I had a somewhat frightening experience yesterday.

I know when I am in the Induction phase that if I eat far more carbs than I should I get sleepy and take a nap. Atkins writes about a patient fallen asleep at a traffic light--anyone remember that ??

Yesterday I ate a small salad, felt hungry which was odd and I realize I misread the hunger; it wasn't that the salad was insufficient but that it probably had too much sugar in the salami ( ugh) so I ate a big salad which was a no-no but felt driven and ate 3 cups of greens.

THen I got sleepy and took a nap.

THis was on eating greens. It usually happens when I binge on a box of cookies.

Clearly the answer is to not eat so many carbs at once, but I'm worried about when I move to owl--will this happen often?

Does anyone know why this happens??

I tend to get sleepy when I NEED to eat more.

I did alot of research into postprandial somnolence but I wasnt able to find a consistent cause for it. Theres lots of ideas floating around, including more tryptophan getting into the brain and being converted to serotonin, but studies are inconsistent.

The only thing I have seen to reliably produce postprandial somnolence is a high-calorie intake at a single sitting. But even this is not 100% consistent.

Currently, no-one knows the cause of postprandial somnolence

postprandial somnolence--great information; thanks for sharing.As I was reading I thought I would arrive at the answer--more information for sure, nothing concrete.

One of the many things I like about a low carb diet is the LACK of the after lunch slump. I have much more energy all day long.

I can binge on meats and not have the same effect. THe 4 cups of leafy greens, with some cheese, olives, salami and dressing-- just sent me to sleep. THat was about 30 carbs.

My obsevation is that the less carbs I eat the more sensitive my body is to an overload. THat is, when I'm eating my old way, I need to eat huge 100-150 carbs to cause the drowsiness; but on induction, 30 carbs sends me to sleep.

Just my observation.

Anyone else with more info?

I just remembered a time when I was almost falling asleep and only talking to my mother kept me awake. My eyes were closed the whole time we talked as I laid in maternity after a C-section.

I had taken my usual dose of 50 units of insulin the evening before and had nothing to eat as the scheduled C-section was at 7am. By noontime I was so grogy like I said above.

Suddlenly I remembered that I had had my insulin but NO food to counter it--I was sure my blood sugar was low. ANd boy was it! THe nursing staff went into a tailspin, getting OJ in me right away.

So I wonder if the sudden intake of carbs, set off a massive output of insulin and the result was very low blood sugar.

Ugh--always something to manage. ANyone have technical info on this?

Isn't lettuce supposed to be a soporific - remember Peter Rabbit and the effects of eating in Mr McGregor's lettuce patch

You're right !!

I feel ridiculous for asking this but here it is anyway...

How much are you sleeping? Do you sleep enough?

Also: sometimes feeling sleepy is unrelated to diet. For example, I was on a hormonal birth control pill for a time that made me fall asleep at random times. Is there anything like this happening in your life?

I mostly ask because it seems like there wouldn't be a whole lot of carbs in a salad. I guess it depends on what you put in the salad, though!!!

Sounds simplistic, but could it just have been a bulk of calories? How much salami, etc. was on the lettuce? Was it a large amount?

AFAIK, simply eating a bunch of calories at one time over what you need at that time, can cause sleepiness afterward.

Okay--you may have hit on something here. I apply a replacement hormone therapy cream--the full concoction. Well--I will certainly pay more attention to that effect. I apply the meds usually two times a day. BUt sometimes I forget. So I will look for a pattern between hormones and sleepiness.

Yes, I sleep enough. I know the days I will be tired , if I get less than 6 hours of sleep. I don't short myself on sleep. In this case it was that eat a bigmeal, fall asleep syndrome. LOL

I suspect you might mean carbs. It was too much carbs and a big release of insulin sent the blood sugars too far down. The salami was only a small amount, about half a slice, but if it was loaded with sugar . . . . man it tasted sweet.

I am being more careful. Currently no carbs, but when I put them back in I will opt for a small portion at any one time.

Hi...nope, I was specifically talking about calories. I have read that a highly caloric meal, regardless of the amount of carbs, can make one sleepy.

But since you say you tasted sugar, I think that's your answer.

Hi Ms Arielle, I get the same thing.

Very low to no carbs = not sleepy after eating, good sleep each night
Even a little bit of carbs = sleepy after eating yet bad sleep each night

How far into induction were you when you first posted? Sometimes in the first few days your energy can get pretty low...part of the "low carb flu" sometimes talked about.

In my first week or so I was having headaches which no amount of acetominophen or ibuprofen would take care of (and that's unusual for me). I finally attributed it to low blood sugar, so for a couple of days I allowed myself a couple of dried apricot halves, carefully including them into my daily carb count. They took care of the headaches. Since then, though, I can eat very low to zero carbs and not have a problem. I've read that we can have very low blood sugar and be ok with it, it just takes our bodies time to adjust to it.

I will be mindful of the total calories consummed per meal now, as this make sense as well.

I have avoided those prepackaged salads like the plague!! I let DH and kids eat them. I don't need to be derailed again.