These can be controlled with therapy and medications, and advice from a sleep professional. According to, other circadian rhythm disorders are delayed sleep phase syndrome, advanced sleep phase disorder, or non-24 hour sleep-wake disorder, often found in those individuals who are blind. Or it can be something like sleep shift disorders, where working overnight regularly goes against the natural circadian rhythm and conflicts with your own internal clock. This can often be due to something temporary like jet lag, or dealing with a new baby that doesn’t sleep through the night. If you have daytime sleepiness, along with decreased cognitive performance, difficulty concentrating, along with problems falling asleep - you may have a circadian rhythm disorder. In the long run, chronic lack of sleep/ sleep restriction can change glucose metabolism and increase insulin resistance which can lead to obesity and diabetes. If you’re constantly tired, take note of your sleep patterns, and even consider a sleep journal. Here are some potential causes of chronic fatigue after eating: While it may be natural to have a dip in energy in the afternoon after a meal, feeling chronically tired, or tired before and after food, may signal something more. When is fatigue after eating a concern? says Ford Brewer, MD, MPH, Preventative Healthcare Specialist.Įating a meal that’s carbohydrate heavy can lead to your insulin rising, which might cause several metabolic changes in your body, hindering alertness and performance. Eating a high calorie, heavy meal with lots of carbohydrates creates far more risk for post-meal fatigue. What you eat - or don’t eat - is usually the most important way to prevent a post-meal slump. While there are natural systems at work after you eat any meal, it’s important to understand the impact of what you are eating as well. It's a mini-signal to your brain to get sleepy." The exact same thing happens on a smaller scale between 2pm and 4pm in the afternoon. Breus, PhD: "Right before you go to sleep at night, your core temperature begins to drop, which is a signal to the brain to release melatonin. This is a natural dip in our rhythm, that correlates with natural peaks and valleys of sleepiness, attention span, and alertness.Īccording to sleep expert Michael J. Naturally, humans get sleepy around the 2-3pm hour, typically after eating lunch. This internal clock helps regulate your body’s natural sleep and wake cycle. You might have heard about your own internal clock that’s typically set to a 24-hour time period - aka, your circadian rhythm. Your digestive system normally gets 20-25% of your blood pumped from the heart, but it can almost double when it’s working hard to digest a meal! No wonder you can feel less like taking a run, and more like taking a nap! Blood is sent to the digestive system to help digest the meal and send it through your GI tract. Our parasympathetic nervous system kicks in without us having to do anything, and it assumes you’re in a state of rest while you digest the meal. For example, If, hypothetically, you were running away from a threat, you wouldn’t need to spend any extra blood digesting your last meal - you would instead need it to to flow into your muscles to run away and survive! It increases your heart rate and decreases blood flow away from non-essential organs. This system is in charge of all the things that get your body ready for activity. The parasympathetic nervous system also controls digestion - from the secretion of gastric juices and moving contents down the digestive tract. Filling up your bladder (thankfully not emptying it) is done without you knowing it, until those stretch muscles send an impulse that gets you on the path to find a restroom nearby. The involuntary rest and digest portion of the nervous system. This kind of response is thanks to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system which controls things that you don’t have to tell your body to do - thankfully - like breathe, digest, and make your heart beat. You might have felt butterflies in your stomach, or started sweating and turning white - these are the involuntary signs of your nervous system at work. You’ve probably heard about the stress response: “ fight or flight” especially when it comes to scary things like fighting a bully on the playground, or standing up and giving a big presentation. Reasons why it happens: 'Fight or Flight' or 'Rest and Digest'
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |