Whether a staple of your holiday dinners or in your home enjoyed year-round, turkey can contribute to a healthy and balanced diet. Turkey meat provides a source of nutritious protein without large amounts of saturated fat and contains a number of essential vitamins and minerals. Some nutrients in turkey can have an effect on your nervous system, affecting the function of melatonin, a hormone produced in your brain.
Effect of Melatonin
Melatonin regulates your internal daily clock and maintains your circadian rhythm. Throughout the day, your brain experiences a cycling of hormones and other compounds that collectively control your feelings of sleepiness and wakefulness. At the end of the day, your brain responds to the absence of light and releases melatonin, which promotes drowsiness and encourages sleep. As morning approaches, a decrease of melatonin levels helps boost alertness, prompting you to wake up.
Tryptophan and Melatonin
One nutrient in turkey that has an effect on your melatonin levels is tryptophan. Since it is a type of amino acid, tryptophan makes up a component of the protein found in turkey meat. Once you consume turkey, your body utilizes tryptophan to produce new melatonin within your brain, helping to promote normal melatonin signalling. Each 3-ounce serving of turkey breast meat contains 207 milligrams of tryptophan.
Vitamin B-12 and Melatonin
Turkey also contains vitamin B-12, or cobalamin, an essential nutrient that can affect melatonin signalling in your brain. Vitamin B-12 has a stimulatory effect on the brain, helping to reduce melatonin signalling levels when you need to wake up. As a result, consuming enough vitamin B-12 each day proves important to balancing melatonin signalling, preventing excess melatonin signalling that can cause abnormal fatigue. Consuming 3 ounces of turkey breast provides your body with 0.36 micrograms of cobalamin, about 15 percent of the recommended intake for adults, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.
Other Nutrients in Turkey
In addition to its effect on melatonin levels and signalling in your brain, turkey contains a number of other essential nutrients, including vitamins that indirectly support melatonin signalling. For example, the potassium and sodium found in turkey meat aid in nerve activation, so the brain cells responsible for your internal clock can properly activate in response to melatonin, while B-vitamins in turkey contribute to the overall health of your nervous system. Consume turkey and other lean meats as part of a balanced diet to maintain healthy melatonin signalling and a healthy nervous system.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Melatonin; Dr. Steven Ehrlich; December 2009
- USDA National Nutrient Database: Turkey, Young Tom, Meat Only, Raw
- Linus Pauling Institute; Vitamin B-12; March 2003
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Vitamins - Introduction; Dr. Harvey Simon; February 2009
- US Department of Human & Health Services: Melatonin for Treatment of Sleep Disorders
- "Experientia;" Effects of Vitamin B12 on Plasma Melatonin Rhythm in Humans: Increased Light Sensitivity Phase-Advances the Circadian Clock?; Honma et al; 1992
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