There are three likely explanations, based on recent research.
First, what do you eat and drink?
A lunch high in carbohydrates, especially if no protein is eaten along with bread and milk, is likely to produce calm to the point of sleepiness, because of the complex role of carbohydrates in shifting the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain.
Conversely, some protein contributes to alertness. A three-martini lunch also induces sleepiness.
Second, as siesta-loving societies have long recognized, sleep researchers have found that there is an inborn readiness in human beings to take a midafternoon nap.
Volunteers isolated from all evidence of day and night and left to set their own sleep patterns tended to settle into one long sleep session and a session of 1 or 2 hours about 12 hours after the middle of the main period.
Third, you may be sleep deprived. While the average adult needs 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night, most get only 7, and many get 6 or less during the workweek. People permitted to sleep as much as they choose sleep 10.3 hours out of every 24, just as monkeys and apes do.
An afternoon nap may be just what nature ordered to restore alertness.
Related Posts
-
Where did the first lunch counter sit-in over racial segregation in the U.S. take place?
The first lunch counter sit-in over racial segregation was at Woolworth's department store in Greensboro, North Carolina. The date was February 1, 1960, and the protest consisted of four black students from North…
-
Why do eyes turn red and swollen after too little sleep and what causes it?
Such a condition is probably an inflammatory response to the irritation of having the eyes open and exposed to the drying air. The effect is common knowledge and a clear symptom of sleeplessness…
-
Why Do Trees and Leaves Change Color In Autumn and What Causes the Color Change In Fall?
The leaf color changes of autumn result from a complex interplay of factors of temperature, sunlight and moisture, all dependent on timing. Not all the processes are predictable, but it is known that…
-
Why Do Spoiled Cans Of Food Swell and What Causes Canned Food To Bloat When It Goes Bad?
Cans of spoiled food may swell, and it is usually taken as a sign of spoilage, but canned food may be spoiled even if the can does not swell. If cans do swell,…
-
What Causes a Sea Breeze and Why is it Cooler at the Sea Shore?
"Sea Breeze" isn't just the name of a thousand beach motels. The breeze coming in from the sea is a real phenomenon that makes the shore cooler than it is inland at least…
-
What Causes the Ocean Tides and Why Are There Two High Tides Every Day?
Whenever someone pompously proclaims that the ocean's tides are caused by the moon, everybody mutters, "Uh, okay," and goes away just as puzzled as before. "It's the moon" is a cop-out, because a…
