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Why do we get sleepy after eating? A diabetes specialist explains the relationship between blood sugar levels and drowsiness
After eating lunch,
“Suddenly feeling sleepy,”
“Unable to concentrate on work,”
“Feeling sluggish and not wanting to move.”
Have you ever experienced this?
“I’m just sleepy because I ate too much.”
Many people might think this.
Of course, there are various factors for post-meal drowsiness, such as lack of sleep, your internal body clock, and the amount of food consumed.
However, as a diabetes specialist, there is one more thing I would like you to know,
“changes in blood sugar levels after eating.”
It is.
When you eat, your blood sugar level rises
When you consume carbohydrates found in rice, bread, noodles, and sweets, they are digested and absorbed, turning into glucose and entering the bloodstream.
Therefore, your blood sugar level rises when you eat.
Then, a hormone called insulin is secreted from the pancreas.
Insulin has the important function of allowing glucose in the blood to be taken up by cells such as muscles, keeping blood sugar levels within an appropriate range.
In other words,
Eat
↓
Blood sugar rises
↓
Insulin is secreted
↓
Blood sugar goes down
This reaction is occurring inside your body.
This is a normal physiological phenomenon.
The problem is when “blood sugar levels change rapidly.”
For example,
A large serving of rice.
Ramen and fried rice.
A sweet pastry and a sugary cafe latte.
When you consume a large amount of such carbohydrate-rich food at once, some people may experience a significant rise in blood sugar levels after the meal.
Then, in response, insulin is secreted, and blood sugar levels begin to drop.
Such large post-meal blood sugar fluctuations may be associated with post-meal drowsiness or lethargy.
However,
“Feeling sleepy after eating does not necessarily mean your blood sugar is high.”
This is not always the case.
This is a very important point.
Have you ever heard the term “blood sugar spike”?
Recently,
“blood sugar spike”
has become a term heard more frequently.
In general, it is used to refer to large fluctuations where blood sugar levels rise rapidly after a meal and then drop.
There are cases where post-meal blood sugar levels become high even if fasting blood sugar and HbA1c levels are normal in a health checkup.
Therefore,
“Just because there were no abnormalities in the health checkup, it does not mean your blood sugar levels are absolutely fine.”
This is not necessarily true.
In particular,
if you experience strong drowsiness after eating,
feel sluggish after eating,
get very hungry a while after eating,
or have a family history of obesity or diabetes,
you may want to consult a medical institution if necessary.
The more you overeat, the harder your body has to work.
It is not just the pancreas that works when you eat.
The gastrointestinal tract digests and absorbs food, while the liver processes and stores the absorbed nutrients.
In other words, every time you eat, a lot of work begins inside your body.
Moreover,
breakfast → snacks → lunch → snacks → dinner → dessert → late-night snack…
If your lifestyle is like this, the time spent responding to meals also becomes longer.
That is why I believe that the perspective of “creating time when you do not eat,” not just “what to eat,” is also important.
How can you reduce drowsiness after eating?
The first thing I want you to review is the amount and content of your meals.
If you are someone who “always gets sleepy after lunch,” please try to recall your lunch.
Are you eating ramen and rice together?
Are you having a large portion of a rice bowl dish?
Are you finishing your meal with just bread or noodles?
Are you drinking a sweet beverage with it?
The basic approach to improvement is not to strictly forbid carbohydrates.
Avoid overeating, and eat a balanced diet by combining vegetables, protein, and other foods.
Also, moving your body within a reasonable range after a meal helps suppress the rise in post-meal blood glucose levels.
Drowsiness may be a sign from your body
I often tell my patients,
Please pay attention not only to the test numbers but also to changes in your body.
I sometimes say this to them.
Feeling intensely sleepy after every meal.
Getting tired more easily than before.
Feeling thirsty.
Increased frequency of urination.
Sudden weight loss.
If you have these symptoms, it is important not to simply dismiss them as just ‘age’ or ‘fatigue’.
In the early stages of diabetes, there are sometimes almost no subjective symptoms.
If you have persistent symptoms that concern you, I recommend having your blood glucose and HbA1c levels checked.
Try observing your body after lunch today
When we talk about health, we tend to think,
‘I must eat this’
‘This is forbidden’
But the first thing I want you to do is something much simpler.
After your meal today,
try observing your own body.
“How does my body feel?”
Try observing it.
Are you sleepy?
Do you feel sluggish?
Are you just comfortably full?
Or are you uncomfortably overstuffed?
And if you feel strong drowsiness,
“What and how much did I eat today?”
try to look back and reflect.
These small realizations are the first step toward finding a diet that works for you.
Don’t just dismiss post-meal drowsiness as “normal,” but instead use it as anopportunity to think about your diet and blood sugar levels.
Atsushi Aoki
Diabetes Specialist
Aoki Internal Medicine & Tokyo Diabetes Clinic, Ikebukuro Branch
Aoki Internal Medicine & Saitama Diabetes Clinic, Urawa/Higashi-Omiya Branches
Author of the book “New Edition: ‘Hunger’ is the Best Medicine”
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