When the dreaded post-lunch food coma strikes, it can be a complete day-ruiner, throwing off your plans, making it hard to enjoy fun activities, and maybe even messing with your job. If the fatigue descends as you’re trying to knock out important tasks at the office, for example, your efficiency can take a serious hit. In turn, this can hurt your ability to stay on track, forcing you to play catch-up later and potentially creating a vicious cycle that will keep you tired long-term.

The long and short of it? “Afternoon drowsiness can disrupt a person’s daily routine by reducing productivity, alertness, and concentration, as well as performance, mood, and quality of life,” Meredith Liss, RD, CDN, an advanced clinical dietitian at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, tells SELF.

To be clear, not everyone will feel sleepy after eating, nor will every meal affect you the same way. Still, enough people experience this issue that it’s considered a common complaint. (And it even has a formal name: postprandial somnolence.) So what’s behind this widespread phenomenon, and what can you do to power through it if you’re one of the (un)lucky few? We dug deep into the science to tease out some potential solutions.

Why do we experience “food comas”?

There are a few things at play here, but what you’re eating—in particular, the macronutrient composition of your meal—is a big one, Lisa Ganjhu, DO, a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone Health, tells SELF.

Meals heavily weighted toward carbs (especially refined options like pizza, white bread, potato chips, or sugary stuff) are more likely to cause fatigue because they produce a rapid spike in blood sugar. Your body then releases a rush of insulin to bring those sugar levels back down. However, this rapid drop can trigger a chain reaction that brings about a sensation of sleepiness or sluggishness. What’s more, a few other nutrients can have a similar effect. Foods high in the amino acid tryptophan (like milk, turkey, chicken, lobster, and certain types of nuts) can also increase lethargy, according to Dr. Ganjhu.

In addition to the nutrient content of your meal, the size matters too. “The more we eat, the more is required of our digestive system due to the need for additional mechanical breakdown, chemical breakdown, absorption, transport, and storage,” Liss says. This means that a large volume of food can put so much strain on your digestive system that it diverts energy away from other parts of your body. With all your available energy going to support the digestive response, you might “get very drowsy,” Dr. Ganjhu says.

Finally, frequency plays a role as well. By circumventing extreme highs and lows, “eating at regular intervals helps maintain stable blood sugar levels, which equates to stable energy levels,” Liss says. That’s why skipping meals, eating at irregular times, or waiting too long between meals can have the opposite effect, causing energy dips. Hello, mid-afternoon crash.

How can you avoid an energy slump after eating?

Here are some things to keep in mind at mealtime (and beyond) that can help keep your energy levels up.

1. Shoot for a balance of macros in your meal.

Since overloading on carbs can make a food coma more likely, packing your plate with protein and healthy fats can help. This slows down your digestion, which “delays glucose absorption, resulting in a more gradual rise in blood sugar and more stable energy levels,” Liss explains. (Fiber, a specific type of carb, has a similar effect, so including that can be beneficial as well.)

Ultimately, you want a meal that balances all three macros rather than one that skews way too heavily in one direction. When it comes to carbs, Liss is partial to fiber-rich whole grains like oats, brown rice, whole-grain bread, whole-grain pasta, bulgur, barley, and rye. In addition, don’t neglect fruits and veggies, both of which are high in important vitamins and minerals. Finally, you may also want to limit foods containing tryptophan or other sleep promoters like serotonin and melatonin if you notice you feel zonked after eating them. Here are some balanced meals and snacks to try:

• Stir-fried tofu and vegetables prepared with sesame oil, served with brown rice
• Grilled chicken breast with quinoa and roasted vegetables, drizzled with olive oil
• Baked salmon with roasted sweet potato and steamed spinach, sauteed with olive oil
• Lentils with brown rice, air-fried broccoli, and avocado slices

• Greek yogurt with nuts, flaxseed powder, and berries
• Apple slices with peanut butter or almond butter
• Sliced vegetables with hummus
• Cottage cheese with berries and a sprinkle of walnuts

2. Eat regularly.

Eating at regular intervals (say, every few hours) will not only help prevent your blood sugar from yo-yoing as much, but it’ll also cut the urge to overpile your plate, which can leave you uncomfortably full. And that brings us to…

3. Limit heavy meals.

Since big meals divert energy to the digestive process, sizing them down can help so there’s plenty of energy available for other things (like staying awake!) Basically, “make sure that you’re not overeating,” Dr. Ganjhu says.

Just don’t size down so much that you’re still hungry afterward: Even though a food coma can hurt your ability to function day-to-day, not having enough to eat can too, so that could end up backfiring! Ironically, research even suggests that hunger itself can increase fatigue. For that reason, skipping meals entirely is a no-go too.

Even though smaller meals are generally better at keeping your energy levels steady, you also shouldn’t feel obliged to deprive yourself if you’re famished. Just keep in mind that sleepiness is a risk and try to plan accordingly. If you’re especially hungry one day and really need a big meal to fill you up, for example, time it so that it’s not right before an important task.

4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Not only will fluids stave off dehydration, which can actually manifest as drowsiness, they’ll also have a filling effect, keeping you from stuffing yourself at any one time. Ideally, you should be drinking continuously throughout the day (though the classic eight-glasses metric is a little misleading).

5. Stay active.

Engaging in light physical activity after eating can help “aid digestion and boost alertness,” Liss says, so consider doing some stretching or taking a brief stroll once you’re done. (Plugging the infamous “fart walk” here!) Per a 2023 study published in the journal Sports Medicine, start “as soon as possible” after eating for optimal blood sugar control, the researchers write.

6. Maybe skip the after-dinner cocktail—or the 100-degree sunbathe.

If you know you tend to feel sleepy after eating, it’s not a bad idea to avoid things that can add to that, according to Dr. Ganjhu. Heat and alcohol consumption are two biggies. In the case of heat, your body has to work overtime to keep you cool, sapping your overall energy. Meanwhile, alcohol has a calming, sedative effect because of its role as a nervous system depressant.

What’s more, alcohol can also disrupt sleep, and sleep deprivation in general is huge here too. Not only will skimping on shut-eye compound the effects of a food coma, it’s also more likely to increase your appetite and attract you to fatty, sugary, high-carb foods—hello, sleepy time—forming a negative feedback loop.

Can feeling sleepy after eating ever be a sign of a bigger problem?

“While most people experience post-meal drowsiness at least some of the time, excessive daytime sleepiness could be a sign of an underlying health condition,” Liss says—think insulin resistance, diabetes, sleep disorders, or thyroid issues. To be clear, however, your fatigue probably wouldn’t be isolated to mealtimes if this were the case.

If you try the strategies above but find that you’re still feeling sleepy after eating on the regular, talk with your primary care physician, Dr. Ganjhu says. This way, you’ll be better positioned to identify any potential issues and come up with a treatment strategy if necessary.

Related:

• Is Low-Fat Dairy Still Healthier Than the Whole-Milk Stuff?
• 7 Little Nutrition Facts That Completely Changed the Way RDs Think About Food
• What’s Going On in Your Body When You’re Craving That Sweet Treat

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