A heavy lunch can often be followed by sudden sleepiness , making it hard to stay focused through the afternoon. But why does this happen? In this edition of Everyday Explained, we spoke to Dr Eileen Canday, Head of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, to understand what causes post-lunch drowsiness and why a heavy meal can leave you feeling unusually tired.
Such drowsiness happens after one or two hours of having food, especially after consuming heavy meals. Factors like lack of proper night sleep, circadian rhythms, alcohol, dehydration , and sedative medications might make the situation worse. There might also be some thyroid malfunction or an undetected sleep disorder hidden behind such food-induced fatigue.
However, if the symptoms of fatigue are serious and appear after each meal regardless of the amount of food eaten or occur together with increased thirst, unusual weight gain or loss, blurred vision, or inability to focus, then it may indicate that there are some problems related to either insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.
Fatigue after eating a big meal is a usual situation, according to Dr Eileen.
