Q Are there particular foods or habits that are bad for narcolepsy and should be avoided? I get especially drowsy after meals.
A Post-meal drowsiness worsens when blood sugar spikes and then drops. It helps to reduce refined carbohydrates, overeating, and alcohol, and to eat in smaller, divided portions. Caffeine has a short-term effect but lowers nighttime sleep quality, creating a vicious cycle.
Detailed Answer
Meals that cause blood sugar to rise and fall sharply (overeating focused on white rice, bread, and sweet foods) worsen post-meal drowsiness. It is effective to keep the blood sugar curve gentle by eating smaller portions, eating vegetables first, and eating slowly. Alcohol can fragment REM sleep and make sleep attacks more frequent, so it is best avoided.
Oriental Medicine Clinic Perspective
In Korean medicine, overeating and greasy foods are seen as burdening the spleen and stomach and consuming more spleen qi (脾氣). Resting the spleen and stomach with light, easily digestible foods conserves the energy needed for spleen qi to rise to the head, which connects practically to reducing the frequency of daytime drowsiness.
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