Why do we.....?

Question

always want to sleep after a big meal?

Answer 1

relaxed and content !!!!!

Answer 2

That after-meal desire for a nap is as natural for humans as it is for lions or lap dogs.

Scientists have pinpointed for the first time how the sugar in food turns off the brain cells that keep us awake and makes us crave a siesta after a big meal.

"It has been known for a while that people and animals can become sleepy and less active after a meal, but the brain signals responsible for this were poorly understood," said Dennis Burdakov, a researcher at the University of Manchester in England who led the study published last week in the journal Neuron.

Working with specially engineered mice, Burdakov's team demonstrated exactly how glucose blocks or "inhibits" the brain cells that make orexins, tiny proteins that regulate our state of consciousness.

"These cells are critical for responding to the ever-changing body energy state with finely orchestrated changes in arousal, food seeking, hormone release and metabolic rate to ensure that the brain always has adequate glucose," the researchers wrote.

By genetically manipulating the mice to produce a florescent protein that lights up only in the orexin cells, the researchers could study how glucose reacts in those neurons.

Specifically, they "identified the pore in the membrane of orexin-producing cells that is responsible for the inhibiting effect of glucose," Burdakov said.

"This previously unknown mechanism is so sensitive, it can detect minute changes in glucose levels, the type that occurs between meals, for example. This may well provide an explanation for after-meal tiredness and why it is difficult to sleep when hungry."

Answer 3

The physiological answer is that the brain tells the stomach to begin digesting the food and preparing to absorb the broken down food. Thus sending your blood supply to the digestive system leaving the extremities with a reduced blood supply ans so again the muscles feel tired and want to rest - ie sleep.

The other answer is after food we are content and happy and as a result need not further stimulation and so sleep sounds good.

Answer 4

Blood is concentrated around the stomach area to help in digestion. Because we only have a finite amount, it has to come from other areas, hence to feeling of drowsiness, the lack of blood to the head.

Answer 5

because blood floods to your stomack to digest the food, this makes your head feel drowsy

Answer 6

I don't know. I actually get energy whenever I eat.

Answer 7

that could be cos i put a sleepin tablet in ur lunch :)

Answer 8

Because it feels so right.