Boost Your Energy: Combatting The ‘Itis’ Effectively

Days seems to be longer and it feels like everyone needs a break occasionally. For all those that love food, who doesn't, then you know when you have that one specific meal that just fills your heart and stomach but then you need a big nap. This feeling, known as the itis in slang term, happens to be a thing many people tend to suffer from and has an actual name. Postprandial somnolence is the scientific name for that feeling to take a nap right after eating and is actually caused by a wide variety of factors.

One way to fight this feeling of needing to take a nap after eating lunch is to stay active so that the food can be digested more properly. That includes going for a walk, exposing yourself to sunlight, or anything else that will trigger your body's natural responses to being awake. There also seems to be a correlation between eating an excessive amount of carbs and feeling sleepy. Where if you eat too much carbs it's believed that that affects insulin and orexin levels which is what makes people feel sleepy.

In some countries they do take siestas, or naps, in the midday so people can recharge from the day. Sometimes those people will have a light healthy snack or drink some tea, usually something particularly good for you. This way there is no post meal slump but instead there is a burst of energy so you can finish out the day and carry on strong. There is no telling if Texas or any other state in the United States will adopt the siesta thought process but trying to limit the amount of heavy foods could help with those post lunch midday slumps.

Do you get tired after lunch or midday? How do you keep powering through the day if you do? Let us know in the comments!