Dear Diary : 2007-11-22

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Dear Diary
by Edeyn Hannah Blackeney


Thursday, 22 November, 2007

Dear Diary

Mom liked all the stuff I got, I liked all the stuff I got... but today is Thanksgiving.

It's about the turkey.

Oh.

And about being thankful.

I'm thankful that I'm finally allowed to be who I'm supposed to be, more than anything.

And right now, it's 5 o'clock in the evening... and I'm thankful that I have a big fluffy bed in which to lapse into a tryptophan coma.

In language that geeks everywhere can understand:

C11H12N2O2 = ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Courtney

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Comments

I don't think the

Dl-Tryptophan is what makes you sleepy after a large thanksgiving meal, but then again as a vegetarian I am hardly the person to ask :)

Turkey

Edeyn has the highest amount of Tryptophan, though it's comparable to other proteins. The idea is that since people eat so many Tryptophan-rich foods on Thanksgiving or Christmas, that the drowsiness from Tryptophan is magnified. So, not turkey entirely, but it's a big contributor. :)

Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
Wasn't it Jim Henson who said, "Without faith, I am nothing," after all? No, wait, that was God... Sorry, common mistake to make...

No formulas, please. Just Turkey and stuffing and potatoes and .

RAMI

Edeyn, don't scare me off, the last time I took chemistry was when I was a sophomore in high School. Since I was a part of the class of 69, the loving 69'ers, that would have been between 9/66 and 6/67. Please, please, pretty please with stuffing and cranberry on top, give us a clue next time. And yes, whenever I have turkey, I take a nice (Sluff-Yiddish) nap.

RAMI

RAMI

the formula is

the chemical formula for Tryptophan.

Diagram

Hi Edeyn,

I can't even remember what a molecular diagram/schematic is called, however you should have one for tryptophan. I'm sure that a large number of compounds exist with that same chemical formula. All my biochem, etc. books were exiled to the attic or the utility room by my partner to make room for her growing collection of old Mac computers and associated books. So I don't know the structure.

I didn't follow the statement in a comment that Dl tryptophan caused the sleepiness, (as if to say you were wrong, or something?). I'm sure you know that D or L just refers to the right handed or left handed (forgot the word again, isomer or something) form of the molecule.

Actually seratonin, a neurotransmiter, causes the sleepiness. Tryptophan is a direct precursor of seratonin. I used to take 6 or so grams of tryptophan a day instead of taking an antidepressant, which also would increase the amount of seratonin in my brain synapses, until congress outlawed tryptophan as a suppliment. There apparently were some poisonings, I'm not sure about deaths, from an impurity or contaminate in some incorrectly prepared tryptophan suppliments from Japan. Stupid congress.

__ H__H
_H C - C - O H : ethanol. Just wanted to see if I could make it appear correctly.
__ H__H

Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee

Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee

Thankful

terrynaut's picture

I'm thankful that I still have relatives who invite me to Thanksgiving dinner, especially since I can't cook.

I'm also thankful for these diary entries. Thanks! :)

- Terry

P.S. I'm sorry about my flippant comment on the previous entry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. :(