What do you think of midday or afternoon nap feeling? I'm uncertain about what really causes it. I think that heavy meals no doubt can contribute to somnolence. But I don't think it's the whole story. In my experience since I was a kid, and I've been on many different diets and lifestyles, it can happen even if I didn't eat much, and doesn't seem related to how much fat or carb I was eating earlier in the day.
Ray writes that serotonin causes torpor from serotonin. But is feeling like having a nap caused by serotonin and therefore harmful & avoidable? I feel the answer is not obvious. If I feel relaxed and my body temps is high, yet would very much like to lay down and nap, is this really serotonin? I think at the same time, it is suspicious to be needing a nap if one has slept well the previous nights, I feel like it should be avoidable.
Wikipedia gives a few possible explanations. I selected two. I'm wondering if it could be some proteins promoting insulin and therefore tryptophan uptake. Dairy proteins are said to stimulate insulin a lot, so I'm sure my insulin is being stimulated plenty. I guess I could always test the insulin hypothesis by eating a lot BCAA or glycine in the morning to prevent tryptophan uptake and seeing whether that has any effect on afternoon naps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postprandial_somnolence
Ray writes that serotonin causes torpor from serotonin. But is feeling like having a nap caused by serotonin and therefore harmful & avoidable? I feel the answer is not obvious. If I feel relaxed and my body temps is high, yet would very much like to lay down and nap, is this really serotonin? I think at the same time, it is suspicious to be needing a nap if one has slept well the previous nights, I feel like it should be avoidable.
Wikipedia gives a few possible explanations. I selected two. I'm wondering if it could be some proteins promoting insulin and therefore tryptophan uptake. Dairy proteins are said to stimulate insulin a lot, so I'm sure my insulin is being stimulated plenty. I guess I could always test the insulin hypothesis by eating a lot BCAA or glycine in the morning to prevent tryptophan uptake and seeing whether that has any effect on afternoon naps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postprandial_somnolence
Parasympathetic activation[edit]
In response to the arrival of food in the stomach and small intestine, the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system increases and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system decreases.[1][2] This shift in the balance of autonomic tone towards the parasympathetic system results in a subjective state of low energy and a desire to be at rest, the opposite of the fight-or-flight state induced by high sympathetic tone. The larger the meal, the greater the shift in autonomic tone towards the parasympathetic system, regardless of the composition of the meal.[citation needed]
Insulin, large neutral amino acids, and tryptophan[edit]
When foods with a high glycemic index are consumed, the carbohydrate in the food is digested more easily than low glycemic index foods. Hence, more glucose is available for absorption. It should not be misunderstood that glucose is absorbed more rapidly. Because once formed glucose is absorbed at the same rate. It is only available in higher amounts due to the easiness of digestion of high glycemic index foods. In individuals with normal carbohydrate metabolism, insulin levels rise concordantly to drive glucose into the body's tissues and maintain blood glucose levels in the normal range.[3] Insulin stimulates the uptake of valine, leucine, and isoleucine into skeletal muscle, but not uptake of tryptophan. This lowers the ratio of these branched-chain amino acids in the bloodstream relative to tryptophan[4] (an aromatic amino acid), making tryptophan preferentially available to the large neutral amino acid transporter at the blood–brain barrier.[5] Uptake of tryptophan by the brain thus increases. In the brain, tryptophan is converted to serotonin,[6] which is then converted to melatonin. Increased brain serotonin and melatonin levels result in sleepiness.[7] [8]