Two theories, why you want to sleep after a meal.

The human body is like a casket full of secrets and mysteries. No matter how much scientists spend time to answer the questions of interest to them, they do not always manage to come to the same true opinion. One of the most interesting questions, to this day exciting great minds, is why you want to sleep after a meal. Indeed, indeed, for sure, each of us repeatedly paid attention to a physiological feature, like the desire to lie down for a rest, which occurs immediately after a dense dinner. Many, probably, also noticed, as their pets, having satiated, lay down to have a rest. Just remember the familiar to everyone the phrase: "eaten - you can sleep." So let's try to figure out why you want to sleep after dinner.

Until recently, there was a single unshakable opinion that digestion of food is a long and labor-intensive process for the body. Therefore, after a meal, in order to ensure normal digestion and provide the internal organs with the required amount of energy, the blood begins to flow from the brain to the stomach and intestines. In this regard, the amount of oxygen received by the brain becomes significantly below normal. This explains why you want to sleep after a meal. Some doctors even recommend going to bed or at least just to rest for a while after eating. Due to a short rest the body will quickly return to normal and the state of drowsiness will pass.

However, as a result of the fact that a lot of attention was paid to the question of why you want to sleep after eating, there was another answer to it. British scientists from the University of Manchester found that the brain cells responsible for the wakefulness processes significantly reduce their activity after all that you have eaten falls into the stomach. At the same time, the body's reactions are reduced and the processes of mental activity are slowed down. This can be explained by the fact that after intake of food in the human body, the glucose content sharply increases, and this, in turn, disrupts the process of normal brain transmission of nerve impulses to all other parts of the body. In the usual state, a person produces orexin, a hormone of vivacity. Its amount depends on the amount of glucose in the blood. If the glucose level is lower than usual, orexin begins to be produced in large quantities. That's why it's hard for a person to fall asleep when he is hungry. At the fed person the glucose in a blood is raised, therefore the organism does not work out with such intensity a hormone of vivacity. As a consequence - a person "tends" to sleep.

It is interesting to know that after scientists more accurately explained why they want to sleep after a meal, in Japan and some other countries in Asia, the need for sleep after the lunch was legalized. In connection with the decision, workplaces have been equipped with special places for a small afternoon rest, where each worker can get some sleep. Another good example is Spain with its world famous siesta. In this country, the afternoon nap is a long tradition, rooted in antiquity.

In general, however that may be, it is not necessary to strive to answer the question of why you want to sleep after a meal. It should be taken simply as a physiological need of the body. And if you can relax after dinner, then you should not neglect it. If this is not possible, then just choose food for lunch. Make it simpler and easier. So, for example, instead of meat and potatoes, give preference to the soup and salad. Lighter food contributes to better health and does not cause such a drowsy state.