After he received his degree, he worked with his dad Dr. Bruce Jensen for five years until he moved to Alaska, where he practiced dentistry for six years. Utah family life soon called his name again and Dr. Jensen moved back to Utah where he opened up his own practice in Kaysville, UT. Latest posts by Dr. Dan Jensen see all. Meet Our Dentist. Sleep Apnea. Oral Appliance. American Fork, UT. Layton, UT. North Ogden, UT. Murray, UT. Provo, UT. Salt Lake City, UT. Feeling sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner is common.
Many people find they cannot stop yawning as they clean up dishes, while others nod off during a football game. This is often blamed on turkey, since it contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid used in the process of making serotonin. Serotonin is a hormone that helps balance your mood. The byproduct of the tryptophan-to-serotonin process is melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleeping and waking.
Our bodies do not naturally produce tryptophan , so we have to get it through the foods we eat. You can find tryptophan in many protein-based foods. Common sources include:. Rather, eating foods with tryptophan in addition to a large number of carbohydrates leads to sleepiness. Carbohydrates come from the other typical foods at the Thanksgiving table, such as breads , potatoes, peas, corn, sugary drinks, and desserts.
Sleep can be affected by your overall nutrition and the foods you eat. However, there are a number of other foods that help you sleep. If the turkey is not to blame, then what makes you tired during the holidays? Other customs, foods and beverages, and seasonal responses may contribute to your sleepiness.
A holiday food table is often packed with tasty dishes. While additional helpings of pumpkin pie may taste delicious, eating too much food can make you sleepy. Research shows that high-carbohydrate, high-fat meals lead to post-meal sleepiness, with peak fatigue happening an hour to an hour and a half after you finish eating.
Carbohydrate-based, high-glycemic-index meals also cause you to fall asleep faster. The glycemic index measures how quickly food increases your blood sugar. High-glycemic foods, such as potatoes and sugar, cause your blood sugar to rise quickly. Higher blood sugar encourages the body to produce insulin, which makes it easier for tryptophan to travel in the bloodstream to your brain.
During the holiday season, you may consume more alcohol than usual. Alcohol consumption affects sleep in several ways. Alcohol can make you fall asleep faster than normal and sleep heavier during the first portion of the night. However, alcohol can disrupt your sleep during the second half of the night.
You might wake up during the night several times after drinking. Insomnia at night then impacts your alertness during the day. You may experience excessive daytime sleepiness, which can make it difficult to concentrate or stay awake.
Consuming too much caffeine can also cause insomnia. With fewer sunlight hours in the autumn and winter, you might find your mood and habits changing. Less sunlight can disrupt your circadian rhythm , which then affects your sleep cycle.
Other symptoms include low energy, decreased enjoyment of activities, increased sleep, and increased cravings for carbohydrates. Most people have a hour circadian rhythm that influences when they sleep. In this rhythm, you have two peak times for sleepiness. The first is in the middle of the night when you sleep the deepest.
The second peak of sleepiness is about 12 hours later. For many people, this sleepy time falls in the hours after lunchtime. If you have your big holiday meal in the early afternoon, you may feel naturally sleepy shortly afterward. With attention to food habits and sleep hygiene , you can enjoy the festivities of the holiday season and avoid nodding off too early.
Holiday Handbook: Browse shopping deals, recipes, tips for gathering safely and more. But feasting on turkey will make you as drowsy as eating a chicken breast or an egg-white omelet — which is to say, not at all. Trytophan is one of the amino acids , which the body uses to make proteins to help it grow and repair tissue. Turkey is a good source, yes, but so is cheese, chicken, fish, milk, peanuts, egg whites and more.
That releases insulin, which lowers the levels of other amino acids, so tryptophan has a chance to get in to the brain without competition. Of course, many people do get very drowsy after consuming a huge Thanksgiving meal.
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