2 ways to prevent the afternoon slump (without caffeine)
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When 2pm hits, it can feel like your brain has voluntarily signed off for the day.
You’re left with a dense fog to wade through as you try to tackle the rest of your to-do list, respond to never-ending emails and slack messages, or string intelligent sequences of words together in meetings.
I used to feel enslaved by this afternoon slump, thinking it was an inevitable occurrence that would sack my afternoon productivity. I even tried planning my workdays around it, from waking up early to get most of my work done before 2pm, to saving easier tasks and meetings for the afternoon, or resigning to an evening work session to make up for lost productivity.
While I relied on caffeine during grad school and my early law firm days, its negative side effects eventually outweighed the benefits and contributed to my exhaustion and burnout.
It wasn’t until I became a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and learned foundational nutrition principles that I realized that the afternoon slump, while it may be common, is not normal and is actually preventable. This debilitating dip in energy that we’ve accepted as commonplace is a telltale sign that you may be on a blood sugar rollercoaster.
What is the blood sugar rollercoaster?
The blood sugar rollercoaster occurs when your blood sugar levels oscillate between high and low states following meals, peaking and crashing as the body attempts to bring the levels back into balance. Your body has a tendency to maintain a relatively stable internal environment (a process called homeostasis) and is constantly working to preserve this balance.
After you eat a meal, your body breaks down the food and converts it into energy (part of a process called metabolism). Glucose is the body’s primary source of energy obtained from food. It enters the bloodstream, which acts as a highway to deliver glucose to cells all across the body to fuel chemical processes that keep you alive.
Your bloodstream contains a certain amount of glucose at all times.
The central nervous system is the control center for regulating the levels of glucose in your bloodstream. It communicates with the pancreas, adrenal glands, adipose tissue, liver, and skeletal muscles to manage the release or storage of glucose, depending on the needs of the body in the current moment. It’s a continuous dance throughout the day of monitoring blood glucose levels and implementing feedback loops to maintain those levels within an optimal range (approximately 70 to 90 mg/dL).
If your brain detects that blood sugar levels have exceeded the optimal range, it will communicate with the pancreas to dispatch insulin, a hormone that a) helps glucose enter cells where it can be used for energy and b) stimulates the liver to store excess glucose (as glycogen) for future use. This moves glucose out of the bloodstream, thus decreasing blood sugar levels.
And if your brain detects that blood sugar levels have dropped below the optimal range, it will communicate with the pancreas to dispatch a hormone called glucagon, which stimulates the liver to release glucose (stored as glycogen) into the bloodstream, thus raising blood sugar levels. If blood sugar levels drop dangerously low (perceived as an emergency state by the body), your brain can initiate a different mechanism via the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis. This stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol, which then causes blood sugar levels to increase.
These are protective mechanisms for the body. High blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels and the pancreas. Low blood sugar levels can lead to central nervous system issues, seizures, and loss of consciousness.
However, this emergency need to bring blood sugar levels back into balance after every meal is a modern-day problem. We live in a society where we’re consuming more refined sugar, more processed carbohydrates, and more caffeinated drinks than ever. As a result, it’s becoming more common for us to experience significant spikes in blood sugar after we eat or drink that then trigger the body’s mechanisms to bring blood sugar levels back down. When this same cycle repeats over and over again for a long period of time, blood sugar can become dysregulated.
Dysregulated blood sugar keeps your body in a state of reactive stress.
Dysregulated blood sugar can lead to erratic energy levels and contribute to metabolic conditions such as hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease.
The best way to support blood sugar regulation is to prevent spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels from happening in the first place. In the figure below, balanced blood sugar (represented in blue) illustrates a steady wave of blood sugar levels that stay within the optimal range after each meal. Whereas, dysregulated blood sugar (represented in red) illustrates the peaks and crashes that can occur after each meal.
A comparison of balanced blood sugar and dysregulated blood sugar after meals.
The afternoon slump is the crash that you feel when your body is trying to bring your blood sugar back into balance after lunch. If you’re experiencing the afternoon slump on a daily basis, it can point to a bigger picture of blood sugar dysregulation.
How can you tell if your blood sugar is dysregulated?
Getting lab work done or using a continuous glucose monitor are always options, but there are a few fundamental ways to notice for yourself. A few signs can include:
waking up in the morning lethargic or not feeling rested
waking up without an appetite
experiencing severe hunger between meals or strong cravings for sugar or carbs
feeling irritable or “hangry” before meals or when you go too long without eating
experiencing drastic changes in energy levels after eating meals (e.g., the afternoon slump or a “second wind” in the evenings)
difficulty falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night (typically 2 or 3am) feeling alert or with a sense of panic
Once I identified these signs for myself and learned how to balance my blood sugar, my energy levels and thus my work routine became much more consistent and reliable, allowing for more ease in the way I accomplish tasks each day. To my surprise, afternoons have become my MOST productive time of the day, which has helped minimize the feeling of being behind or in “catch up” mode.
Now that you understand the physiology of blood sugar regulation and the importance of it for overall health, let’s dive into 2 ways to balance blood sugar:
1) Eat balanced macronutrients at every meal
Your body can get energy from 3 main food sources: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. These are known as the macronutrients.
Carbs are the most efficient energy source for the body and are crucial for metabolic and hormone health. Your cells, especially in the brain and muscles, get the quickest boost of energy from carbs. While carbs are a wonderful energy source, it’s important to balance carb intake with an appropriate amount of protein and fat. Protein and fat are slower burning energy sources that will sustain you over a longer period. Together, they will slow down the release of glucose into the bloodstream after you eat, thus preventing a big spike in blood sugar levels.
Eating a balanced meal or snack that contains all 3 macronutrients — protein, fat, and carbs — is the best way to provide your body with a balance of energy and maintain your blood sugar levels in a steady wave within the optimal range (as shown in the figure above).
While the macronutrient ratio that may work best for you is bio-individual (based on your health history, activity levels, etc.), the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine recommends 10–35% of calories from protein, 20–35% of calories from fat, and 45–65% of calories carbs.
To get an idea of the macros that you’re eating in a meal, it can be helpful to enter some of your go-to meals into a nutrient calculator (such as My Food Data) or an app (such as MyFitnessPal or Cronometer). However, I generally don’t recommend counting macros at every meal because it can potentially lead to an unhealthy strive for perfection and disordered eating habits. Rather, the goal is to develop an intuitive sense of the macronutrient ratios on your plate and adjust based on how your energy levels feel after a meal.
Some simple balanced meals and snacks can include:
avocado toast and pasture-raised eggs
grass-fed steak with a side of broccoli and sweet potato, slathered in grass-fed butter
dates and grass-fed cheese
2) Eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking and before or with morning coffee
Your body requires nourishment and energy to get kickstarted for the day. When you skip breakfast, your blood sugar levels can drop, sending your body into that emergency state we discussed above. As a result, the HPA Axis stimulates the release of cortisol, the “emergency responder” that brings your blood sugar levels back up and makes you feel alert. However, this can lead to an over-correction, with cortisol causing blood sugar levels to soar too high, thus triggering the release of insulin to drop the blood sugar levels back down again. It can be really difficult for the body to recover from this, hence the dramatic changes in energy levels throughout the rest of the day.
If you’re looking for a fast pass onto the blood sugar rollercoaster, it’s having cortisol for breakfast. Having coffee on an empty stomach can further compound this effect, as caffeine also stimulates the release of cortisol.
Over time, this constant reliance on cortisol for energy can compromise your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, which can lead to metabolic issues, hormone imbalances, and other health problems.
Eating breakfast within 1 hour of waking and before or with morning coffee gives your body the type of energy it needs to thrive and to help get your morning going. Set your day up for success with a balanced breakfast of protein, fat, and carbs.
If skipping breakfast has been a long-time habit and your morning appetite is nowhere to be found, I encourage you to start with a small breakfast (such as a date and a slice of grass-fed cheese) to establish that pattern within your body and work your way up to larger meals over time as your appetite returns.
Conclusion
Blood sugar regulation is one of the foundations of optimal health. When blood sugar is balanced, you’ll notice an improvement in your energy levels, focus, mood, sleep quality, hormone health, fertility, weight management, and more.
Your body is innately intelligent, and with a few simple dietary adjustments, you can support its natural ability to regulate blood sugar:
Eat balanced macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbs) at every meal
Eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking and before or with morning coffee
Other factors — such as food quality, toxic load, stress management, sleep quality, activity levels, and other health conditions — can also play a role in blood sugar regulation, but these two changes are a big part of the foundation of balancing blood sugar. If you’re looking for individualized support in your healing journey, book a free discovery call with me here and let’s understand your current health concerns together.
It’s worth noting that the healing process doesn’t happen overnight. If your blood sugar has been dysregulated for a while, it can take some time for your body to recalibrate. While I was enjoying stable energy levels within a few weeks of implementing the above changes, it took my body about 3 months before my morning appetite fully returned.
Nourish your body, be patient, and trust that your body is always working in favor of your health.
This information is for educational and informational purposes only and solely as a self-help tool for your own use. I am not providing medical, psychological, or nutrition therapy advice. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting your own medical practitioner. Always seek the advice of your own medical practitioner and/or mental health provider about your specific health situation. For my full Disclaimer, please visit here.