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Is a food coma / crash always the result of a blood sugar spike? I've never seen any literature supporting that the feeling of tiredness and fatigue after a me

Is a food coma / crash always the result of a blood sugar spike? I've never seen any literature supporting that the feeling of tiredness and fatigue after a meal is the direct result of blood sugar levels. Mostly what I've seen is just conjecture online, and correlational anecdotes about eating high glycemic index foods and feeling tired. Not discounting people's experiences, but trying to suss out the science here. If you were, for example, to inject sugar directly into someone's blood stream would the result be fatigue every time? It seems to me that there's more involved in this. In my experience (more anecdata!) I'm able to eat anything in the morning. Giant bolus of carbs and sugar, and I feel great. That same meal in the afternoon will give me such a fatigue that I need to lay down. Clearly there's some other factor at play for me in the function whos result is fatigue. FATIGUE_LEVEL = CARB_GRAMS * (HOUR_OF_DAY / 24)

jaggederest 4y ago
Well, for me, I've been monitoring my blood sugar intensively for a while. I started when I worked for a nutrition and glucose monitoring company (as a test!), found out I had really anomalous blood sugar dips, and confirmed it with finger stick and another blood sugar monitor. So for me, the answer is, yes, the "sugar crash" postprandial is actually a dip in blood sugar - not to a hazardous level (e.g. passing out or seizure) but to a very uncomfortable level, with epinephrine and the shakes. (mine has gone down to 45mg/dl at worst) For many people, it may not be, I can only speak for myself. There's another thing, called 'idiopathic postprandial syndrome' which is essentially the symptoms above, but without actual low blood sugar (<60mg/dl), which some people think is another form of insulin resistance, where your blood sugar is normal but your body "wants" more sugar in the blood. Talking with endocrinologist, they say that the insulin sensitivity for most people is much higher in the AM and daytime than at night, so it makes sense that you might have more problems in the afternoon, but you should probably talk to a doctor rather than taking my word for it! It's often difficult (in the US at least) to get primary care and endocrinologists to take you seriously if you are not actually dying of diabetes or passing out from low blood sugar - this is where dipping into the realm of concierge medicine can be helpful, or at least, it has been for me. They are often much more willing to investigate thoroughly.
jaggederest 4y ago
> If you were, for example, to inject sugar directly into someone's blood stream would the result be fatigue every time? Missed this the first time around. They do this, for research, it's called a glucose clamp test. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose_clamp_technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose_clamp_technique Unfortunately it's almost impossible to find someone willing to administer it to you. It's an outpatient hospital procedure lasting a number of hours, and almost no insurance would cover it, as far as I am aware.
Swannie 4y ago
https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg24332470-900-does-a-large-meal-make-you-tired-and-if-so-why/ https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg24332470-900-does-a-... Responses are by readers, so take with a pinch of salt
imtringued 4y ago
>It seems to me that there's more involved in this. In my experience (more anecdata!) I'm able to eat anything in the morning. Giant bolus of carbs and sugar, and I feel great. That same meal in the afternoon will give me such a fatigue that I need to lay down. What? That is quite a boring and obvious observation because your insulin sensitivity is much higher in the morning.

jaggederest 4y ago

Well, for me, I've been monitoring my blood sugar intensively for a while. I started when I worked for a nutrition and glucose monitoring company (as a test!), found out I had really anomalous blood sugar dips, and confirmed it with finger stick and another blood sugar monitor. So for me, the answer is, yes, the "sugar crash" postprandial is actually a dip in blood sugar - not to a hazardous level (e.g. passing out or seizure) but to a very uncomfortable level, with epinephrine and the shakes. (mine has gone down to 45mg/dl at worst) For many people, it may not be, I can only speak for myself. There's another thing, called 'idiopathic postprandial syndrome' which is essentially the symptoms above, but without actual low blood sugar (<60mg/dl), which some people think is another form of insulin resistance, where your blood sugar is normal but your body "wants" more sugar in the blood. Talking with endocrinologist, they say that the insulin sensitivity for most people is much higher in the AM and daytime than at night, so it makes sense that you might have more problems in the afternoon, but you should probably talk to a doctor rather than taking my word for it! It's often difficult (in the US at least) to get primary care and endocrinologists to take you seriously if you are not actually dying of diabetes or passing out from low blood sugar - this is where dipping into the realm of concierge medicine can be helpful, or at least, it has been for me. They are often much more willing to investigate thoroughly.

jaggederest 4y ago

> If you were, for example, to inject sugar directly into someone's blood stream would the result be fatigue every time? Missed this the first time around. They do this, for research, it's called a glucose clamp test. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose_clamp_technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose_clamp_technique Unfortunately it's almost impossible to find someone willing to administer it to you. It's an outpatient hospital procedure lasting a number of hours, and almost no insurance would cover it, as far as I am aware.

Swannie 4y ago

https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg24332470-900-does-a-large-meal-make-you-tired-and-if-so-why/ https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg24332470-900-does-a-... Responses are by readers, so take with a pinch of salt

imtringued 4y ago

>It seems to me that there's more involved in this. In my experience (more anecdata!) I'm able to eat anything in the morning. Giant bolus of carbs and sugar, and I feel great. That same meal in the afternoon will give me such a fatigue that I need to lay down. What? That is quite a boring and obvious observation because your insulin sensitivity is much higher in the morning.