Feeling Sleepy After Eating - Diet & Nutrition Message Board

1965_Bruce · 02-12-2004, 11:21 AM

This has happened several times and I can't define what it is. It must be a certain type of food or amount of it that does this. When I eat certain foods, I tend to get very sleepy. I mean that after 45 minutes to an hour after the meal I will suddenly feel a big drop in my energy level - its almost like I want to go to sleep.

This happened yesterday in fact. I had chinese food for dinner and later got really sleepy. it has happened before with chinese but also happens with certain other foods (I don't record what I ate when it happens). What causes this? I dont think it is the rice because I eat other types of rice and it does not happen. And my meal wasn't extra spicy either. I had like fried rice and beef with broccoli.

If I think real hard I think it happened once when I ate some sort of Mexican dish that had a lot of cheese.... but there was no cheese in the chinese!

I really wish i could identify what types of foods do this so i could avoid them.

sean · 02-12-2004, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1965_Bruce

This has happened several times and I can't define what it is. It must be a certain type of food or amount of it that does this. When I eat certain foods, I tend to get very sleepy. I mean that after 45 minutes to an hour after the meal I will suddenly feel a big drop in my energy level - its almost like I want to go to sleep.

This happened yesterday in fact. I had chinese food for dinner and later got really sleepy. it has happened before with chinese but also happens with certain other foods (I don't record what I ate when it happens). What causes this? I dont think it is the rice because I eat other types of rice and it does not happen. And my meal wasn't extra spicy either. I had like fried rice and beef with broccoli.

If I think real hard I think it happened once when I ate some sort of Mexican dish that had a lot of cheese.... but there was no cheese in the chinese!

I really wish i could identify what types of foods do this so i could avoid them.

I'm no expert, but the things I've heard that cause this ( I get it too, sometimes) are first of all insulin over-reaction. Insulin is secreted in direct response to how much sugar and simple carbs are in the meal. High glycemic foods, in other words.

Second, insulin is released in response to stomach distention, so a large meal, no matter what its constituents, is more likely to produce this than a small one. Another reason to try the small, frequent meals rather than two or three meals a day of larger size.

Next, and totally unrelated, mono sodium glutamate--(msg, brand name Accent)--often has this or similar effects. Chinese food is famous for this, and many of us order our chinese foods with NO MSG, Please as a result. Haven't heard of any such link to Mexican food, but crappy chegs use it all the time in all kinds of things to make up for insufficient flavor.

Hope this helps.

sean

1965_Bruce · 02-12-2004, 01:41 PM

Ah, so maybe they have a LOT of sugar in maybe the sauce? I could agree that some places sugar it up as a way of improving the weak flavor. Just one way that restaurants are a major contributor to this country's diet-related health problems, but that's for another thread

I dont think it was the large size of the meal although i did feel full and ended up not finishing all of it. But the mexican meal was not that big. I dont know, its just a wierd feeling being that sleepy.

Magpiezoe · 02-12-2004, 02:00 PM

Hello, I think it just a large meal/over eating. A lot of times just the feeling of being full or over full can make people feel sleepy. I agree with eating smaller portions. Also, getting into exercise will prevent feeling sleepy after meals. As far as the MSG in Chinese food, it can make you really thirsty. There is something that both Chinese restaurant food and Mexican restaurant food have in common...It's fat. They are both loaded with fat, that's one of the reasons they taste so good. The Cheese has lots of fat and the oil in the Chinese food has lots of fat. A little while back the news media mentioned about how much fat was in take out foods and Chinese food was among the highest for fat content. It's all together different than the traditional, home cooked, Chinese dinner. If you think it might be the carbs instead, then see if you feel sleepy when you eat plain rice at home. Turkey, on the other hand, does contain a natural sleep aid in it.

1965_Bruce · 02-12-2004, 02:09 PM

I do not feel sleepy when eating rice at home. Quite delicious in fact. So you think that a high-fat meal can produce sleepiness? I guess a high-fat meal would also make me feel full faster, no?