Carb tiredness

Scamd83
Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I had a big bowl of cereal last night and almost immediately felt really tired and went to sleep for a couple of hours. Does this sort of thing happen to anyone else? Almost had the same thing happen with a bowl of pasta the other day, but that was in the afternoon.

Replies

  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    Do you normally have cereal for breakfast & if so are you sleepy afterwards? Or it could have just been it was at night and you were tired anyway. Same for the afternoon, I often get sleepy in the afternoon.
  • Scamd83
    Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
    helenrosec0 wrote: »
    Do you normally have cereal for breakfast & if so are you sleepy afterwards? Or it could have just been it was at night and you were tired anyway. Same for the afternoon, I often get sleepy in the afternoon.

    No, I usually have a couple of bananas with peanut butter for breakfast. Bananas don't tire me at all, infact they seem to have an instant effect if I'm ever feeling dizzy. I'd take the whole naturally being tired at night, but I was wide awake before I had the cereal and then suddenly asleep within minutes.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    If it happened once or twice, it is hard to draw a conclusion from it.
    Are you mostly getting enough sleep?
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    2 bananas would have a lot of carbs in too
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Carbs are recommended at night for folks with insomnia. They are "relaxing", supposedly.
  • King_Spicy
    King_Spicy Posts: 821 Member
    I always get bloated and "need to lay down" tired after a heavy dose of carbs. Just ate 2 slices of pizza for lunch party at work, and I'm about to fall asleep at my desk right now.
  • Scamd83
    Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
    edited April 2016
    helenrosec0 wrote: »
    2 bananas would have a lot of carbs in too

    I am quite aware of this. That is why I said bananas don't tire me, if I wasn't aware bananas didn't have carbs in them (who doesn't know that?) I wouldn't have felt the need to point out they do not tire me. Read it as 'Carbs tire me, except bananas'. Please.
  • Scamd83
    Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
    RodaRose wrote: »
    If it happened once or twice, it is hard to draw a conclusion from it.
    Are you mostly getting enough sleep?

    It's not the first or second time this has happened. And yes.
  • Scamd83
    Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
    xSPICYx wrote: »
    I always get bloated and "need to lay down" tired after a heavy dose of carbs. Just ate 2 slices of pizza for lunch party at work, and I'm about to fall asleep at my desk right now.

    This is why whenever I'm having pizza I always insist on having it as late as possible.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    I generally don't eat a lot of carbs and most of carbs I do eat come from fruit. I am currently carb loading for a marathon, which makes me acutely aware of just how tired refined carbs make me. This happens every time I carb load. I am not sure if I am more tired because I am not used to eating such a high proportion of carbs of if I am just more aware of how tired I am because it's a contrast to my normal habits. Either way, yeah, they make me tired.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Yes this happens to me. It actually happened to me last week when I shared part of a blizzard from Dairy Queeen with my husband on Saturday afternoon. Holy cow did that make me sleepy.

    At night especially carbs after dinner does this to me. I actually do save some calories for a night snack as it does help me sleep better.
  • auntstephie321
    auntstephie321 Posts: 3,586 Member
    one of the girls in the low carb group has talked extensively about this. I'm not sure what the details are on it, but you might get some helpful info in the low carb group as it appears to be a common issue for many, especially with insulin resistance issues.
  • ubermofish
    ubermofish Posts: 102 Member
    Carbing up always makes me sleepy, probably why I have trouble sleeping now >.>
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
    Eating a heavy load of carbs causes drowsiness because carbs make tryptophan more available to the brain. Eating a carb loaded meal with a source of protein just ups the affect, such as cereal and milk (cereal = carb, milk = protein). Protein is the building block for tryptophan and carbs speed it to the brain resulting in drowsiness. Doctors would recommend eating a bowl of cereal at night before bed because of this affect. It's also why Thanksgiving dinner causes extreme drowsiness shortly after, all of those high carb sides (macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls) along with the turkey will put you out like a light.

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