Hey there.
I'm Josh Clark and this is BrainStuff.
Y'know...
Ben Franklin said a lot of things.
And one of those things was, "Eat not to dullness.
Drink not to elevation."
Basically Ben Franklin was saying don't get
wasted when you drink.
And don't eat until you slip into a food coma.
Yes, the food coma.
We all know what this is.
But did you know there's actually a clinical
term for it?
'Postprandial somnolence.'
'Post,' meaning 'after,' of course.
And 'prandial,' from the Latin for 'luncheon.'
And 'somnolence' is this: Zzzzz.
The thing is, the food coma, as much as we
take it for granted, is actually pretty counterintuitive.
Think about it.
We gain energy from calories.
So the more food we eat, the more energetic
we should be, no?
One explanation to this mystery that a lot
of people subscribe to - but is wrong - is
the idea that blood is being directed away
from the brain to the gut to aid in digestion
after a big meal.
Now, it is true, you do get more bloodflow
to your gut after you've eaten.
The thing is, that blood is coming from your
skeletal muscles, not your brain.
The brain is the organ that's in charge of
directing bloodflow, so it makes sure that
it gets a steady supply of it no matter what
else is going on.
So the bloodflow idea doesn't quite make much
sense.
And then there's the Thanksgiving Day myth.
It says that turkey contains tryptophan.
And tryptophan, which is an amino acid that's
actually a precursor to serotonin (which is
a neurotransmitter that among other things
is a precursor to melatonin, which is a hormone
that lets us sleep), is responsible for food
comas.
So when we eat a bunch of turkey, we get a
bunch of tryptophan, and ipso facto we should
feel drowsy.
Makes a lot of sense, but the problem is that
when we eat all that turkey, we're also taking
in a lot of fat, proteins, and other stuff
that are all competing to get absorbed by
the brain.
So the tryptophan concentrations are comparatively
low.
Plus, tryptophan is also found in higher concentrations
in other foods like salmon, bacon, chicken.
And we don't associate those with food comas.
So it seems like the Thanksgiving Day myth
is just that - a myth.
But there is some science to it.
That Thanksgiving Day meal that so prominently
features turkey also has a lot of other stuff
called carbs.
There's sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, every
other kind of potato, all there on the table.
And when you eat those carbs with your turkey,
your blood glucose levels rise.
The more they rise, the more insulin is released.
And insulin's job is to sop up all of this
stuff (including your blood glucose) and allow
it to be absorbed by the muscles.
The thing is, it leaves tryptophan alone.
So, technically speaking, after a Thanksgiving
Day meal, your tryptophan concentrations in
your blood are relatively higher.
Which means, it could actually have a drowsy
effect on you.
But that's not all.
I got more for ya.
And it's called 'orexins.'
Orexins are neurotransmitters that are produced
by specialized neurons in the hypothalamus.
And they are responsible, in part, for promoting
wakefulness.
One 2006 study found that when our blood glucose
levels rise, even modestly, our orexin levels
decrease.
So, it seems that food does have an impact
on our wakefulness.
The problem is that other nutrients have been
found to affect our orexin levels as well.
Which just basically goes to show that our
blood chemistry is incredibly complex, and
is really what's preventing us from saying,
"This is why food comas happen."
We have a pretty good idea why they happen,
but that shouldn't prevent us from carrying
out more science by ordering a bunch of pizza
and wings and eating it all and seeing what
happens.
Do you like to eat until you can barely stay
awake?
Let us know in the comments below.
And while you're there, go ahead and subscribe.
And don't forget to head to BrainStuffShow.com
for more awesome greatness.
