Tryptophan, Serotonin and Melatonin

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid (protein building block the body cannot make). It is high in many protein rich foods, like turkey. Tryptophan helps build muscle like other amino acids, but it is also a specific precursor of serotonin. Nearly all serotonin is in the gut where it regulates GI movement, but about 20% is actually dispersed in the central nervous system (CNS) where it regulates mood, appetite, sleep, muscle contraction, and some cognitive functions including memory and learning. Some serotonin can become melatonin, which regulates your sleep/wake cycles.

Besides turkey, your starchy foods like rolls, potatoes and stuffing have something to do with the “food coma” that ensues. The insulin your pancreas releases after eating carbs does its job, which is partially to pull essential amino acids into muscle (yay for muscle building), but there is one lonely amino acid that doesn’t go into cells…  tryptophan. This amino acid didn’t get an invite to the party, and so left alone in the blood it increases serotonin levels and sleep eventually comes along.

Perhaps the real question is “Who cares? What’s wrong with enjoying a hearty meal with family and napping yourself into a more relaxed and carefree state, at least for a day?” If you ask me, we don’t really rest enough and enjoy our families as we should. Our inability to slow down does more to wreck our weight management hormones than one gut-busting, coma-inducing turkey dinner. Nevertheless, your best bet is balance. Strike a “happy middle” with the desire to enjoy food and the urge to overeat.

Here’s are some Turkey Day Eating Tips:

• Most meals are 1000+ calories per plate! So stick to one plate, and that’s it. Include some green vegetables on that plate. Take a little of everything that looks good and enjoy each bite. You shouldn’t need a fork lift to lift your fork!

• Start with a healthy breakfast – stay full with oatmeal made with cranberries and walnuts and have a morning snack of a handful of nuts and low-fat cheese. Try this recipe for Simple Mashed Cranberries.

• Don’t compete for the award for biggest plate and cleanest plate. Just enjoy the conversation and company. This is not about the food. It’s about people.

• Instead of seconds, have a cup of hot peppermint or ginger tea to aid in digestion and put off the dessert a couple hours.

• Make a “top crust” apple pie with thinly sliced apples. They bake crispy and people love the look and it has less guilt!

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

How to Avoid the Thanksgiving Food Coma

On Thanksgiving, I will be surrounded by 40-50 family members. After we share our feast from appetizers to desserts, several of us will find a spot in front of the television to watch football and doze through commercials. Although I would like to see the Lions hand the Titans another loss (I am a true blue Colts fan!), surrendering to “turkey-daze” is part of the holiday, right? It is commonly believed that the tryptophan in turkey induces sleepiness; however, there is more to our holiday drowsiness than this one chemical.

Tryptophan is one of ten amino acids that the body cannot manufacture on its own and must be supplemented through diet. Tryptophan aids in the production of the B-vitamin niacin which then assists the body’s production of serotonin. Serotonin helps us regulate mood, aggression, anxiety, impulsiveness, body temperature, appetite, and sleep. However serotonin cannot cross the blood brain barrier, meaning we cannot create more serotonin in our bodies. Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor (SSRI) medications work by trapping the available serotonin between neuron receptors to elevate

Tryptophan molecule

mood. Tryptophan is the only way to increase the amount of serotonin available to your body. The stuffing may be just as important as the turkey for your Thanksgiving nap; carbohydrate-rich foods increase the absorption of tryptophan in the brain. In fact, tryptophan alone works best on an empty stomach.

Other foods that contain tryptophan include: chocolate, oats, bananas, mangoes, dates, milk, yogurt, cottage choose, red meat, eggs, fish, sesame, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and peanuts.

On Thanksgiving, you are probably already relaxed with a break from work and the nearness of loved ones. A large meal, including tryptophan, is only one variable that helps create our holiday drowsiness.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Tryptophan Explained