Ancient Bible Secret Revealed!

[hick0ry]

Ever wonder what was so special about the Land of Milk and Honey? After all, if I were looking for a paradisiacal new home, it might well be the Land of Salmon and Berries, but that wouldn't be the same at all. The neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine are made in the brain from the amino acids tryptophan and phenylalanine (via tyrosine),

Comments

[phierma]

Wouldn't "Large Neutral Amino Acid" be "LNAA", not "LNNA"?

Or am I missing something?

[hick0ry]

No, you're missing nothing. LNNA is L-N-nitro-arginine, another compound I spent too much time thinking about (nitric oxide synthase inhibitor. Fixed. Well, 'twill be fixed by the time you read this :-)

[alienzen]

So, "Just a spoonful of honey" really does "help the medicine go down"? Or, in this case, the tryptophan go "in"?
Is there any reference indicating the optimal ratios of milk and honey? I'm intrigued, but also concerned that an overindulgence of honey in my warm milk, and the resulting sugar high, would be counterproductive to the effects of the tryptophan.

[hick0ry]

Nowhere do they claim it's the optimal ratio, but they used 25 g of high-Trp protein (deoiled gourd protein, mmm, yum) and 25 g glucose. Milk is around 3.2% by weight protein with just a tad more Trp than the gourd tofu imitation food substance, so we're talking over three cups of milk (781 ml), not a wimpy glass. The amount of honey to add is a bit tricky; the short answer is it depends and will be easier to figure out experimentally. I'm guessing two teaspoons to two tablespoons ... and here's my elaborate handwaving why: Honey is roughly 1:1 glucose and fructose but varies widely on the plant source (tupelo is typically 1.5:1), and milk already has a pile of lactose. Here's another problem, changes in blood sugar are measured with the glycemic index, which is not yet science. I understood the reference (and definition of 100) was glucose, but one site has GI values for glucose ranging from 90-114, honey from 32-87, and milk from 24-46. It's also measuring total area under a curve, so saying lactose is 50 compared to

[xetheare]

neato