27/11/2025
Afternoon slump avoidance. Also it does depend on what you are eating as well of course!
Ever wondered why you feel tired after a big lunch?
Here’s why and how to avoid it!
After a meal, the arteries widen so that the gut is ready to do it’s job at squeezing and extracting nutrients from the food. With this increase in blood comes a surge of hormones called cholecystokinin.
These hormones make you sleepy around 20 minutes to several hours after eating and that’s the plan! They’re designed to encourage you to rest and save your energy for digesting all that food.
How can you avoid the post-lunch slump, especially on those work days when you need to stay focused and alert?
Here are 3 ways to help:
1️⃣Keep it light - Have a light lunch with fewer carbs so that your gut only gets partially full and releases fewer sleep hormones
2️⃣Go outside a walk in the daylight so that your body knows it’s time to stay awake
3️⃣Sleep it off - if possible, you could do what the body is designed to do and have a nap! Just as it’s the norm in nature to sleep every 6-8 hours, it’s the norm for us as well…the siesta cultures have it right!