Today is National 'Gotta Take a Nap' Day

Today is National 'Gotta Take a Nap' Day

From NotMilk.com
November 2012

What does America eat today?
Leftovers!
For breakfast, there's that meaty drumstick.
For lunch, there's a wing and a prayer.
For dinner, there's gravy on gravy.
And then there are snacks...

Today is that day in which children of all ages stay home from work and school. That means a constant trip from the refrigerator to the bathroom to the living room couch. There are always wedges of cheese to begin the day-after feast. Please pass the cheescake. Ben and Jerry are welcome guests.

Before their traditional turkey dinner, most Americans will have eaten one or more cheese appetizers. Many revelers are doomed to spend the day after Thanksgiving dozing.

Over the years, I've heard from hundreds of people that after eating cheese, they get sleepy. Each case in itself is remarkable, and would be considered to be an "anecdote" by doctors and scientists. Hundreds of cases would be called "anecdotal evidence" by the scientific community. To my understanding, no study has ever been
made attempting to link cheese consumption to "sleepiness."

Doctors are often rewarded by having techniques or diseases named after them. Dr. Heimlich has his maneuver. Dr. Alzheimer has his brain disease. Dr. Constipat had...well, enough of that.

In the best interests of science, I am revealing why cheese eaters get tired.

Since I am the first to report this, it is my option of naming this phenomenon after myself, so from here on, please refer to cheese eating as the "Notmilkman nap."

If you eat cheese (as an appetizer) and turkey as your main course, your subsequent need to sleep will be called "Notmilknap."

It has been well established that people get sleepy after eating Thanksgiving meals.

Scientists place the blame upon an excess of an amino acid in turkey flesh called tryptophan.

I obtained data for the average tryptophan level in all cuts of turkey by accessing the United States Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database -http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp

A 100-gram portion of turkey contains 0.31 gram of tryptophan. For the sake of comparison, that number will act as our baseline for comparison of tryptophan levels in other foods.

You might ask yourself if Gouda is good for sleep.

Does Wisconsin's finest Cheddar cause more drowsiness than a group of cheeseheads talking about the Green Bay Packer football team?

Will Parmesan cheese at dinner put you to sleep an hour later while watching a performance of Figaro? How about goat cheese?

Here's what you need to know about tryptophan levels in 100 gram portions of food:

• Turkey (all cuts) = 0.31 gram of tryptophan
• Cheddar Cheese = 0.32 gram of tryptophan
• Hard Goat Cheese = 0.32 gram of tryptophan
• Parmesan Cheese = 0.48 gram of tryptophan

Advice for drivers: Never operate a motor vehicle after eating cheese. If you party, be sure to have a designated Notmilkperson behind the wheel.

Pleasant dreams!