Hi everyone!
It’s science time again, but don’t worry, I’ll keep it simple and (hopefully) not boring, hehe...
Maybe you've had one or two experiences when you ate proper meal? I mean those kind of meals that mum or you takes time to make after days of planning, lol and then next thing was that you started sweating even before you could finish the meal and next was you found yourself drowsy and wanting to sleep even if you ate the food in the morning?
And in the depth of your thoughts, you're wondering why you supposedly ate something to give you the strength to carry on your daily activities and you're rather getting weak..
Isn't it contradictory? You ate food probably to gain energy and continue your daily activities but then you just found yourself battling with sleep.
So why exactly do you feel sleepy after eating sometimes?
I'll minimise the medical jargons to make sure you get the concept, hehe.
After eating, the food is sent to our stomach, a compartment in the abdomen, then the stomach starts working for the next four to six hours ( this is also the estimated time a meal spends in the stomach) before it is moved to the duodenum aspect small intestine ( which is the first part, then to jejenum and ileum and the transport continues).
The stomach gets to work mashing and breaking down food into small absorbable particles along the various gastrointestinal tracts.
Because the body knows that the digestive system is working, the digestive system will be prioritised and most of the blood will be channelled there and little blood to other organs.
Channeling most of the blood away from other organs also includes the brain. Now, you remember that the blood, particularly, the red blood cells have a component called haemoglobin which binds oxygen and transport the oxygenated blood to all systems and tissues.
This means that the digestive system will be getting most of the oxygen and the brain will be running slightly short of what it should ideally have. This slight reduction in oxygen makes the brain drowsy and the body responds by wanting to sleep.
Also, when you eat carbohydrates, it triggers insulin to be released.
Let me refresh our minds a bit on what insulin does...
Insulin is the endocrine hormone that literally mops glucose in the blood and send them to the tissues so that they will have energy to carry on their daily activities.
While this insulin is doing it's work of moving glucose inside tissues, it also causes amino acids ( from protein ) especially the one called Tryptophan to enter the brain and when It does, it leads to the secretion of melatonin and serotonin, both which causes sleep.
Are you still with me🥺, I do hope you are...
Synonymously, when you eat large amount of food, you'll increase these processes I just explained which will still make you sleep.
So yes, that's what happens when you eat food and that is why you feel a bit drowsy when you eat good food... Not snacks😂 ( who knows,maybe those ones don't even get to the stomach, lol)
Finally, the medical term for all these I've explained is POSTPRANDIAL SOMNOLENCE.
I hope you learned something new today!
Until next time, stay safe, eat well, and enjoy your naps after those hearty meals, hehe.
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Thanks for reading and have a nice day ahead 👍