#018 - Which Parts of a Meal Can Make You Sleepy? - Keith Murphy, PhD

Everyone knows what it's like to feel sleepy after a big meal. Think of what happens after Thanksgiving dinner, or after getting a huge lunch at an Indian buffet. If you're like me, you're ready to crash. But why does this happen? Is it the tryptophan in the turkey? Is it from too many carbs? What you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat it all play a role. Consequently, there has been some doubt as to whether the “food coma” is even a real thing. But recently, some clever researchers identified a good model organism for studying this phenomenon - the fruit fly. And through studying the behavior of Drosophila, we now better understand what causes a food coma, and perhaps why it occurs. In the latest episode of humanOS Radio, Dan interviews Keith Murphy of the Scripps Research Institute. He and his colleagues have been researching the so-called food coma, and have found some substantive evidence for this phenomenon. Listen here to find out more about his study - and some reasons why the food coma might be happening.