Sleepy After Lunch Your SIESTA Means You Have

Dr. Eric Berg 08/31/2023

Let’s talk about feeling sleepy after lunch (or any meal). Some people feel incredibly drained of energy right after a meal. We’re going to talk about why that is and how you can fix the problem.

In this article, we’re going to cover:

Is It Normal to Get Sleepy After Eating?
What Causes You to Be Sleepy After Lunch?
How to Fix Feeling Sleepy After Lunch
Key Takeaways

Is It Normal to Get Sleepy After Eating?

One question I get a lot is if it’s normal to get sleepy after eating—especially after lunchtime. In many countries, people have a siesta or a mid-day nap. The word “siesta” comes from the Spanish, meaning a nap, and the Latin, meaning the 6th hour.

In places like Mexico, Italy, The Philippians, Vietnam, Spain, many parts of the Mediterranean, and Southern Europe, it’s a custom to take a nap in the middle of the day.

In America, we don’t officially have a siesta, but many people do take a mid-day nap to help recharge after lunch—or in many cases, you just fall into a food coma at your computer.

There’s actually a medical term for feeling sleepy after lunch:

postprandial somnolence.

Feeling sleepy after a meal is common, but not necessarily normal or healthy. I’m going to explain exactly why you may feel sleepy after a meal, and how you can fix the problem.

What Causes You to Be Sleepy After Lunch?

The real reason that you fall into a food coma or feel tired after lunch has to do with blood sugar and Fat Storing Hormone levels. Fat Storing Hormone resistance prevents your cells from getting the energy they need. This is why many diabetics really struggle with sleepiness after a meal.

Aside from Fat Storing Hormone resistance, there are several other reasons why blood sugar and Fat Storing Hormone levels affect your energy. When you have a lot of carbs along with a large number of calories, you may feel tired because of these four mechanisms:

1. Active PNS

There are two parts of your nervous system that oppose each other: your sympathetic nervous system and your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).

Your sympathetic nervous system has the responsibility of fight-or-flight mode, whereas your parasympathetic nervous system has the responsibility of rest and digest mode.

When you experience blood sugar and Fat Storing Hormone spikes, your parasympathetic nervous system is activated. This means that the more carbs and sugar you consume, the more you’re going to crash.

2. Decreased Blood in Brain

When your parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated, more blood is allocated to the digestive system, and less is sent to the brain. This can cause sleepiness and brain fog.

3. Decreased Arousal Pathways of the Brain

Fat Storing Hormone and blood sugar spikes decrease the arousal pathways in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a very small region in the brain that plays a major roll in hormone balances, body temperature, and several other functions. When the pathways are reduced by Fat Storing Hormone and blood sugar spikes, you run into problems with feeling sleepy.

4. Amino Acid Absorption

When you consume a lot of carbohydrates, you are going to absorb certain amino acids and not others. More specifically, you’re going to absorb valine, leucine, and isoleucine. However, you won’t absorb tryptophan.

Why is this a problem? Well, tryptophan is an essential nutrient that helps give you energy. If you can’t absorb this nutrient, it can turn into serotonin and melatonin, which can relax and calm the body, leaving you sleepy.

Woman asleep on a desk at work after lunch | Sleepy After Lunch Your SIESTA Means You Have

How to Fix Feeling Sleepy After Lunch

What should you do if you want to stay awake and energized after having lunch or any big meal? The solution is actually pretty simple… All you have to do is cut back on carbohydrates! This includes:

Bread
Cereal
Pasta
Tortillas
Rice
“Energy” bars
Potatoes

Cut all of these out for just one week, and you’ll see a huge difference in your energy levels.

If you really want to see a massive difference, start on the ketogenic diet. Keto is a low-carb, high-fat diet that switches your body’s primary fuel source over from glucose to ketones. The ketogenic diet helps normalize Fat Storing Hormone levels and prevent high blood sugar issues that cause sleepiness.

Along with keto, you can also try intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is when you cycle between periods of fasting and eating. For instance, you might have 16-23 consecutive hours of fasting each day and only eat within an 8-1 hour window. This reduces Fat Storing Hormone spikes and helps you avoid dips in energy throughout the day.

Healthy keto foods for more energy | Sleepy After Lunch Your SIESTA Means You Have

Key Takeaways

Feeling sleepy after lunch is a huge problem that many people around the world face every day. Though this is a common issue, it isn’t necessarily normal or healthy. This problem has to do with the way high Fat Storing Hormone and blood sugar affects your body—especially brain function.

Carbohydrates are the real issue here. Carbs cause your Fat Storing Hormone and blood sugar levels to spike. When this happens, you…

Stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system
Decrease the blood in your brain
Decreased the arousal pathways of your brain
Absorb certain amino acids and not others

The solution is to simply cut out carbs. Start by not having any carbs with lunch for a week and see how that affects your energy. You can also try the keto diet and intermittent fasting as a long-term solution.

Give these tips a try and see if they help you feel less sleepy after a meal.

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Disclaimer: Our educational content is not meant or intended for medical advice or treatment.

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for quality and relevancy.