Postprandial Somnolence aka Food Commas
# Feeling Sleeping After Eating
it’s very common for me to want to fall asleep and feel very tired after having a meal, to the point where it usually leads for me to avoid eating a lot on focus intensive days.
Intially I thought this was due to a glucose spike. The body releases glucose to help digest and break down the sugars in the food we consume, this causes for the glucose to spike from its base line levels.
When your body tries to adjust for those spikes in glucose, you experience an energy dip.
Some research attirbuts the sleepiness to an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is used by the body to create serotonin which helps the body regulate its sleep cycle. Carbs can be used to absorb tryptophan and thats probably why they are also known as energy boosters.
Late lunches often also coincide with the “afternoon crash”, the dip in energy generally between the 2 PM and 5 PM. Having a late meal can excaberate the effects of this crash making you lose flow, focus and motivation to get anything done.