It’s common for people to experience drowsiness after the large turkey dinners that are often a part of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Although most people attribute the drowsiness to the tryptophan in turkey, this is unlikely to be the cause. Despite this somewhat negative perception of tryptophan, it’s actually an important nutrient that has considerable benefits.

Tryptophan is an amino acid that’s needed by the body to assemble proteins that are involved in numerous biological functions. Tryptophan is also an essential amino acid which means that it cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained through diet. When tryptophan is not consumed in adequate amounts, it can lead to a number of issues including mood disorders.

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Although it’s becoming more widely accepted that nutrition can have a significant impact on your mental wellness, and that part of this is dependent upon the unique nutritional needs we each have, it’s far from being as well known as it should be. As a result, many people are unfortunately missing out on a simple and natural solution to both mental and physiological dysfunction.

After reading Nutrition and Your Mind by George Watson PhD, I was left with two compelling thoughts. I was pleasantly surprised that I could gain so much from a book that was published in 1972, but highly disappointed to see how little has changed since then, and in some ways, has even become worse.

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