Here is why you feel sleepy after eating.

The more food we eat the more energetic we should be right? but it is usually the opposite.I have always wondered why I always feel sleepy after eating, If you give me food in a plate and ask me to take a sleeping pill after eating, I will sleep without having to take a sleeping pill, I mean sometimes I even sleep while eating, It’s that bad and it is the reason I have a bad eating habit because most times I eat only after I am done with my major activities of the day. The funny thing is my bowl of food is so cute but I don’t think there is anyone who hasn’t laughed at that bowl because it is so small but I still sleep for at least 2 hours after eating. Bare in my mind I eat solid once in a while because I don’t just sleep when I take solid, I forget myself in the sleep and I tend to always wake up angry and confused.

I had lunch with one of my professors yesterday and he explained why we tend to feel sleepy after eating, so I thought why not share with you guys.

Food coma is a stage in which one experiences a tired sleepy feeling after eating. It has a clinical term called- Post prandial somnolence

Post- after

Prandial- eating food

Somnolence- the state of feeling drowsy.

Thank me! You now know a clinical term.

So where is the sleepiness coming from?

When you eat, you trigger Insulin which is a hormone that helps you regulate your blood sugar level, when insulin appears it means your blood glucose(sugar) is higher than normal.The higher your sugar level, the higher the insulin and with the increased secretion of insulin, our body produces sleep hormone that gets metabolized into serotonin and melatonin in our brain and they induce drowsiness. This nervous response tells our body to slow down, stop doing what we’re doing and let our body and mind focus on digestion.

Digestion requires a lot of red blood cells which also makes you feel tired because it’s literally like you are working your body.

If you eat a very fatty meal, it will take more time to digest. If you have a carb-rich meal, the sugar goes to the liver and there will be an Increase in Insulin which will lead to an Increase in serotonin leading to sleep.

The process is the same after dinner too. It’s just because we do go to sleep eventually at night, So we don’t realize while in the afternoon we feel we still have the rest of the day, Hence the feeling of sleepiness is more evident.

That made sense right?

I guess you either keep your lunch light or you embrace afternoon naps. That way you get less frustrated. Bare in mind that feeling sleepy after eating is absolutely Normal.

That’s it guys, Try not to starve yourself because you do not want to sleep. It’s not healthy. please share your food coma experiences in the comment section.

See you in my next post In shaa Allah.