Food Coma

 
 Well, it’s that wonderful time of the year!  Family and friends gather in one place to toast with eggnog, sing carols, and celebrate the birth of the Lord. Every American gorges themselves on fruits and veggies. All is right in the world on Christmas Day.  
            Oh. Did you hear that? Sounded like the “wrong-answer” buzzer. That would be correct! It is the wrong answer. Besides everything not being right in the world, each American will consume on average about 7,000 calories on Christmas Day…and the majority ain’t comin’ from carrots. Why is it, that we tend to eat ourselves to death and then hear ourselves say (or think) the classic words, “Ugh, I feel sick. I ate too much.”  Some of us say that too often anyway! But for Christmas dinner in particular, you have grandma’s green bean casserole, mom’s famous macaroni and cheese, cousin Emma’s homemade buttered rolls, dad’s honey-baked ham, and Aunt Margret’s pecan pie for dessert. Not to mention the half dozen other recipes handed down from generations past that you, “just can’t pass up.” 
 
Have you ever heard some one joke about going into a food coma? Well, it’s a real thing, believe it or not. The technical name for it is postprandial somnolence (post-after, prandial-lunch/dinner, somnus-causing sleepiness/drowsy). The “coma” part to food coma isn’t to be taken literally. It’s only used as colloquial language. In this blog, you’ll learn why food comas happen and the best way to avoid them. 
 
Two major things happen biochemically that lead to the drowsiness you experience after a high-calorie meal. First, it’s important that you understand the difference in the foods you are eating. Glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how quickly the body digests and absorbs the carbohydrates consumed in your diet. Candies, desserts and sugary foods have a high GI, meaning that those carbohydrates break down into glucose faster and can be absorbed into the system more readily than low GI foods. Low GI foods like whole grains, nuts and fruits provide sustainable energy because of the slower breakdown of the carbohydrates. When lots of high GI foods are ingested blood glucose levels rise quickly causing an increase in glucose-regulating insulin. 
 
When insulin levels rise, it stimulates absorption of amino acids except for tryptophan. Tryptophan is the amino acid we associate with turkey that causes drowsiness because it is a precursor to melatonin. Although tryptophan indirectly causes drowsiness when its concentration increases, turkey doesn’t have any more of the amino acid than any other poultry. So next time you’re at a conference and they claim that the most important discussions are happening before lunch due to the fact they are feeding turkey to the masses, you’ll know better than to believe that rationale. 
     
The second thing that happens has to do with your autonomic nervous system. Fight-or-flight response is the responsibility of the sympathetic nervous system. When you begin to shovel down the calories, there is a balance shift from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic system. When this shift happens, the opposite of fight-or-flight is the result: lethargy and low energy (aka, COMA).
 
How do you prevent this year’s Christmas coma? Follow these three steps very carefully: 

1. Use a smaller plate. You can’t load up if you can’t load at all

2. Stop eating when your body tells you stop. It doesn’t matter how good Grandma Gwedolyn’s coconut cream pie is. Give yourself a break to allow your body to respond with a “No more!”

3. Don’t eat close to the buffet table. When you see the food, your legs will take you there and your hands will reach for it. Before you know it, your gums are smacking. Eat the food off of your small plate away from the food!

 
 
Curb the Coma.