Let’s talk turkey. We have all spent time on the couch sleeping off a good holiday turkey and dressing meal. Then, when we woke up, someone in the family said something like this, “I see that tryptophan just got the best of you this year, hahaha!” True, something did make you sleepy, but it likely was not just the Christmas turkey.
“A common assertion in the US is that heavy consumption of turkey meat results in drowsiness, due to high levels of tryptophan contained in turkey. However, the amount of tryptophan in turkey is comparable to that contained in other meats. Drowsiness after eating may be caused by other foods eaten with the turkey, particularly carbohydrates. Ingestion of a meal rich in carbohydrates triggers the release of insulin.” (1)
Let’s validate even further…
“As it turns out, turkey contains no more of the amino acid tryptophan than other kinds of poultry. In fact, turkey actually has slightly less tryptophan than chicken, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN, an American Dietetic Association spokeswoman and author of The Flexitarian Diet.” (2)
How about this idea? Maybe we just eat so much for the holiday dinner that we pass out.
“It takes a great deal of energy to digest a large meal. When your stomach is full, blood is directed away from other organ systems, including your nervous system. The result? You will feel the need to snooze after any big meal, particularly if it is high in fats and carbohydrates.” (3)
Fats and alcohol can slow you down too as factors in the holiday snooze session equation. Fats slow down your metabolism and we all know that alcohol is a depressant.
Attack the snooze this season with a commitment to an infrared fitness program beginning the day after Christmas! Infrared energy and heat combined with a workout will give you a multi-dimensional, or 3D Training™ result. This method will jolt your metabolism out of the holiday snooze and back into the fitness groove!
Get ready for 2018 now, don’t procrastinate.
Look for next weeks blog post to gain insight regarding the relation of fitness to workplace productivity.
Prepare yourself for a great new year!
