SHARES
“I’d love some more mashed potatoes. Hmmm… and these fried chicken are awesome. Yoohoo, top up coke please!” After a nice party, Sandy leaves very happy and satisfied. However, on the way back home, she has to pull over her car. Her food coma is so bad and she is just too sleepy to drive!
Your Body After A Hearty Meal
Most people, as well as animals, experience a period of restfulness after food. During this time, our body moves very little. Hence, less blood flows to our hands and legs. In return, they pool into our digestive system to keep the engine running hot! Therefore, food get digested faster and absorbed more readily into our bloodstream.
Furthermore, when our blood sugar rises, the body produces more insulin. This hormone helps our brain to take up more nutrients. As a result, our brain produces more serotonin. This is a wonderful hormone that gives you a pleasant feeling of satisfaction, calmness and happiness.
Altogether these give you a relaxing and enjoyable moment after your meal. Yet, if you are getting to a point where you feel like it’s all too much, you can literally get food coma!
Photo by Joe Kuo from Flickr
What Causes Sleepiness after a meal?
When your stomach gets filled up with food, the stretching of the stomach releases hormones that talks to your brain. Thus, you feel satiated and gratified! But, eating too much can cause your stomach to be overstretched. Doing so will bombard your brain with too much of this signal, making you very sleepy and losing attention on the surroundings.
On top of that, a heavy meal also takes more effort to digest. More blood pools into the digestive system for a longer period of time. In this sense, your brain and active muscles would receive less blood supply. This makes you feel groggy as general mental and physical activities slow down. Likewise, taking a big meal rich with carbs pushes your blood sugar level sky high. Then, a surge in serotonin level makes you fall asleep faster and easier.
Although it feels good to get a small nap after a hearty meal, sometimes, it affects our ability to perform tasks safely. For instance, avoid driving long distance or operate heavy machinery after big meals. Our attention is just not as good at a time like this. It is too risky. For most people, food coma usually kicks in about 30 mins to 1.5 hours after a meal.
Tips for Preventing Food Coma
1. Small Frequent Meals
Having smaller meal portions simply gives you all the good feelings without affecting your ability to function. Indeed, you will find yourself more affirmative, energetic and calmer in action!
2. Pick the Right Proportion
Food high in fat and protein normally take a longer time to digest than carbohydrates. There are exceptions such as coconut oil which your body absorbs more readily. Generally, you would want to get just enough fat and protein while keeping them in check.
Simple carbohydrates, such as sweetened beverages and sugar, are absorbed quickly into our bloodstream. This can result in a spike of your blood sugar level, making you feel very sleepy afterwards. In this context, go for complex carbohydrates that are absorbed slower such as vegetables (eg sweet potatoes), whole grains, peas, beans etc. The outcome is wonderful. You get all “feel good” hormones for a longer period of time instead of a short burst that throws you into a food coma.
3. Avoid Heavy Drinking
Drinking too much together with a heavy meal makes you bloated. Your overstretched stomach can play with your brain, creating a sense of indulgence and fulfilment. A little bit of drinking at first will loosen your guard as your brain control decreases. Yet, a huge load of alcohol will simply knock you out!
4. Light Activities After Food
Taking a small walk or engaging in stimulating mental tasks like a small talk can keep your heart pumping strong. This will heighten your senses and attention sufficiently to balance out your sleepiness. However, vigorous activities and strenuous mental tasks after food will impair your digestion.
Likewise, maintaining an active lifestyle can make your heart stronger with better body metabolism at rest. Add in some enjoyable activities to your daily routine. For instance, take part of your most boring and monotonous desk work to a standing table or maybe to a walk in park. Yes, just like walking your pet.
5. Manage Stresses in Life
There is a huge emotional component to our food consumption pattern. In our day-to-day activities and survival, stress builds up here and there. This affects your appetite, hunger, and need for instant gratification. Without taking care of your emotions, and recharging your energy often enough to prevent system breakdown, usually lead to “emotional eating” at time of crisis unknowingly.
We would eat too fast or too much to satiate our emotional hunger. In this regard, flooding ourselves with all the “good feel” hormones that come with food will not help solve or prevent our life problems. Chances are stresses still build up everywhere, and we get into an unending cycle of emotional food indulgence followed by food coma!
Start paying attention to your life stresses, try simple creative ways, and keep learning from it. In fact, yes, food can be magic solution. Just enjoy them wisely.
Photo by Justin from Flickr
Conclusion
While a period of restfulness after meals can make us feel good and improve digestion, too much of it can throw us into food coma. This impairs our ability to function. More often than not, it can be a sign that stresses are building up in our life!
Find a Dietician in Malaysia, on GetDoc
Find a Dietician in Singapore, on GetDoc
References:
1. Alagiakrishnan K. Postural and postprandial hypotension: approach to management. Geriatrics and Aging. 2007;10(5):298-304.
2. Brooks M. High-fat diet tied to daytime sleepiness [Medscape]. WebMD LLC. 2020. (Available from: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/805164; last updated on 2013 June 1; last accessed on 2010 Mar 14)
by Chang Xian
View all articles by Chang Xian.
