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Green Thanksgiving: L-Tryptophan Laden Products - Pardoning the Turkey
11/22/2007
An increasingly health conscious America gathering around the Thanksgiving table is likely to show two out of five attendees are aware of the term "Tryptophan" this year. Since these days everything is green, it's enough to start up a conversation - something sometimes hard to muster when post-meal drowsiness starts kicking in. For many there is nothing so stimulating as busting a myth or unravelling a mystery so try this...
Up until now the turkey has been to blame but the truth is there is a long list of other stuff consumers are likely to over-indulge themselves with that contain higher levels of this mysterious sleep inducing substance. And it's not just that. What is the truth behind this urban legend?
First, L-Tryptophan is not a dangerous drug. It is an amino acid. Amino acids are the building blocks of muscle tissue and Niacin (Vitamin B). So tryptophan is actually not unhealty for you so long as your food, including your turkey, has not been pumped up with antiobiotics since birth, or worse, administered growth hormones.
Such non-"organic" things actually don't put you to sleep. And anyway the biggest culprit in the hormone category is actually cows. So not to worry? Well, yes, if your children want milk, but then, do you really want them to be anything other than sleepy? Your call.
On that score and in the FYI department 90% of US Beef is treated with growth hormones. Recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH, (sometimes referred to as rBST, or recombinant bovine somatotropin), is used extensively in the milk industry. rBGH, a genetically engineered growth hormone, was not approved for use in Canada or Europe due to animal welfare and human health concerns. But in 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rBGH for sale over the objections of consumer and health advocacy groups, such as Consumers Union and Cancer Prevention Coalition.
Quite the contrary for poultry, including turkey, where federal law prohibits use of growth hormones for adding soft tissue and consumable muscle fiber to birds. Such a shame. Penn State's Department of Poultry Science shows promising results for bigger birds.
But for reasons scientists have not been able to explain antibiotics are actually a greater factor in bird growth than growth hormones anyway. McDonalds recently won great acclaim for announcing to consumer groups it no longer condoned use of antiobotics. Not that they did anything significant to stop the practice.
"Severe overcrowding, high stress, and very unsanitary conditions — they're living in their own wastes. All of that tends to be breeding grounds for disease" says University of Berkley journalist, Michael Pollan. "So if you're going to grow them indoors, or even on feedlots in close confinement, you have to give them antibiotics to keep them healthy."
"The other reason is that small quantities of antibiotics promote faster growth in many species, particularly chickens and pigs, for reasons that scientists don't actually understand."
The use of the antibiotics in consumable animals explains why humans are growing taller, developing larger breasts and experiencing puberty younger - always a spicy topic of conversation. Maybe that'll wake you up. But the actual feeling of being tired is not related to such misuses either. It is neither hormones, nor antibiotics nor Tryptophan alone.
Who done it? According to Ann Marie Helmenstine, a doctor of biomedics at the University of Tennessee, it's the combination of stress associated with the gathering coupled with a sudden and final relaxation at table filled with carbohydrates and fats. Add to this the tendency to overeat and drink alcohol. The body simply needs to slow down to move into digestion mode.
Then comes the tryptophan. Tryptophan is indeed related to sleepiness, but according to Dr. Helmenstine the fact that L-Tryptophan is present in turkey is incidental. It's the fact that it is carbohydrate-rich that matters.
"L-Tryptophan may be found in turkey and other dietary proteins, but it's actually a carbohydrate-rich (as opposed to protein-rich) meal that increases the level of this amino acid in the brain and leads to serotonin synthesis. Carbohydrates stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin. When this occurs, some amino acids that compete with tryptophan leave the bloodstream and enter muscle cells. This causes an increase in the relative concentration of tryptophan in the bloodstream. Serotonin is synthesized and you feel that familiar sleepy feeling."
So, outside of stimulating conversation, here is a brief list of ways you can stay awake on turkey day ...
- Don't starve yourself in anticipation of the feast to come. Eat small, healthy meals (try to limit junk foods) throughout the day before you sit down.
- Have small portions. Eat whatever veggies are served.
- Take in smaller portions of the carbohydrate-rich foods.
- Drink water and take breaks while you are eating to see how full you've become. Simply maintaining good converatation while not talking with your mouth full normally accomplishes this.
- Stop eating once you're full. You'll feel full if you eat slowly and drink water.
- Lay off the wine coolers. If you have to have some, don't spike your egg nog. And take a walk outside after eating to digest your meal rather than crashing on the couch.
Jeff Overbeck , Freelance Reporter