Wake Me Up When Thanksgiving Ends
On this week's episode of the pod, we tackle a topic inspired by Thanksgiving-- tryptophan! (You know, the amino acid found in turkey that people claim makes us hit the couch after we polish off our Thanksgiving plate!)
Well, we dish (pun intended) on its biochemistry and its relationship to serotonin and melatonin. Next, we dive into the claims about whether it makes us sleepy, how much of it is found in turkey, and discuss the (many!) other sources of tryptophan in foods other than turkey. We spend some time talking about L-tryptophan supplements and whether there is evidence that they can help with sleep issues, as well as anxiety and/or depression. We wrap things up with a discussion on the potential harms of L-tryptophan supplements, including drug interactions and a rare muscle disorder. You may pick up some interesting nuggets and factoids that you can bring to the Thanksgiving table! This is our last episode before Thanksgiving, but will be back in a couple of weeks. We wish you all a happy and healthy holiday!
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Every protein that exists have slightly different AA composition, but by analyzing thousands of proteins over decades, these are the rough average compositions. Most abundant AAs are Leucine, alanine, serine, valine, and glycine. Tryptophan is actually the least abundant ~ 1.3%
