Stop Feeling Tired After Eating in 30 Days

Each day numerous people head back to work feeling tired after eating lunch.  This may even sound like you and chances are you know others that have the same problem. As the process normally goes, you enjoy your lunch only to find yourself in what seems like a “food coma” 30-45 minutes after returning back to work.  First your eyes get heavy and start drooping and the next think you know you are head bobbing hoping no one noticed.  It’s not long before this seems like a pattern you’re stuck in.  Not only do you feel fatigued, but you are less productive.  This is not good and is likely a sign of bigger problems to come.

The #1 Reason That you Are Tired After Eating

There are several reasons that one can be tired after eating.  These include everything from food intolerances to low blood pressure.  Yet, there is one cause that trumps all others.  The most likely reason that you are tired after eating is that you elevated your blood sugar.  Blood sugar, also called blood glucose, or simply glucose, needs to stay at a reasonable level.  The hormone insulin elevates with high blood sugar to help control it.  Blood sugar goes up, insulin goes up.  This is where the problem begins.

When insulin shoots up, the precursor to serotonin, tryptophan, is allowed to enter the brain easier.  Normally, tryptophan has to compete for entrance into the brain.  However, an increase in insulin decreases the competition thereby making it much easier for tryptophan to find its way into the brain.  Once inside the brain, tryptophan becomes serotonin which becomes melatonin.  Serotonin and melatonin calm the brain and are responsible for being tired after eating.

Stopping the Insulin Surge

The first step you need to take to avoid feeling tired after eating is looking at the food you eat.  The food you consume is the single greatest contributor to raising your blood sugar and insulin.  I can confidently tell you that if you are eating a meal higher in carbohydrates, especially simple carbohydrates that quickly elevate blood sugar, you are going to feel tired after eating.  The opposite is also true.  If you eat a meal that has little carbohydrates or does not significantly change your glucose, you probably stay energetic most of the time.  So now that we have established food as the reason you feel tired after eating, let’s talk about what you can do in the next 30 days to change that.

What Can the Next 30 Days Do for You?

Now that we have established the importance of diet, it’s time to outline how to stop your current diet from zapping your energy.  Your current diet is causing blood sugar and insulin to elevate.  So you need a new approach that prevents these elevations.  According to several studies, a Paleo Diet outperforms traditional healthy diet recommendations for blood sugar control, even in diabetics.  This means if you adhere to the Paleo Diet, you are going to control glucose and insulin and end that feeling of being tired after eating.  So let’s detail the next 30 days, one week at a time.

Week 1 – Avoid all Sweets and Desserts – This is the most critical step to ending that feeling of being tired after eating.  I realize that cutting out the foods you are likely craving is not easy, mentally or practically.  However, when you focus on proteins and plants in your diet, you will feel more satisfied after eating and not have the desire for sweets and desserts.  People that take this one step almost always feel better before 30 days.

Week 2 – Start Your Day off with Protein – Protein first thing in the morning is irreplaceable for its ability to

start your day off regulating blood sugar and insulin.  In fact, there is a high likelihood that if you start your day off with protein, you will have less desire for those sweets and desserts that are one of the biggest contributors to you feeling tired after eating.

Week 3 – Remove the Grains from Your Diet – Grains have several problems, but as it relates to how you feel after you eat, think about them like sugar.  No other food category contains as many carbohydrates and contributes to blood sugar fluctuations as much as grains.  Yes they may be whole grain, but when they make up a large portion of your diet, it does not matter.  Take the grains out of your diet and you can expect to feel better all day long.

Week 4 – Increase the Consumption of Vegetables – No one is going to argue that we should all consume more vegetables in our diet. Yet most of use are not consuming nowhere near enough. There are many benefits to vegetables, but when it comes to avoiding feeling tired after eating, the main benefit is that this group of foods is not going to significantly contribute to insulin surges, especially if eaten in their raw form.  If you are not sure how to implement this category, try simply incorporating a salad each day and expand from there.

Why You Cannot Wait Any Longer to Take Action

As noted by the American Diabetic Association, one of the early indicators of diabetes is extreme fatigue.  Feeling tired after eating and wanting to take a nap during the middle of the day easily qualifies as extreme fatigue.  I don’t want you to stay on a path towards diabetes.  So for you to avoid developing diabetes, ask yourself what the next 30 days going to look like for you.  Will you still be head bobbing or will you be wide awake and more productive when the clock reads 1:30?