Don’t Count on the Turkey to Get You to Sleep This Thanksgiving
Forget tryptophan…there are better ways to get healthy sleep this holiday season
Falling asleep in front of the TV with your pants unbuckled is a post-Thanksgiving-feast tradition for the menfolk of many American families. Aside from the fact that a full belly can make anyone drowsy, this tradition of nodding off after Thanksgiving is often blamed on the turkey. Why? Because turkey contains tryptophan.
Pop culture has made it common knowledge that turkey contains tryptophan and tryptophan makes you sleepy. Technically, this is true, but it doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to drop off to sleep after eating a turkey dinner.
Tryptophan doesn’t lead straight to sleep. Instead, it starts a chain reaction that can affect sleep. When you consume a food with tryptophan, this increases serotonin levels in the body. Serotonin is a precursor for melatonin, a hormone that helps to regulate sleep.
You would be hard pressed to eat enough turkey for tryptophan to actually impact your melatonin levels and make you fall asleep. Research has shown that it takes at least 1 gram of tryptophan to increase sleepiness and decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep. You’d have to eat 12 ounces of turkey to get a full gram of tryptophan. This would mean filling your plate 4 to 6 times.
There Are Better Ways to Improve Sleep Quality
Fortunately, you don’t have to rely on turkey to help you get more, better-quality sleep. There are many other substances besides tryptophan that can help you conquer sleep problems:
Melatonin: As we’ve mentioned, melatonin is important for regulating your body’s sleep cycles. Using our Melatonin Liposomal Spray before bed will ensure your melatonin levels build up to the point where they trigger sleepiness.
Magnesium: This mineral can help you fall asleep and stay asleep more easily. First of all, you need magnesium to make melatonin. Plus, magnesium has a calming and quieting effect on the body due to its binding to GABA brain receptors. It will relax your muscles and quiet your nervous system.
Growth Hormone: Kids sleep really deeply because they have high levels of growth hormone. Growth hormone declines with age, but with growth hormone stimulation treatment, you can trigger your body to produce more growth hormone to help you fall into a deeper, more restful sleep.
Testosterone/Estrogen (and other Hormones): If insomnia, night sweats, anxiety, and other menopause and andropause symptoms are behind your sleep problems, hormone replacement therapy can help. We provide treatment that will bring levels of testosterone, estrogen, and other vital hormones back into balance to relieve the symptoms that are interfering with your sleep.
Want to Learn More?
If you would like to learn more about Renew Youth’s treatment options for healthy sleep, please call us at 800-859-7511 today.
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