Don’t blame the turkey.
This time of year folks tend to experience overwhelming bouts of sleepiness after eating big meals. The effect is often attributed to ingesting large portions of turkey, supposedly laden with sleep-inducing tryptophan. Turns out the holiday season’s traditional sacrificial bird has less trypotophan than, say, chicken. Tryptophan, an essential amino acid, hasn’t even been proven to cause sleepiness. People simply overeat.
What’s more, sports fans can experience stupefaction without touching a morsel of food. The daze-inducing December doldrums are just ahead, lasting until the arrival of bowl games with multimillion dollar payouts and the season’s first conference basketball matchups.