It's that time of the year when we gather around a sumptuous dinner with our loved ones and say thanks.
While we're already aware what to expect on Thanksgiving dinner, Yahoo Health breaks down what's about to happen inside our body as we indulge on that mouth-watering stuffed turkey, loads of sweet pies, overflowing wine and more.
As dinner approaches, our brain starts to anticipate a series of circumstances that triggers different emotions affecting our food consumption. "Anticipatory emotions can very often set the tone of the dinner," said Josh Klapow, PhD, clinical psychologist and associate professor at University of Alabama in Birmingham.
People will most likely differ on how they react as they interact with the rest in the room --- some may be happy, others may be sad or a few might even be remorseful.
"You may find yourself in all three buckets over the course of dinner - or just in one - and a lot of that drives your eating patterns," Klapow explained. And these emotions will control your drinking patterns, too.
As for the so-called "Turkey Coma", nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD says it isn't totally the turkey's fault.
Post-thanksgiving sleepiness is the effect of too much insulin produced by your pancreas to clear your blood from all the sugar you consumed. "Due to excessively high blood sugar levels, your body overshoots the amount of insulin that it needs to release," Roussell explained. Insulin stimulates the production of "feel-good" hormones called serotonin --- which among its effects triggers drowsiness.
However, turkey does contain an amino acid called Tryptophan which is also slightly responsible for stimulating the body in producing serotonin.
Aside from feeling tired, overeating could also lead to light-headedness, fatigue and nausea, which scientists call "postprandial hypotension." This is due to an increased heart rate while the digestive system requires more blood in dissolving the large amount of food we ate.
Experts advice to watch out for our food consumption to avoid cutting short of this wonderful Thanksgiving night.
Happy Thanksgiving!
