It is extremely common for people to experience fatigue in the afternoon. You may be surprised to learn that the culprit is often what one chooses to eat for lunch. This article looks at how and why this happens. It also presents two powerful strategies that may be used separately or may be combined to prevent an afternoon energy crash.
An afternoon energy crash may be caused by changes in blood sugar as the body digests and processes lunch. If you experience an energy high that precedes your afternoon energy crash you may be experiencing a condition called "reactive hypoglycemia". This condition is especially prevalent when people eat meals that contain lots of simple carbohydrates (sugars).
After a high-carbohydrate meal sugar from your food rushes into your blood supply. Lots of sugar in your blood can be very damaging to your health, so your pancreas responds by releasing the hormone "insulin". Insulin causes your cells to absorb the sugar from your blood. The cells "burn" a portion of the sugar to create the energy they need to function, but the unneeded sugar gets turned into fat.
In reactive hypoglycemia your pancreas sees a huge and sudden in-rush of sugar into your blood supply and it over-reacts. It produces too much insulin. After an hour or two all of the insulin has caused your body to absorb too much sugar. This leaves you without the energy it needs to get you through your day, making you feel sluggish and tired.
If this is what is happening to you the answer is to change what you are eating for lunch. Instead of pasta, bread, and cola try veggies, lean meats, and water or tea (unsweetened, of course).
In practice it can be hard to get a handle on exactly which foods are going to cause the sudden change in your blood sugar that can create this situation. One tool that exists to help you is a measurement of food called the "glycemic load". The glycemic load tells you how much a portion of a particular food will affect your blood sugar. It takes into consideration how much sugar is in the food and how rapidly that sugar is absorbed into your blood stream. By choosing foods with a low glycemic load you can prevent the sugar rush and subsequent sugar crash that makes you sleepy.
A table of the glycemic load of many foods is available at http://www.ajcn.org/content/76/1/5/T1.expansion.html
Another approach involves moderating the sugar in-rush by reducing the amount you eat all in one sitting. This is done by eating small snacks along with smaller meals. In this way you are able to spread the same amount of calories and sugar over a longer period of time. This prevents large sudden surges in the blood sugar level.
If you use this snacking approach it is important that you watch the amount of calories in your diet. It is easy to accidentally eat more calories than before you modified your diet. Portion size is the key, so stay vigilant as you adjust to this new way of eating.
By making more informed food choices and/or adopting a smart-snacking approach many people are able to break the cycle of afternoon fatigue. For others the sleepiness they experience in the afternoon is not related to their diet, so other approaches may be more appropriate.
People suffering from afternoon tiredness may want to look into acupuncture, which can be helpful for dealing with fatigue from many causes. I am happy to consult with those interested in acupuncture in Durham and the Triangle area of North Carolina.
Jon-Erik Lido is a licensed acupuncturist in Durham, North Carolina.
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