Thanksgivingis a special time of year to get together with family and friends and think about what youre most grateful for. But lets be honest its really all about the food, from the roast turkey, which typically takes center stage, and cranberry sauce to stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy. And lets not forget pumpkin pie.

With so many delicious dishes within reach, its hard not to get carried away by filling your plate and your belly to capacity. In fact, a typical holiday dinner like Thanksgiving can have around 3,000 calories, according to theCalorie Control Council, which is well above thetotal calorie recommendationsfor women and men in an entire day. So what happens when you overdo it at the Thanksgiving table?

Your stomach is about the size of a standard American football,Alaina Castro, clinical dietician with the Stanford Bariatric and Metabolic Clinic, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. When your stomach is empty, it typically only has room for about 2 ounces. The good news is that the stomach can definitely stretch, Diane Vizthum, registered dietitian and research nutritionist forJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

When you eat, the stomach can typically stretch to hold 1-1.5 liters (about the size of a quart and a half of milk), or even more depending on the individual. There are folds in your stomach called rugae, explains Vizthum. Theyre crumpled up and can expand when you eat. When the rugae have expanded enough, that sends a signal from the digestive system to the brain saying that youre getting full. Everyones capacity of where you start to feel that is a little bit different, says Vizthum. If you habitually eat large volumes, you can stretch it out a bit.

One of the first telltale signs that youve overdone it at Thanksgiving dinner is feeling physically uncomfortable. If you eat a really large meal and your stomach is really full, you can have discomfort from having your stomach stretched beyond its normal size, says Vizthum.

Along with gas, you can also experience some heartburn and acid reflux as the contents in your stomach push against the lower esophageal sphincter, which is like a portal that opens and shuts the top of your stomach, says Vizthum.

Of course, your body has to do the work of digesting, absorbing and storing all the nutrients you just ate. So your heart rate will go up a little bit to increase blood flow in your digestive system, explains Vizthum. Your body will have a lot of work to do, and that can make you feel tired, she says.

Talk turkey and its only a matter of time before someone brings up tryptophan an essential amino acid, which is a building block of protein, thats often blamed for Thanksgivingsleepiness. The tryptophan molecule itself is converted to [the feel-good hormone] serotonin and melatonin the hormone that regulates sleep, explains Vizthum. Thats how it gets the reputation for making you sleepy.

But heres the thing: Turkey isnt the only form of protein that contains tryptophan. Chicken, fish and shellfish, beef, pork and lamb all have similar tryptophan levels, points out Vizthum. So unless you start yawning after eating those other sources of protein, your Thanksgiving drowsiness may have more to do with the overall effect of eating a largeholidaymeal and not the turkey per se, says Vizthum.

Samantha Cochrane, registered dietitian atThe Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, agrees, telling Yahoo Lifestyle: Its a common myth that the tryptophan found in turkey is the reason we are all so tired after a Thanksgiving dinner. She adds: Very little of the tryptophan that we eat makes it to our brain and really shouldnt have an effect on our energy level. Whats really making us feel tired, however, is not tryptophan, but the quantity of food we eat. With a lot of food, comes a lot of digestion, making us want to rest.

Also, getting in some turkey or any form of lean protein is your ally on Thanksgiving. Thats because including protein in a meal can stabilize how quickly you digest carbohydrates for a slower release of energy, notes Vizthum.

Dinner rolls, other white breads and stuffing are often simple carbohydrates made from refined grains that are more easily and quickly digested than complex carbohydrates. High amounts of simple carbohydrates can cause blood sugar to rise more quickly than complex carbohydrates, explains Cochrane, which will require more insulin produced by your pancreas to allow the cells in your body to use that sugar for energy.

That quick rise and fall in blood sugar levels can leave people feeling tired or looking for more food for another pick-me-up, notes Vizthum. But, again, eating those carbs along with some protein, fat and fiber, such as from vegetables, helps slow down digestion and lets the body absorb sugar more slowly, she says. So if you eat turkey for your protein, plus one white roll for your carbohydrates whole wheat would be better and a side of green beans cooked in olive oil for your fat, you will have less of a blood glucose spike and stay fuller longer, explains Castro.

That influx of sugar can give you a quick energy boost, but thats usually followed by a rapid drop in energy. The influx of sugar causes the pancreas to produce insulin quickly to move the sugar from the bloodstream into the cell, explains Cochrane. Anything that isnt used fairly quickly for energy can be stored as fat, says Vizthum, who adds that were less likely to burn off that sugar since were typically relaxing, rather than being physically active, on Thanksgiving.

We tend to overdo it, says Vizthum. But there are some painless ways you can prevent yourself from overeating on the holiday. A good guideline, in general, for a healthy plate is to fill half of it with vegetables and some fruit, and the other half with protein and whole grains. For Thanksgiving, its a little tricky because its one meal and often a time when theres very special food around, says Vizthum.

She recommends being selective about what youre putting on your plate. Skip foods that arent that special to you, get some protein and non-starchy vegetables on your plate, and stick with small portions of the foods you really love. I am a big fan of people having a little bit of everything, says Castro. Make sure the main part of the plate is a protein turkey is great and some non-starchy vegetables like Brussels sprouts, green beans, salad, carrots, etc. Add some of the holiday favorites like stuffing or mashed potatoes, but try to limit their portions. Castro also says that adding some cranberry sauce and gravy is completely appropriate on Thanksgiving, too.

Also, pay attention to your bodys cues that youre getting full and know when to step away from the Thanksgiving feast. The big thing is not eating to the point of discomfort, says Vizthum, who recommends eating slowly since it takes about 20 minutes for signals to reach the brain that youre getting full, as well as munching mindfully, paying attention to flavors and textures.

And if you do get carried away? Dont beat yourself up. This is one meal out of the entire year, says Vizthum.

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Heres what eating Thanksgiving dinner does to your body - Yahoo Lifestyle

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