5 Easy Ways to Avoid Food Coma After Lunch & Why It Happens

Last Updated on 2023-05-09 , 12:02 pm

Always feeling sleepy after lunch? Blame it on food coma.

Food coma happens after eating a large meal that stimulates activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, which tells your body to slow down and digest.

As food breaks down into glucose, there is a surge in blood sugar.

As such, your body releases the insulin to reduce glucose levels. Insulin also causes your brain to produce more serotonin and melatonin that can leave you feeling drowsy.

1. Eat smaller amounts

Using your fist, measure the amount of food you’re eating. Apart from vegetables, the food you’re eating should be no bigger than your fist size. This trick makes sure that your body does not need to digest an unnecessarily big amount of food. Unless you’ve got a really big hand.

2. Chew slowly when eating

When you chew slower and more, your food gets broken down into really small pieces. This will help your digestion to be smoother and faster, which prevents sugar levels from going up suddenly. No matter how many days you have starved, remind yourself to chew, chew and chew.

3. Drink herbal tea/lemon water after your meal

Or any other drinks that is not sweet and helps in digestion. Drinking carbonated or sweet drinks after a meal is the worst thing to do. They can make your sugar levels raise even more and cause bloated stomachs. So learn to accept the bitter or sour taste now.

4. Stay away from white carbohydrates

Do not cut carbs completely. Simply switch your white rice to brown rice, white bread for wholemeal and all other white carbs to those that are not. The reason behind it is that white carbs are the main source of that will break down into sugar and provides your body the energy.

5. Go for a quick walk

Make excuses to go to the toilet and go for the toilet furthest away. Strolling also aids in digestion. But the most immediate effect is that it totally stops you from falling asleep at your desk.

After walking, you will perk up.