Since it’s Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S. we’re re-running our annual post about hairy turkey…
What does your hair have in common with turkey? They both contain a chemical called tryptophan. Tryptophan is one of the amino acids that make up the protein structure of hair. It is also easily degraded by UV radiation so when scientists measure sun damage to hair, they can measure how much tryptophan is lost.
Hairy turkey
Tryptophan is also the chemical that people claim is responsible for making you sleepy after a big Thanksgiving dinner. Except that’s not really true. Snopes.com has an excellent debunking of the turkey-tryptophan myth. While it IS true that some forms of tryptophan can be a natural sedative, the kind in turkey (and many other meats as well) doesn’t make you drowsy. So, if you doze off after a big Thanksgiving meal, blame it on too much wine and mashed potatoes and not the tryptophan!
P.S.
As always, the Beauty Brains are VERY thankful for all our wonderful readers who make this blog possible. We love you all!!!
Image credit: http://www.briarpress.org/
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting! Esp about the “turkey makes you sleepy” myth. I’m always sleepy after a big meal, but that’s just because I’m stuffed.
Although, some ppl shouldn’t know about that turkey/amino/protein connection. Soon, you’ll have idiots doing “Turkey Pre-poo” and “Turkey Deep Conditioners”.
P.S. I am thankful for YOU all at Beauty Brains! You have taught me to be a better skeptic when it comes to beauty and its saved me tons of money in the past few months.
That’s an interesting fact. I thought that sun damaged hair would be by UV rays but really didn’t know what it damages in the hair. And why do tryptophan makes us sleepy ?
The connection of our hair and turkey is very informative and interesting. Is there a way that we can prevent the tryptophan in our hair from degrading?
There are is only one form of the tryptophan found in food. Any sedative effect is due to tryptophan metabolites (compounds that are made by the body from tryptophan) not “other forms of tryptophan”. Trytophan is a precursor to serotonin, which is a precursor to melatonin.
Turkey has no more tryptophan than chicken or beef (some cheeses have more). It is the higher than usual consumption of carbohydrates, via release of insulin, that is indirectly responsible for the trytophan effect at Thanksgiving.
@Long Beach: A good conditioner will help protect from physical damage. Avoiding excessive exposure to the elements is always a good idea too.
Thanks for the mythbusting! It is annoying when something becomes accepted as fact that really isn’t. Happy Thanksgiving Canada had ours like a month ago. I think it is a good thing to be celebrate being thankful but the origins of this holiday are worrisome because of the European “pilgrims” slaughtering to many Native Americans. When Squanto came back from Europe everyone he ever knew and loved, his whole village was dead. I think we should keep mourning in our hearts on that holiday also.