THE SCIENCE BEHIND YOUR
THANKSGIVING DINNER:

Does eating turkey make you sleepy?

Because it’s Thanksgiving…

…Let’s talk turkey!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eating-turkey-sleepy-thanksgiving/; 11-23-2015

FIRST THINGS FIRST…

NEVER deep-fry a frozen turkey!

The water from the frozen turkey will sink to the bottom of the fryer (because it’s denser than water) which then in turn will try to escape as steam. When this happens it displaces the oil, causing it to bubble over and then that reacts with a flame you have a giant turkey fire!

More than 1,000 fires are caused each year by turkey fryers. DO NOT BE A STATISTIC!

https://imgur.com/gallery/gREv7rn

THAW your turkey!

https://www.sbnation.com/2016/11/21/13703368/deep-fry-frozen-turkey-fire-video-psa-thanksgiving

THREE WAYS TO THAW TURKEY

1

2

3

TURKEY FOOD SAFETY

TURKEY FOOD SAFETY

https://www.thoughtco.com/does-eating-turkey-make-you-sleepy-607798

DOES EATING TURKEY REALLY MAKE YOU SLEEPY?

Tryptophan and Turkey

Turkey contains high levels of the amino acid, tryptophan.

Tryptophan helps the body produce niacin, which in turn, helps the body produce serotonin, a remarkable chemical that acts as a calming agent in the brain and plays a key role in sleep.

Serotonin is used to make melatonin, a hormone that helps to control your sleep and wake cycles.

Turkey as a Sleep Inducer?

Is turkey the sole culprit behind our drowsy spells after
Thanksgiving dinner? Or are other dishes to blame?

Turkey as a Sleep Inducer?

As it turns out, turkey contains no more of the amino acid tryptophan than other kinds of poultry. In fact, turkey actually has slightly less tryptophan than chicken!

Tryptophan in turkey probably won't trigger the body to produce more serotonin because tryptophan works best on an empty stomach.

The tryptophan in a Thanksgiving turkey has to vie with all the other amino acids that the body is trying to use; Only part of the tryptophan makes it to the brain to help produce serotonin.

Thanksgiving myth busted: eating turkey won’t make you sleepy!

If it’s not just the bird, who’s to blame?

Most likely, it's the whole traditional Thanksgiving meal that can produce that after-dinner lethargy!

A typical Thanksgiving meal has 3,000 calories and 229 grams of fat.

If it’s not just the bird, who’s to blame?

The meal is quite often heavy and high in carbohydrates -- from mashed potatoes, to bread, stuffing and pie -- and your body is working hard to digest that food.

When people overeat food, the digestion process takes a lot of energy àmakes us sleepy!

And let's not forget that the holidays generally mean time off from work and with family. Many people feel more relaxed to begin with.

Also, if if you drink alcohol with your dinner, you'll likely feel its sedative effect, too!

There is a way to take advantage of the tryptophan in turkey…

HOW?
If you have trouble getting to sleep one night while there's still leftover turkey in the refrigerator, you could have a late snack of turkey and that, nutritionists say, might be the right amount of tryptophan on an empty stomach to help produce some serotonin.

Now let’s talk about dessert…nothing beats pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream!

Although store-bought varieties of ice cream can satisfy your sweet tooth when necessary, everyone knows the frosty dessert is best when homemade.

MAKING ICE CREAM

MAKING “ZIPLOC ICE CREAM”

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons rock salt
ice

PROCEDURE:

1. Put milk, sugar and vanilla in pint or quart-sized Ziploc bag and seal well.
2. Fill a gallon sized Ziploc bag with ice and add 8 tablespoons rock salt.
3. Put the small Ziploc bag containing the milk mixture inside the big Ziploc bag containing ice.
4. Seal well and squish.
5. Let stand for a few minutes.

http://www.food.com/recipe/ice-cream-in-a-ziplock-bag-124538

ICE CREAM: FREEZING POINT DEPRESSION

• Adding salt to water (solution) decreases the freezing point of pure water (pure solvent).
• A Ziploc bag with ice and salt will have reached a temperature lower then 0°C (i.e., freezing point depression) to freeze the ice cream mixture.

THE GOAL IS TO FORM SMALL CRYSTALS:

USE LIQUID NITROGEN

The liquid nitrogen (freezes at − 321°F) causes the fat and the water particles to stay very small, giving the ice cream its creamy consistency.

The taste of good ice cream depends on a blend of flavor, temperature, and texture: “Mouth feel”

https://pointellicehouse.com/2017/10/01/happy-thanksgiving/

All Credits:

This comes from a notes outline used in class that did not provide image credits. I thereby have no clue where the images were taken from as my professor provided us the images.