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News & ArtsThursday, November 19, 2009
Chow / Science Turkey Consumption May Prevent Shoppers Trampling Each Other in Consumerist Frenzy
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 10:23 AM
- mraaronmorris / Stranger Flickr
- Calming.
At least according to a husband-and-wife team of assistant professors of marketing at the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business.
The researchers approached study participants between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on a Thanksgiving holiday and asked them to fill out an online questionnaire. "We found that participants who had consumed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey displayed less willingness to buy deeply discounted products compared to those who did not consume a traditional dinner," Himanshu Mishra said.
They conclude that higher levels of tryptophan, which increase the ol' serotonin levels, make one less impulsive, e.g., less trampley when the WalMart opens the day after Thanksgiving.
But: Might there also be other factors in play here?
Meanwhile, in useful sense-making Thanksgiving news, our local and thoroughly awesome Questionland Experts are answering queries about giblets, desserts that are more interesting than pumpkin pie, and (ever-popular) booze. Yes!
5
Thought they'd pretty much debunked the tryptofan thing and it was just because people stuffed themselves on Thanksgiving that they got sluggish.
6
In order to see any significant rise in tryptophan levels, one would have to consume a much larger quantity of turkey than the average person could eat at one sitting, plus refrain from eating anything else, since tryptophan I believe is most effectively absorbed on empty stomach and in the absence of other proteins.
If the researchers are equating an increase in serotonin levels in their subjects to a lack of impulse purchases, they'd be advised to look not so much at how much turkey they're eating, but how many carbs they're taking in at the same time. If I remember how this works correctly, A typical carb-heavy Thanksgiving dinner dramatically raises insulin levels in the bloodstream, which in turn tends to sweep amino-acids out of the circulatory system and into muscles where it's stored. Tryptophan, for some reason I can't recall at the moment, is an exception to this process; thus there may not necessarily be more of it available, but with the other amino-acids out of the picture as it were, it's more quickly and easily converted into serotonin.
Golob, did I get that right?
If the researchers are equating an increase in serotonin levels in their subjects to a lack of impulse purchases, they'd be advised to look not so much at how much turkey they're eating, but how many carbs they're taking in at the same time. If I remember how this works correctly, A typical carb-heavy Thanksgiving dinner dramatically raises insulin levels in the bloodstream, which in turn tends to sweep amino-acids out of the circulatory system and into muscles where it's stored. Tryptophan, for some reason I can't recall at the moment, is an exception to this process; thus there may not necessarily be more of it available, but with the other amino-acids out of the picture as it were, it's more quickly and easily converted into serotonin.
Golob, did I get that right?
7
Oh ugh...I just hate it when the media reports on research studies. They do such a shitty job of it. And Bethany you're right in there --- but thanks for including your toss-away line about other factors.
There's a comparable about of tryptophan in turkey meat as in other meat. It's more likely the insulin from all the excess carbs consumed sets people off for a nap.
And the thought that consumers would regulate their eating so as to influence their behavior is more than ludicrous. "Yes, I decided to eat much less on the day before I go shopping so I will push less on fellow shoppers and make fewer impulsive buys."
There's a comparable about of tryptophan in turkey meat as in other meat. It's more likely the insulin from all the excess carbs consumed sets people off for a nap.
And the thought that consumers would regulate their eating so as to influence their behavior is more than ludicrous. "Yes, I decided to eat much less on the day before I go shopping so I will push less on fellow shoppers and make fewer impulsive buys."
8
We need a catch and release program for all the Tofurkey-addicted vegan shoppers.
They're a danger to the rest of us.
They're a danger to the rest of us.
9
Nah, all it means is that people who don't have traditional thanksgiving meals with their families are the type of morons that line up for cheap tv's on black Friday.
Has nothing to do with tryptophan, carbs, or even food for that matter. More like socio-economic status is what is at play here.
And I don't even have one of them fancy science degrees.
Has nothing to do with tryptophan, carbs, or even food for that matter. More like socio-economic status is what is at play here.
And I don't even have one of them fancy science degrees.
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