Does eating turkey make you sleepy... and other folklore: Internet ScamBusters™ #206
Internet ScamBusters™
The #1 Publication on Internet Fraud
By Audri and Jim Lanford
Copyright © Audri and Jim Lanford
All rights reserved.
Issue #205
Hi, As we head into the Thanksgiving weekend here in the US, we thought we'd keep this issue a bit lighter and focus on whether or not these three popular stories are urban legends or actually true:
- Does eating turkey make you sleepy?
- Was aspartame (the artificial sweetener) originally created
to be an ant poison?
- Did numbers recommended by a fortune cookie really lead to a lottery win?
First, though, we recommend you check out the most popular
articles from our other sites during the past week (we're
going to start including some holiday articles during the
holiday season):
Experiment Reveals Some Surprising Truths about Identity Theft: A series of new experiments on identity theft reveal some surprising results.
Shopping Secrets of Savvy Consumers: Check out these four money-saving tips used by savvy consumers -- and you'll find some easy ways to save.
The Importance of a Free Credit Report: Getting a free credit report each year is important, even if you've never used a credit card.
Holiday Articles:
Top-Secret Turkey Cooking Tips For Thanksgiving: Discover some unusual turkey cooking tips, as well as more traditional ideas.
The History of Santa Claus's Wife: If you're curious about Santa Claus's wife, check out this webpage to find out about her history.
Chocolate Lovers Can Try This Tasty Christmas Craft: Chocolate dipped spoons are a tasty -- and fun -- Christmas craft.
On to today's urban legends...
Does eating turkey make you sleepy?
A popular urban legend asserts that eating makes you unusually
drowsy. Since Thanksgiving is coming up, subscribers asked us
if this was true or merely another urban legend. In other
words, is there actually something in turkey that causes
sleepiness?
Although the answer is clear, it is not as simple as you might
think.
Turkey does contains tryptophan, which is an amino acid that
is a natural sedative. However, in order to produce this
effect, there must be no protein present and tryptophan must
be taken on an empty stomach. Since turkey obviously has
protein, this is an urban legend.
Further, the amount of tryptophan you consume (even during a
huge Thanksgiving feast) is too small to make a significant
difference. Plus, beef and soybeans contain more tryptophan
than turkey.
So, why do people feel so tired after Thanksgiving dinner?
There are quite a few potential causes, including overeating
(especially lots of carbohydrates) and drinking alcohol.
You can find more urban legends related to Thanksgiving and turkey here.
Was aspartame originally created to be an ant poison?
Another popular story, unrelated to Thanksgiving, is that
aspartame (marketed as NutraSweet (R)) was originally created
to be an ant poison, but was turned into a sweetener when it
was recognized that a lot more money could be made if it was
sold as an artificial sweetener.
Is this true? No, it's false.
Aspartame was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by
G.D. Searle expressly as an artificial sweetener. Both
saccharin and cyclamates already existed, but many consumers
found that saccharin had a bitter aftertaste and cyclamates
had been banned because of a potential link with bladder
cancer.
The connection between aspartame and ant poison actually comes
from a spoof article called "FDA Certifies Aspartame as Ant Poison," which you can find here.
The article ends by saying: "The story above is a satire or
parody. It is entirely fictitious."
Finally, there is no evidence whatsoever that aspartame kills
ants. :)
Did numbers recommended by a fortune cookie
really lead to a lottery win?
We've all heard folklore about how fortune cookies have led to
people winning lotteries and other fortunes, but has this
actually ever happened?
The answer might surprise you: Yes.
Here's what happened: According to Snopes, this occurred
during the March 30, 2005, Powerball drawing.
Although there was only one winner of the $13.8 million
jackpot, there were 110 people who claimed the second prize
for matching the first five of the six numbers drawn. This
second prize was either $100,000 or $500,000, depending on if
the entrant paid the extra dollar for multiple wins.
Powerball officials suspected fraud, since there are typically
only four or five second prize winners, not 110.
However, there was no fraud in this situation. A fortune
cookie manufacturer in Queens, NY had issued fortune cookies
recommending the correct combination: 22, 28, 32, 33, and 39.
(The last number recommended by the cookies was 40, rather
than the winning number of 42, which is why these second-prize
winners did not win first prize.)
Powerball officials repeatedly heard that the second prize
winners had gotten the combination from a fortune cookie.
That means that fortune cookies actually have led to lottery
wins in one situation. Nonetheless, we don't recommend
lotteries, nor do we recommend fortune cookies to improve your
odds of winning. ;-)
Time to close -- we're off to enjoy a walk. Wishing all our US
subscribers a very Happy Thanksgiving. See you next week.
