Why Your Thanksgiving Dinner Makes You so Sleepy

Every Thanksgiving, we gobble down as much turkey, gravy, stuffing, and pumpkin pie as we can fit in our stomachs. Then, we settle on the couch to watch Thanksgiving football, and we get sleepy. I mean really sleepy. Have you ever wondered why you get so sleepy? Some people say it's because turkey contains tryptophan, but that's simply a myth. Here's the real reason you get so sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner. It's a little confusing, but bear with me!

Step 1: When you eat all that turkey, a lot of glucose gets into your bloodstream. So, your body produces insulin to absorb the glucose. Note: Diabetes is when your body can't produce enough insulin to absorb all the glucose in your bloodstream.

Step 2: The insulin also affects the uptake of every amino acid in your body, except for tryptophan. So, the concentration of tryptophan in your blood increases.

Step 3: When all the tryptophan in your blood gets to your brain, it is converted into serotonin and melatonin, both of which cause sleepiness. Voila!