Thanksgiving, Sleepiness and Tryptophan

Thanksgiving approaches! Over the years, I've heard from many hundreds of people that, after eating cheese, they get sleepy. Each case in itself is remarkable, and would be considered to be an "anecdote" by doctors and scientists. Hundreds of cases would be called "anecdotal evidence." To my understanding, there has been no study linking cheese consumption to "sleepiness." Doctors are often rewarded by having techniques or diseases named after them. Dr. Heimlich has his maneuver. Dr. Alzheimer has his brain disease. Dr. Constipat had... well, enough of that. In the best interests of science, I am revealing why cheese eaters get tired. Since I am the first to report this, it is my option of naming this phenomenon after myself, so from here on, please refer to this as the "Notmilkman Effect." It has been well established that people get sleepy after eating Thanksgiving meals. Scientists place the blame upon an excess of that amino acid in turkey flesh called tryptophan. There was a time when tryptophan supplements were used by insomniacs. Pop a pill and go right to sleep. In 1990, the food and drug administration took tryptophan products off the market after a few dozen deaths were reported. More than 5,000 people got seriously ill after ingesting tryptophan. Some were diagnosed with eosinophilic-myalgia, a syndrome in which extreme muscle pain leads to serious swelling of arms and legs. I obtained data for the average tryptophan level in all cuts of turkey by accessing the United States Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp A 100-gram portion of turkey contains 0.31 gram of tryptophan. For the sake of comparison, that number will act as our baseline for comparison of tryptophan levels in other foods. You might ask yourself if Gouda is good for sleep. Does Wisconsin's finest Cheddar cause more drowsiness than a group of cheeseheads talking about the Green Bay Packer football team? Will Parmesan cheese at dinner put you to sleep an hour later while watching a performance of Figaro? How about goat cheese? Here's what you need to know about tryptophan levels in 100 gram portions of food: Turkey (all cuts) = 0.31 gram of tryptophan Cheddar Cheese = 0.32 gram of tryptophan Hard Goat Cheese = 0.32 gram of tryptophan Parmesan Cheese = 0.48 gram of tryptophan Advice for car owners: Don't eat cheese and operate a motor vehicle. If you do so, have one member of your party assigned to be the designated non-cheese driver. If you know of any person falling asleep at the wheel and causing an accident, please call somebody from MACC (Mothers Against Cheese Consumption). Call: 1-877-BIG-MACC (877-244-6222)
Pleasant dreams! Robert "Notmilkman" Cohen http://www.notmilk.com