Why does(n't) turkey make you sleepy?
Jam, have you ever heard that turkey makes you sleepy?
Jam:I have both heard this and experienced it myself.
Melissa:Okay. Well, a lot of people say that. They say that turkey makes you sleepy because there's something called tryptophan in it Mhmm. That makes you sleepy. Mhmm.
Melissa:And that's not completely wrong, but it's also not right.
Jam:Interesting. Okay.
Melissa:So turkey doesn't super make you sleepy.
Jam:You know what does make me sleepy?
Melissa:What?
Jam:Just eating a lot of food. That So
Melissa:I under present.
Jam:You tell me. Yeah.
Melissa:I will tell you. I'll tell you all about it.
Jam:Okay. Alright.
Melissa:I'll have the transition written as let's goble into it. Oh.
Jam:Oh, I like it. It's a cringey. I like it. Oh. I like how bad it makes me feel inside.
Jam:Okay. Let's gobble it up. That
Melissa:Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist.
Jam:And I'm not.
Melissa:And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Holiday edition.
Jam:That We got we got we got a lot of I was just trying to use some sort of turkey sound, but I was I don't really know what I was gonna do.
Melissa:I don't know what turkeys I mean, I know turkeys sound like my grandma had turkeys, but it's hard to recreate.
Jam:Yes. I think I started thinking if I'd, like, move my head to the side and kinda like.
Melissa:That is pretty close. Yeah.
Jam:But I was just like, I've never tried this out loud. Maybe I shouldn't try it that loud right now.
Melissa:Okay. So this episode isn't is airing on the United States Thanksgiving.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That, and I don't love that. The history of that holiday is, you know, questionable at best.
Jam:Right. That,
Melissa:but I love eating food with my friends and family. Mhmm. And I love practicing gratitude.
Jam:Yep.
Melissa:And I love stopping the spread of misinformation.
Jam:That Nice. Things that, you know yeah. Everyone's looking for this time of year.
Melissa:Those are some of my favorite things.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And this is a prime opportunity to stop the spread of misinformation.
Jam:I love that too, and I love when you do that. And I love when there is something A little bit of trivia. People are all floating around.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Like, you know, especially coffee ones are the things I love to that To
Melissa:Oh, yeah.
Jam:Mess people up with. But just kinda fun to be like, actually, you know, that is not true.
Melissa:It's hard to know how do it in a way that doesn't make you like a, well, actually kinda guy. You know?
Jam:That's true.
Melissa:But but it is like, I wanna empower you to know the truth, and you can think about how best to share that with your family and friends.
Jam:A good point. And if you want to be like, actually, then you can.
Melissa:You can. That was a nice sound effect. I don't know who it was. It does behave.
Jam:Then you can.
Melissa:Then you can. Anyways, so that's what today is gonna be all about. It's gonna be about, that, you know, not stopping the spread of misinformation around the holiday season. And if you're on YouTube, you can see that I've skipped right over American Thanksgiving that into Christmas because that's my favorite, and the longer you can celebrate it, the better. So I'm wearing my my chemistry chem for life chemistry sweater and these little holiday earrings I inherited from my mom.
Melissa:Nice. That, and I've got and it's, like, kinda chilly here, so I got the boots on. I mean, the whole Christmas vibe.
Jam:It's a weirdly, suddenly chilly day today It is. With very little warning. Something's like, boom. 35 degrees.
Melissa:Yep. So So I'm in the holiday season. The this it's the season of holiday joy to me. So Nice. That welcome, everyone.
Jam:Yeah. And I got into the spirit as well. I got a mustardy colored shirt on.
Melissa:For Thanksgiving.
Jam:For for fall? For fall. And I'm drinking, hot coffee. This cold?
Melissa:I've been drinking hot coffee. Yeah. Mason brought home some Guatemalan coffee for me to cold brew, and instead of cold brewing, I've been French pressing. The thing, and it tastes really good. Listen.
Melissa:I'm not really a coffee person, but if you wanna get on on the good coffee train, go to good. Is it good dot coffee? Mhmm. Good with an e, goode.
Jam:Yeah. G o o d e dot coffee.
Melissa:It it's so good.
Jam:Funny is that I'm Drinking exactly that kind of Capriena, Guatemala, French pressed.
Melissa:It's just got a really good flavor to it. I'm not really a coffee person, but every once in a that I'll stumble upon it. Oh. Mhmm.
Jam:You gotta you gotta swirl it. You know?
Melissa:It does it tastes like the season a little bit, if that makes sense. It's, like, got a nice flavor profile for fallen cold.
Jam:Yeah. It's a good hot coffee for sure.
Melissa:Okay. So
Jam:So back to the turkeys.
Melissa:Back to turkeys. So that you know, there's this old adage that the tryptophan in turkey makes you sleepy. Mhmm.
Jam:And it's
Melissa:I'm not gonna say that's entirely not true, but it really isn't that that's why you get sleepy after the holiday meal.
Jam:K.
Melissa:So we're gonna talk about what is tryptophan and why do people think it makes you sleepy and all of that.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:But to answer that, we have to talk about biology. We have to talk about organic chemistry. We have to talk about biochemistry. We have to talk about functional groups. We have to talk about amino acids, and I'm really excited to get into it.
Melissa:It's a lot of stuff you've already heard before.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it's kind of like you're about to go into your holiday break, and this is the review for your final. So I don't know if it's gonna be anything completely new, but it will be at least a good reminder for you.
Jam:Cool. And packaged in a new way about a new thing.
Melissa:A 100%.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:Which is always good. Okay.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Do you remember, or do you want me to just give you the review?
Jam:I just remember that they make up proteins.
Melissa:Yes. Perfect. Yeah. So amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:And proteins are polymers. And what are polymers?
Jam:Polymers are Large molecules made up of small molecules.
Melissa:Yep. Small repeating units.
Jam:Small repeating units. It's funny because, like, affects some of these things become, like that And the mitochondria is the powerhouse itself. You know, like, remember those phrases that, like, we all heard and all memorized, and then, like, now we can all swap them with each other? That's like the those are the grade school kind of versions or whatever?
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:But I feel like some of those are like, yep. These are in there.
Melissa:Well, no. A a polymer was also on jeopardy. It wasn't just grade grade school stuff.
Jam:I'm not knocking on grade school stuff. I just feel like that's the kind of Yeah. It's like that's what you remember from back then. Yeah. And a lot of the other stuff, you start to forget.
Jam:They're like, but I do remember that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, and amino acids make up proteins. You know? It's like
Melissa:Polymers are large molecules made up of the molecules so amino acids are those molecules. So they're the repeating units. Another way that a lot of times we'll talk about this is, like, if you had a pearl necklace and you have these repeating pearls over and over, you know Mhmm. Those are the individual units, but together, they make up a long necklace.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So we have these these amino acids built up. They string all together to make a protein.
Jam:K.
Melissa:Okay. That. And what's special about amino acids, there's 20 common types of amino acids, and what makes something an amino acid is if it has it's a certain few certain features, but 2 main things they have are 2 functional groups.
Jam:K.
Melissa:We talked about what functional groups are. Do you remember what they are?
Jam:They are
Melissa:This is literally exactly how I hold reviews for my students. I just ask them. Do you remember what that is?
Jam:I remember functional groups are like When a certain sort of set of, like, modules, elements that are combined together in a certain way Mhmm. That it is
Melissa:That's okay. You don't remember. That's good. Yeah. Okay.
Melissa:It's like sort of a collection of atoms that can be usually on an organic molecule is the context I hear it in, but so it's like, maybe you have your base chain of carbons, and then there's, like, a group of atoms arranged in a certain way that act in a certain way, and you see those that group together a lot. So an amine group is a nitrogen with a few hydrogens off of it, that or a carboxylic acid group is a carbon with an oxygen double bonded to it in a small like, then, like, another oxygen off to the side an or an alcohol group is an oxygen and a hydrogen. Mhmm. And these when the group the atoms are grouped up in these specific ways, we can anticipate their behavior a little bit.
Jam:So that little functional group could be part of a lot of different things, including, like, could have a little alcohol the thing on another molecule Mhmm. In various places, and you just kinda could recognize it. Like, oh, hey. There's that's what that is. That's a I couldn't think of that analogy.
Jam:I started to well, I started to try to think something outside of this. Almost like if you were seeing the like, that A brand. You know? The little logo. Yeah.
Jam:You know? It's like that it might be a totally different car, but like, oh, that's a little Toyota T on there.
Melissa:Like, oh, that's a Toyota. I know how that's gonna
Jam:There you go.
Melissa:But it might yeah. That's a good way of thinking of it. Like, they'll have or, like, oh, this is a Toyota Hybrid. All of them have the same engine, so they're all gonna act in the same way even though their package can be different.
Jam:Right. That's a
Melissa:good analogy.
Jam:There we go.
Melissa:Nice. Yeah. Or, like, like, keys are gonna function the same way. Even if they all you know, even if they're on different key rings, the key will still function in the same way. Right.
Melissa:So amino acids have an amine functional group. That's where the amino comes from and a carboxylic acid functional group. So they just have these 2 functional groups. You don't even need to know really what they are, but they have those they're both on there, and they have some neat properties because of that. And there's 20 common amino acids, that and one of them is tryptophan.
Melissa:And we can't make tryptophan ourselves, so we have to ingest it.
Jam:K.
Melissa:So we eat it, and it's commonly found in what kind of macronutrient?
Jam:Macronutrient.
Melissa:That's like carbohydrate protein. Yeah. Yeah.
Jam:I'm like, is it that easy?
Melissa:It is that easy. Right. Nice. So it's commonly found in protein. So, you know, it's in turkey, for sure.
Melissa:That's true. Mhmm. It's also in steak. It's in eggs. It's in chickpeas.
Melissa:It's in soybeans. I think it's even in chocolate. You know? It's all over the place.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That so, you ingest it. It goes into your bloodstream, and then it has to cross the blood brain barrier. And there, tryptophan can break down into serotonin and melatonin. And those are neurotransmitters, which we've talked about before, but, basically, they help your brain function in certain ways. That, also, it can break down into other beneficial things in your gut and your liver.
Jam:K.
Melissa:So tryptophan is used all over. So tryptophan is an amino acid. It's often found in proteins because proteins are made up of amino acids, and we have to eat it that so that we it's an essential protein or an essential nutrient for life. K. We need it.
Melissa:But you don't have to eat meat to get protein. You can get it from all these places.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So if you're if you're listening carefully, you might have heard me say, it goes to serotonin and then melatonin.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And melatonin helps people go to sleep. Right?
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So doesn't that mean that tryptophan can make you sleepy?
Jam:I guess if that It does that. How much of it becomes serotonin? How much of it becomes melatonin?
Melissa:That is the exact right type of question to be asking. And not only that, but how much of it even gets to your brain?
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So the thing I try to think about I think this is why people think that turkey makes you sleepy. But I try to think about it in a good analogy. And so the analogy I'm gonna use because I was just watching hair videos on TikTok. Mhmm. Because I like watching people make rainbow colors hair.
Melissa:Mhmm. One day, I'd like to get rainbow color hair. They do these things called this is an aside, but it's a Thanksgiving episode, so maybe you're listening to this on a long drive somewhere or maybe you're flying somewhere. Anyway, so I'll give you this little aside. They they'll take, like, tiny strips of your hair and make a 1 individual strip be a rainbow, and then it looks like an oil slick.
Jam:Oh, interesting. And then
Melissa:so it kinda looks like most of your hair is still your normal color and but, like, you're like, is that is it rainbow? Like, when you're walking it up to a puddle that has that, like, oil on top and it kinda looks rainbow y, and you're like, is that water? Is there a rainbow there?
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:That's what I want my hair to look like. Nice. But I don't know how that would practically play out on crazy curly hair, so I was used to say. That Right. Anyway so because I was watching
Jam:videos of
Melissa:that Uh-huh. This is what it made me think of. Imagine that you have, rainbow colored hair, that and you have all these different dyes that have to go into the rainbow. You have red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Right?
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And your hairdresser has has to be the one that puts the dye on the hair. Right. So say the tryptophan would be equivalent to, like, the purple dye.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And the hairdresser is the thing that's gonna transport it over the blood brain barrier. The hairdresser is working on all these dyes. So it's not only transporting just the purple dye, it's it's the hairdresser is working with all these dyes.
Jam:There are other things trying to cross this barrier. There are
Melissa:other things trying to cross the barrier, especially when you've just eaten a large complex the meal
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Such as a Thanksgiving dinner or a holiday dinner.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:You'll have all these the amino acids that are in your bloodstream that are trying to cross the blood brain barrier. And there's tryptophan present for sure, but there's also a bunch of other things. K. So the impact of the tryptophan is gonna be less.
Jam:K.
Melissa:So but if you only had purple dye, that was the only color that you wanted. That a lot more of that is gonna get onto your hair. Right?
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So the same blood bay brain barrier is gonna be able to transport more. So if you had tryptophan in complete isolation, it is possible that it would make us sleepy. That, and that has been shown for some other species. I think it's like fruit flies that has there's been a study that shows that tryptophan pure tryptophan can make them sleepy. Uh-huh.
Jam:That
Melissa:or the thing that tryptophan breaks down into serotonin, that does break down into melatonin. And so there if you have a large amount of serotonin, that can break down the melatonin, but there has to be enough of it, and that's 2 steps removed from tryptophan.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:So that it's not to say that tryptophan doesn't make you sleepy at all. It's to say that tryptophan is competing with all these other things. And then once it gets past the blood brain barrier, it also has to go through breakdown through several steps to become melatonin and then further breakdown to become or sorry. First serotonin and then for the breakdown to become melatonin. So it's like a very long process to get there.
Melissa:Yeah. So it's unlikely that that is the thing that's really making you that after your big oatmeal.
Jam:Interesting. Yeah. Mhmm.
Melissa:But but I think because it does that generate melatonin eventually. I think that's where the little, like I don't know what to say. It's like it's not like a falsehood, but I think that's why people associate that so highly with turkey making you sleepy, but there's tryptophan in everything. You know, we're we don't say, like, an egg white omelette is gonna give you is gonna make you sleepy or
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:A little bit of chocolate is gonna make you sleepy. We don't say that.
Jam:You know? Right. And is there a general, like is there you think it's some other effect when we eat any big meal That is just like our body's working hard on digesting it so that it's a sleepy. Like
Melissa:So a 2019 article I read from the Royal Society of Chemistry talked about this as well, talked about tryptophan. And they said it really is a lot of factors, and it's complex. But some things that it could be that I got from that and a few other sources is, one, we usually ingest alcohol or other you know, if you have, like, alcohol, champagne, that kind of thing, that can, cause, like, a not sleepiness effect, but, like I mean, it is sleepiness, but I was thinking, like, the thing that makes you pass out. What's that called? I don't know.
Jam:Not either.
Melissa:Sedative. It can have
Jam:a sedative effect.
Melissa:That's what I was thinking.
Jam:Got that.
Melissa:And then, some studies also indicate that if the small intestine stretches, that that can also make you sleepy.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:Carbohydrates can, increase the presence of serotonin
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Which, of course, also breaks down into melatonin even though there's not tryptophan in a lot carbohydrates.
Jam:Interesting. And
Melissa:so even though it's not a 100% clear, it's very likely that we're eating a lot of food, that we're content that we, you know, have had possibly other things that give us sedatives and possibly other carbohydrates that increase the melatonin in our brain.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:So that's why.
Jam:Yeah. Wow.
Melissa:I thought that was a fun thing to think about on Thanksgiving.
Jam:Yeah. That's super fun. And just and so strange because it's one of those things that, like I don't remember how many years ago I first heard that whole deal, that whole Tryptophan thing, but it just has really become a household bit of trivia. You know? And Every year, I feel like I even see articles, you know, referencing it and stuff like that that are like, or little news stories or like, I don't know, just The things like, remember this year, you know Yeah.
Jam:What's that feeling you get after you eat all the turkey? And and they kinda do a little, like, basic that Lessened about it or whatever. I feel so common, and yet it's pretty unobserved. Pretty un
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:You know? And I never really thought deeper than that that now. So
Melissa:Yeah. It's tryptophan, an amino acid, and it's in everything all the time.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And maybe it is contributing, but that we don't really know how much.
Jam:Right. You
Melissa:know? Seems like they'd be competing with a lot of other things.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:So yeah.
Jam:Very cool.
Melissa:There you go. For gratitude. I believe in practicing gratitude. Instead of sharing, like, just a happy thing we could share, maybe some things that we're grateful for or some fun holiday meals that we like that probably have tryptophan in it or something like that. Oh, I guess a lot of times you explain it back to me, but I guess there's less to explain back this time.
Jam:I could do a quick summary, but, for some
Melissa:excited to get to the gratitude part.
Jam:Yeah. Or we could just go do it. I don't know.
Melissa:Why don't you do a quick summary, and then we'll get to it.
Jam:Okay. Tryptophan that is a part of it's present in proteins.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:It itself is an amino acid Mhmm.
Melissa:It's an amino acid. Yeah.
Jam:That has the end of the stuff was the, like, that Has a amine Mhmm. And then the other group was a carboxylic acid Mhmm. Group? Okay.
Melissa:And it all amino acids have that.
Jam:All amino acids have that? Okay. And when that one does get into our brains Mhmm. When it does cross the blood brain barrier, it does break down into serotonin and melatonin. So when that does happen, it would have the drowsy effect Mhmm.
Jam:On us. That The thing that we the new part the new information not not that was all new to me as well. But, like, The part that is often not talked about Mhmm. Is the fact that tryptophan is in tons of stuff Mhmm. And that a lot of things are trying to cross that that Blood brain barrier.
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:So we actually are eating it all all around the year. Mhmm. But also in our bodies, the things that are kinda moving around, trying to get from place to place, Including crossing the blood brain barrier are many things. And so the effect of something like tryptophan, especially on a day where you're eating something like turkey, just should not be that much higher than it ever is. No.
Jam:And but but it is true that melatonin does make us sleepy.
Melissa:Yeah. It's
Jam:just that we're kinda forgetting about all the other factors at play.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:And it's probably more likely that it's just eating a large that meal. And probably there are things we're eating that we don't normally eat, but I think the biggest thing for me is also just the amount.
Melissa:The amount. Yeah. Uh-huh. And the amount of sweets probably too
Jam:with
Melissa:carbohydrates that go they did go straight into that serotonin.
Jam:Yeah. So carbohydrate probably probably a more likely culprit make us sleepy.
Melissa:And all really, all probably the quantity, the carbohydrates, and then also any other additional things that you're taking in that may be sedative. Yeah.
Jam:And that is why we're sleepy.
Melissa:But, also, you know what I thought about too?
Jam:What?
Melissa:That is when you just don't have as much to do, and you're as, like, overworked and busy in society as we normally are,
Jam:and
Melissa:you've just eaten and you've worked hard to make this meal, and then you don't have to work or go anywhere or do anything. And everyone's like, yeah. We don't have to do anything. Yeah. The thing to do is taking it.
Jam:Yep. Totally. Yeah. I mean, I feel like I can always I can always take a nap. I can always go to sleep.
Jam:Yeah. So what's will it be really that much different? What I really notice that At this stage of my life, probably not. I could I could take a nap right now. Uh-huh.
Melissa:So Yeah.
Jam:What's the difference when I'm eating turkey or not?
Melissa:Yeah. That's funny. Okay. Okay. So now we can get into either gratitude or holiday meals or memories.
Melissa:What are you what are you feeling?
Jam:Why don't you go first, And I will think as you go.
Melissa:Okay. Well, I don't like turkey.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That Interesting. But here's something that happened last year at Thanksgiving time that I really like. So a lot of times I actually, I'll share this. That my family doesn't have a huge big Thanksgiving thing. And as a student, a lot of times, the push up to the holiday break, the winter break was be really overwhelming.
Melissa:Yep. And so, what I did sometime in grad school, and I loved it, and this was my tradition for a while, is I didn't do anything to celebrate Thanksgiving. And instead, I would wake up Mhmm. And go get some donuts from a donut shop and eat donuts and chocolate milk.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:And watch the, Thanksgiving episode of The West Wing. Uh-huh. That, and then it would work on my homework.
Jam:I'm so glad you didn't say the parade. Sorry. Go ahead.
Melissa:No. I mean, the the parade's on the god whatever. No. I watched a Thanksgiving episode of The West Wing or one of there's, like, a few of them, but there's one that I really like. And then I just worked on my homework.
Melissa:Uh-huh. And I and I would write those papers up. It'd be a whole day where, like, nobody really expects you to be doing anything.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Until I could just have the whole day to get work done.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And then it made the next week or 2, you know, however long you had into Christmas that or the holiday break, the winter break, so much more restful because I had gotten a big thing off my plate, and then I could really enjoy that next this time period with my fam it was like, I'm gonna see everybody again in a few weeks. Yeah. And so I'll be much happier. Well, I'll be much happier if I just get this work done, and then I go. Yeah.
Melissa:And that is my favorite way to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Jam:Pretty smart. Pretty smart.
Melissa:This is something that I really like doing. And now my work schedule's a little different. I don't really have that same push, you know, but I I think I could see myself continuing to do that. Because part of the thing too is when people celebrate Thanksgiving, everybody's trying to make this big meal, and they get stressed. And it's not really as, like, that it's not as quality time as, you know, some other time.
Melissa:So
Jam:I agree with that. We have Kind of, like, similarly, not always just, like, massive. Yeah. It's not like it's, like, the highest priority. But, that I grew up we always had turkey and ham.
Jam:Mhmm. And I liked turkey, but it never blew my mind fully. And then my wife ever since I've been married, my wife was loved specifically her that Sister's turkey recipe.
Melissa:She does that good salt brine thing. That is pretty good. If I'm gonna eat a turkey.
Jam:Yes. And so the 1st year we were married, I think I think it was gonna be my family's gonna come and do Thanksgiving with us, and Em was like, oh, I'm making a turkey. I've been wanting to do my sister's recipe for a long time. I'm gonna do it, she nailed it. She always nails it.
Jam:It's always great, and that has got me more excited. And I think I think Emma likes doing it. Yeah. That's fun. She does stress as a thought about it a little bit, that and I don't think that's always worth it.
Jam:Yeah. But, you know, that's cool. And then there's a few other things that, we like to cook. But, that Yeah. I think I think it is like okay.
Jam:You get a day, and you get some a little bit more elbow room time wise.
Melissa:That Yeah.
Jam:Eat some meals with some people. We've had times where it's we've had no family coming in. We've just done it with some friends from like that. Yeah. That's fun.
Jam:It's, like, great having an excuse to be like, hey. Let's Sit and eat a meal together.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:You know? And just make it more special than normal. Yeah. Why not?
Melissa:Last year, the day before Thanksgiving, we went to Mason's grandma's house and and, like, stayed there. And that night, the night before Thanksgiving, she just made her she makes these, like, little burritos that she does. And she made burritos, and we played games and stayed up late playing games, hanging that eating pie, you know, whatever. Yeah. And I was like, this I wish this was what Thanksgiving felt
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:But then on the day, it feels like there's all this more stress and pressure, and you're like, I was like, if if we just ate burritos
Jam:Yep.
Melissa:And played games Yeah. And everybody got to enjoy it because nobody was stressed out cooking or doing dishes. That would be that would be I would really like that. Yeah. You know?
Jam:And I think I think I will agree with you in the sense that, like, one, I like the low stress thing.
Melissa:Yeah. Low stress.
Jam:And I am way more here for the pie than everything else. Oh. It's that Specifically pumpkin pie. To me, it is so simple, but so good. Mhmm.
Jam:That And
Melissa:a nice whipped cream.
Jam:Yes. Some whipped cream on there. It's been a couple years in a row where, like like, my some of my family members like like, The past couple years, my mom and my older brother have come and hang out with us, and we don't do this, like, insane meal. Mhmm. But it is like, We do and does the turkey, and then we just kinda do things that we all like.
Jam:And this doesn't even have to be as big of servings and all that kind of stuff. You know? But we don't stress ourselves out about it. And
Melissa:That's nice.
Jam:I'll be like, yes. I definitely want pumpkin pie. And For some reason, my mom and my brother like pecan pie more. And so it's happened twice, maybe even 3 times, is they will leave, and most of Pumpkin pie will still be there, and then I will, for the next several days, eat, like, a slice a day Yeah. And eat the rest of the thing my myself, and I'm so happy.
Jam:Yeah. And I'm like, you know, this is amazing, and I don't seek it out. I know you could pretty much find and make that pumpkin pie all year round if you wanted to. Yeah. I just don't do it because I love it so much.
Melissa:Nice to kinda save it.
Jam:Yes. Save it.
Melissa:So You know what? I love a this is wrong of me. Yeah. And it's out of season. But I love a key lime pie at the end of a Thanksgiving meal because it's light.
Melissa:It feels like, oh, we just had this big heavy meal, and now I'm gonna have a light Yeah. Pie.
Jam:I love key lime pie. Mhmm. And also our friend Leslie makes it has have you had her limeade pie?
Melissa:I don't think so.
Jam:Oh, wait.
Melissa:Yes. I have.
Jam:It's a little different.
Melissa:It's good.
Jam:It's really good.
Melissa:It's really good. Mhmm. I also love the sides. I'm, like, here for mashed potatoes, corn, and, like, those yeast rolls, the sister Schubert's yeast rolls, those are the best ones.
Jam:Yeah. I could do all sides.
Melissa:Cranberry. Pie. Yeah. Yeah, all sides and pie would be great. Yep.
Melissa:Oops. Anyway Oops.
Jam:All sides and pie.
Melissa:Oops. All sides. Anyway and, also, I
Jam:wanted to do a gratitude thing.
Melissa:Yes. Let's do you'd think Yes.
Jam:Let's do it.
Melissa:Should we do you wanna how do we should we do that? Should we just each pick 1 thing?
Jam:That That's hard though because it's like you gotta pick the best thing. Yeah. So you could just
Melissa:family.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Well, what if we go back and forth a few times? That's fun.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:I'm grateful for this podcast and all of our listeners in science, and that we get to do this. This is, like, part of what I do
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:That every day. It's, like, it's wild. Yeah. I it's crazy to me.
Jam:It is crazy. And people all the time will be like the people we just know in our life, Did you guys do the podcast? I'm like, yeah. We still do that. And it's, like, the number one commission podcast on Apple Podcasts.
Melissa:And like, we've we've got a 1000000 downloads plus.
Jam:Yeah. I was telling somebody the other day. I was like, hey. We've done a 170s whatever episodes. Uh-huh.
Jam:And they're like, oh my I was like, that's, like, counting bonuses Yeah. And stuff. And they're like, I just didn't realize.
Melissa:And people listen. Yeah. Yeah. I think our friends think it's like a like, yeah. They're they're like, oh, that's just something they do for fun, but it's like, no.
Melissa:Yeah. People like it.
Jam:I mean, it's like, yeah. We do do it for fun. And also
Melissa:Yeah. That. Right.
Jam:People listen to it. So Yeah. Anyway.
Melissa:It's the you know what somebody said? It's like the nineties equivalent of having a band. Like, everybody had a band. That's a good
Jam:point. Yep. You're
Melissa:like, oh, yeah. Everybody has a podcast?
Jam:Yep. And it's yeah. And also, of course, despite having a lot of people listening, you guys that just Listen and love it and and stuff with some of the best listeners ever. It is not like you know, we're not famous, which is great.
Melissa:Which I love. I don't know. I'm not trying to
Jam:be famous. So so people are kinda like, oh, must not really be happening. Yeah. It's like, I mean, it's happening enough.
Melissa:It's happening. It really is.
Jam:I agree completely. That One thing that I've been grateful for lately is that's been really fun that is it's one of the first things that came to mind is that I'd mentioned a couple episodes ago that my mother-in-law moved in that With us.
Melissa:She's so nice.
Jam:So we were, like, we're about 3 weeks in on that at this point, something like that. And that's been really fun. By the
Melissa:time you're listening, it'll be, like, a few months in.
Jam:That's a good point. Yep. So that's been fun because it also just feels like that A little bit fuller house. There's always something happening, like I don't know. I just it's just been kinda cool.
Jam:Like, a couple times where, like, kids are in bed, and then it's like, I'm finally making some dinner for myself from like that. Then Barb's like, should we watch a show? Something like that. And we'll just watch them. And it's just like, those are the nights, like, evenings like that where Em is working.
Jam:Yeah. But just people around now Yeah. And that stuff, and it's been fun. And my 3 year old loves for my mother-in-law to read him stories and stuff like that. So that's been fun too.
Jam:So just things like that have been, like, that Cool because that's I'm thinking about it because that kind of stuff would usually happen around at holidays if you're gonna have family come visit. Yeah. But she's just here.
Melissa:That. Yeah.
Jam:Like, non holidays just here. So
Melissa:That's a really good one too. Just thinking about, like, oh, I wish my mom was here to be with my nephew and my. The new baby nephew that was born and, like, she should be retired, and she should get to hang out with them and you know? Mhmm. So I think seeing that mom do that.
Melissa:It's like, yeah. This is what you should be doing. This is the phase of life that you should get to just hang out with your grandbabies
Jam:and Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:And make the food at rest and Yeah. So that I think it's, like, fun that she kinda gets to do all these little things that she really likes doing. Like, one day I came in, she said something about baking bread.
Jam:Oh, yeah. She'd made some, yeah, she'd made some bread. Mhmm.
Melissa:I'm like, that's dream. This is a dream. She gets to hang out with her grandpabies
Jam:and make bread.
Melissa:Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. That's really I I think that's really I get really happy every time I see that she's getting to do that and that y'all get to have her around.
Melissa:That's really cool.
Jam:It's fun.
Melissa:Okay. My turn. I'm really grateful for our new house because
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:You know, we've just we're renting, but then we don't have to deal with anything if stuff goes wrong. Mhmm. So that's nice. And we just just sit in the backyard, and it overlooks all these trees. And we've been able to host so many people.
Melissa:We hosted our friends to watch Formula 1, and we hosted I'm Mexico themed, and so we'd, like, made all this traditional Mexican food. It was so good.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:And then we have we're hosting a little baby shower for some of our friends who are having a new baby. Mhmm. And we are hosting we like our our church group that we come over, it's like, we just have all these little these little events. Or my nephew's coming over, and we're gonna all for Halloween, we're all gonna have some chili, and Nice. Then they're gonna go trick or treating.
Melissa:You know? And my roommate and her boyfriend's was like, we just get this whole it's just really nice to have a home. Yeah. You know? It's like a a big enough space where people can come and be in our home with us.
Melissa:And it's chaotic, and we're still not all unpacked from moving and but it's just, like, if you just decide not to care about that, then you just get to have friends in your home, and that's really nice.
Jam:And, you know, I mean, everyone you know, you could have the opposite. You could have your home all orderly Mhmm. And tidy and no one to come over.
Melissa:That would be really sad.
Jam:Know, a messy house, but people come over and you get to see your friends all the time. Yeah. You know? I'll I would choose the messy house with the friends A 100%. All the time.
Jam:That's great. Let me think of another one.
Melissa:And for our listeners, if you wanna message us what you're grateful for when you hear this, we'd love it. Yeah. We can even do a little Instagram story and share some or something.
Jam:Yes. That'd be great. Yeah. Please share it with us.
Melissa:That you gotta practice gratitude.
Jam:Yeah. I feel like I'm a pretty thankful person. It's just sort of like
Melissa:Now you're on the spot?
Jam:Yeah. You're on the spot, and also, like, which thing to share. You know what I mean? I'm not like I'm like I'm not like, what Should I be thinking for my life?
Melissa:It's like there's too many.
Jam:Yep.
Melissa:Well, also listeners, there's a really cool episode of the Huberman Lab podcast about practicing gratitude and the scientific positive impacts that they found of being grateful on, like, your health. Like, it can lower your blood blood pressure and things like that.
Jam:That's awesome. Yeah. Very cool. I
Melissa:was trying to buy you some time.
Jam:Yeah. I didn't think of anything else. I I mean, I didn't think of anything I could
Melissa:share right away.
Jam:No. Nothing that's, like, came up. It's like, oh, this is the thing to share.
Melissa:Yeah. It's like things that you're grateful for consistently, only like friends and family and
Jam:I started talking to my wife, mother-in-law, but, really, they ended up kinda becoming about, like, I would just like having people in our house.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:And it's really blessed us a lot. But
Melissa:That's that's what mine
Jam:wants to do. In general, family is probably the biggest thing that, like, comes to mind for me, lately. But, I mean, mostly share about this too, but we just we have a lot of really good friends that we get to see on a regular basis, and that's something you can kind of, like, get a little bit too used to sometimes. And then soon as you realize, like, this is cool. Yeah.
Jam:You know? Yeah. Like, I was telling my mother-in-law the other day about one of our friends, Sean, who I met when I was a freshman in college, and we started hanging out, and then we lived together for 3 years. And then now we've been in the same town and been friends and spent time together on a regular basis for, like Yeah. 12 years now.
Jam:Yeah. Isn't that crazy?
Melissa:I recently stayed the night with my friend who lives in Tyler. She just bought a house, and I've known her since 1st grade. And so then you're like, people don't have that. You know? Yeah.
Melissa:Yeah. And we have so many similar interests. We like food and grilling out that all these things, and you're like, wow. After all this time. You know?
Melissa:Yeah. So, yeah, we're just really lucky. Okay. Great. Well, thank you all for coming and listening, and thanks for learning about turkey, and try to share that fun information.
Melissa:Try not to be a well silly person unless, you know, unless you just wanna be, unless you're trying to stir the pot.
Jam:Yeah. Which, you know, that's always a thing. Oh, no. It's just not always a good thing. You know?
Jam:So
Melissa:Maybe say it before other people say the thing.
Jam:Yeah. Or maybe do it to distract from something that's more of a that Real conflict. So say some sort of, like, more
Melissa:deep Charged.
Jam:Deeply held charged for every comeback comes up. You'd be like, did you know that that Tryptophan isn't probably even the main culprit of what they need to be. Then throw it in there as, like, a little, like Squirrel. Look.
Melissa:Just send them over and be like, did you know that turkey doesn't really make you sleepy just because of the tryptophan. Yep. Yeah. Ask me more about it. Yeah.
Melissa:And
Jam:please stop fighting with each other about whatever.
Melissa:You know? Yeah. That's that. Funny. Awesome.
Melissa:Well, yeah, thanks. Thanks to all of you listeners. And, oh, I also wanted to shout out Tim, he's one of our our big Patreon supporters. Always coming to our coffee hours. Always hyping us up.
Melissa:Always sharing stuff on Instagram. That, and it's his birthday in a few days. So happy birthday, Tim. This episode's for you.
Jam:Nice. Take care of you, Tim. That Timbo. Okay. Thanks for teaching us about this.
Jam:Very interesting and very odd topic. I have, You know, never observed it deeper than we did today, so that was super interesting. Yeah. Do you have a question or idea or a thought that you think something that There might be chemistry in your area of life that you want us to talk about. You want most of the research into, please send it to us on our website at chemforyourlife.
Jam:Com, that's Kim, f o r, your life wait. Yep. Yeah. Halfway through it, I was like, what am I saying? I'm like, in I'm in in habit mode.
Jam:That f o r your life .com to share that's and ideas. If you'd like to help us keep our show going and contribute to cover the cost of making it, you can join our super cool Chemmunity that of patrons on patreon.com/chem for your life. That's patreon.com/chem for your life. If you're not able to do that, you can still help us by subscribing on your favorite podcast app, rating and writing a review on Apple Podcasts, and also subscribing on our YouTube channel. Those things help us to share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:I also wanna do a shout out to Faith who did ask me why turkey makes you sleepy. That Faith is my sister-in-law. So thanks.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:Thanks. Maybe we're together. Who knows? For Thanksgiving. This episode of chemistry free life was created by Melissa Coleenie and Jam Robinson, and Jam Robinson is our producer.
Melissa:The episode was made possible by our financial supporters over on Patreon. It means so much to us that you want to help make chemistry accessible to even more people. Those supporters are Avishai B, Brie M, Brian K, Chris and Claire s, Chelsea b, Derek l, Emerson w, Hunter r, Jacob t, Christina g, Katrina h, Latila s, Lynn s, Melissa p, Nicole c, Rachel r, Steven b, Shadow, Suzanne p, Timothy p, and Venus r. Thank you all again so much. You really are one of the things that we're grateful for in this holiday season.
Jam:Yeah. Definitely. That and
Melissa:thank you for everything you do to make our podcast happen. And we wanna add an extra special thanks to Bree who often creates illustrations to go along with episodes of chemistry free life. Those can be seen over on our YouTube channel. And you can find ways to support and follow Bree in our show notes that on Twitter atbree or at McAllisterbree and intropic art art station.com.
Jam:If You'd like to learn more about today's chemistry lesson. You can check the references for this episode in our show notes as well as in the description of the video on YouTube.
Melissa:That Yay chemistry.
Jam:Yay chemistry.
