Fatigue after eating - causes, self-help and prevention

Tired after eating - these are the reasons

"After the meal you should rest or take a thousand steps" (folk wisdom). After eating, we often feel tired, especially after a sumptuous meal. How come? In this article, we explain the phenomenon of eating fatigue and give tips on how to treat and avoid it.

contents

• Tired after eating - these are the reasons
• Digestion makes you tired
• Carbohydrates and sugar
• Sweets
• tryptophan
• What to do about eating fatigue?
• Tips against tiredness after the lunch break
• Tiredness and dizziness
• Low blood pressure

Digestion makes you tired

Digestion costs the body strength. More blood gets into the digestive organs, the stomach and intestines take the body's valuable parts of the food, the stomach muscles and the intestinal wall transport the stomach porridge. We do not have an unlimited amount of blood in the body, and the blood that is now flowing into the digestive system is missing in other parts of the body - including the brain. This gets less oxygen now, and we get tired.

Although fast food and sweets can provide a short energy boost - but then comes the fatigue. (Image: Elnur / fotolia.com)

Carbohydrates and sugar

Simple carbohydrates can also lead to fatigue after a short kick. These rapidly increase the blood sugar level in the short term and start us off. Then the organism releases more insulin in response. This in turn ensures that the cells absorb more sugar. Now the blood sugar level is dropping as fast as it used to be, and the brain is under-supplied. We get tired.

Sweets

That's why we feel tired quickly when we eat sweets. These contain a lot of sugar, and the above mechanism starts. That does not make her bad. We even need such "empty calories" if we need a lot of energy in a short time, for example during sports or in exams. Here it is helpful to devour a pack of Haribo vampires right before the oral exam. Even so, the following hypoglycaemia is not enough, and we should try to make complex carbohydrates with rice or wholemeal bread.

tryptophan

Tryptophan is an amino acid. They contain especially meat, fish and eggs. The brain turns tryptophan into serotonin. This not only makes us happy but also slack. Insulin also helps cells absorb amino acids better. Below that are exactly the amino acids that otherwise compete with tryptophan to get into the brain. If this competition disappears now, the amino acid enters the brain without any hurdles.

As a result, fish, meat and eggs combined with simple carbohydrates make you tired.

What to do about eating fatigue?

An energy low after the meal is natural, but can be kept small. Do not eat too much. The more you eat, the more your body digests, the more tired you become. Do not eat too fat: fat in the form of butter, lard etc. take many hours to digest completely.

Use complex carbohydrates: potatoes, wholemeal bread or parboiled rice ensure that the blood sugar level rises evenly and does not drop rapidly.

In order not to fall into a fatigue after lunch break, you should do without large portions and greasy food. (Image: ilfotokunst / fotolia.com)

Tips against tiredness after the lunch break

1) Watch for lunchtime food with low fat and low carbs. No Go's are for example currywurst fries or roast pork with bread dumplings. Light foods like salad or vegetables are easier to digest and less tired.

By the way: too little fluid makes you tired, because the body then carries less blood to the brain. Instead of filling up with fat, you'd rather drink plenty. Conversely, if you go to bed late, eat hunter's schnitzel with creamy sauce at lunchtime, do not move or drink anything, you are guaranteed to be dead tired after lunch.

2) The fatigue after lunch can prevent you from the evening before: If you sleep six to seven hours, go to bed in time.

3) If you have a good breakfast, that means a lot of protein, vitamins and fluids, firstly give yourself an energy kick and secondly no cravings at noon.

4) Also remember to air well. Low oxygen in the breathing air means less oxygen in the lungs and brain - which makes you tired.

5) Move around: If you can go for a walk during lunch, that's great. Otherwise, use the options to get rid of the garbage, climb stairs or do gym exercises in the office. In between, massage your neck and shoulder muscles, which will start the blood flow.

6) Take a nap. If possible, sit in a chair and close your eyes for about 10-15 minutes. Longer sleep is not good, then the circulation drops sharply.

7) Have energy snacks ready to provide you with vitamins and minerals. Chocolate, nuts and berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries or currants) are among the top ten for the energy kick in between.

8) Coffee: But yes. Caffeine in moderation is not harmful. Do not drink too much. Caffeine causes the body to release adrenaline. That's why we're getting better. But if you do not drink a cup, but a pot of coffee, the organism continues to pour adrenaline until the store is empty. Then he has to re-produce adrenaline, and that costs energy.

A short nap brings new energy. (Image: Andrey Popov / fotolia.com)

Tiredness and dizziness

Fatigue after eating is not a disease. But beware: If the energy low after eating is associated with dizziness, it can be a serious illness.

Frequently problems with the metabolism are the cause, for example diabetes. But diseases of the cardiovascular system also lead to fatigue and dizziness. Low blood pressure is considered a major cause of dizziness that pairs with fatigue.

However, very heavy food can also cause dizziness. The gastric distension during food transport messenger substances to the brain as information about the degree of saturation. The higher this is, the more messengers the brain sends now, which inhibit the absorption of food.

However, some of these messengers also act on brain activity and slow it down: we get tired. With very greasy, large and heavy meals, there is now such an amount of these messengers that we feel dizzy and even dizzy.

Low blood pressure

Low blood pressure after eating is a complaint from older people, here it affects every third person. Particularly people suffering from it, which generally have too high (!) Blood pressure, suffering from diabetes or nervous disorders such as Parkinson's. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)