Photo: flickr/valbaneseHappy Holidays from us here at Seriously, Science?
! We know you are probably running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but thought this Flashback post might come in handy when planning your holiday menus. Enjoy, and we'll be back before the New Year with our annual best-of post. Cheers! They say you are what you eat. This is obviously true physically, but can it extend all the way to your personality? According to this study, consuming the amino acid L-Tryptophan (found, famously, in turkey, but also in chocolate, eggs, and many other foods) makes people more willing to donate to charity. The authors hypothesize that this effect is due to L-Tryptophan’s role as a biochemical precursor of serotonin, the brain chemical thought to be associated with happiness. Maybe this explains why people are extra charitable around the holidays?
Tryptophan promotes charitable donating. “The link between ...
