If you only eat turkey at once or twice a year, reconsider! There’s good reason to add it to your diet all year round.

We generally think of turkey as a good source of low fat protein (and it is – it has more protein per gram than chicken). Yet we forget that it is also high in all sorts of vitamins and minerals that can boost your health.

Turkey is high in selenium, which is great for your thyroid and immunity and as a powerful antioxidant can help fight free radicals. Free radicals cause cell damage and contribute to ageing and illness.

Plus, turkey gives essential B vitamins including B3, B6 and B12, along with niacin and zinc.

You might have heard advice to eat turkey before bed because it makes you sleepy. It turns out that is not quite true. Turkey does contain tryptophan, which promotes a good sleep and a good mood by helping to produce serotonin and melatonin, but turkey is not very high in tryptophan.

To put it in perspective, a tryptophan supplement to help with sleep usually contains 1-4 grams, whereas a serve of turkey only contains around 205 milligrams.

So go ahead and enjoy your turkey for its protein and vitamins, but do not blame it for making you sleepy.