User talk:Mister Matty

Tryptophan

I have reverted your deletion of the explanation of why carbohydrate rich diets induce sleep in the tryptophan article since the explanation (1) directly involves tryptophan and therefore is relevant to the article and (2) is supported by reliable sources. Let me respond to each of your points:

1. your theory statement is not cited, removed an original theory, and Wikipedia is not the place to publish original theoretical work – From the abstract of Afaghi et al.: "Dietary carbohydrate intake has been shown to increase the plasma concentration of tryptophan, a precursor of serotonin and sleep-inducing agent." The other citations provided also support the statement. This is not my theory. The theory was developed primarily by Richard Wurtman (see quotation below) who is the senior author in several of the cited works.
2. this theory does not belong in a tryptophan article – As cited in the article, dietary ingestion of large amounts of tryptophan is commonly believed to cause drowsiness. The text that you deleted describes a more likely explanation. To mention a phenomena (sleep induced by heavy meals) and then not offer an explanation (carbohydrates altering blood tryptophan levels) would be very strange. Furthermore the explanation involves tryptophan so the explanation clearly belongs in an article about tryptophan.
3. posited with weasel words − specifically which words are weasel words? If the text does contain weasel words (and to emphasize, I do not think there are any in this text), these can easily be replaced. Removing text because it contains weasel words is weak justification.
4. then supported by many well-cited but misleading statements – how are these statements misleading? The explanation involves a chain of events and each of the individual events is supported by one or more reliable sources. Furthermore the overall chain of events is supported by Afaghi et al. (plus I have now added an additional source). Boghog (talk) 00:01, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

The quotation below by Richard Wurtman is a clear and concise statement of the theory. This quotation demonstrates that he and not I developed the theory. Hence the theory is not original research on my part. Boghog (talk) 06:59, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Carbohydrates cause the pancreas to release insulin into the bloodstream. That lowers the blood levels of all amino acids except tryptophan, Tryptophan has to compete with some of the other amino acids in order to pass through the blood-brain barrier. So when the others get lowered, more tryptophan passes into the brain. The brain cells convert tryptophan to serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter. From studies on drugs that increase serotonin levels in the brain, we know that it facilitates sleep, diminishes pain, and reduces appetite.

— Richard Wurtman