies one's own criteria for credible evidence. The key ideas are: (1) the amount of tryptophan ingested in the turkey meal is comparable to the amount of tryptophan ingested when eating other sources such as beef. The amount is not sufficient to induce sleepiness. When tryptophan was being marketed for inducing sleep, it was in a purified form and at a high doses. (2) the Thanksgiving meal often has other components, notably carbohydrates and alcohol which also induce sleepiness but people usually overlook these sources. Even if one doesn't drink alcohol with a meal, I think most people would be shocked by the amount of carbohydrates provided in the typical Thanksgiving meal. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
