Sarah Di Lorenzo explains the 3pm slump and how protein-rich meals can boost afternoon energy and focus

Around 3pm, many of us feel it. It is that feeling of eyes glazing over, the brain fogs up, and your thoughts turn to what you can snack on, and it’s always something sweet.

I have never heard anyone say they were craving a boiled egg at 3pm.

So out comes another coffee, biscuits, lollies, a square or two of chocolate, or whatever you can find in the kitchen or staff room. Twenty minutes later, most of us feel worse than before.

The 3pm slump is not a personal flaw or a lack of discipline. It is biology and something you can definitely shape.

Many people I chat with in my clinic will blame lunch, but lunch isn’t the main cause. Through the day, a compound called adenosine builds up in your brain, creating sleep pressure that has been climbing since the moment you woke.

Your body clock also has a natural dip in alertness in the early afternoon, and your morning cortisol, the “get up and go” hormone that peaks 30 to 45 minutes after waking is long gone. Together, that is the 3pm slump.

Research shows this post lunch slump happens largely regardless of lunch and that it’s worse after a poor night’s sleep.

Those that siesta have got it right but sadly many of us don’t have that luxury.

A big, heavy lunch can make it deeper, but it doesn’t create it. Chronic stress and short sleep can also flatten our natural cortisol rhythm that leaves us tired and wired.

So while we can’t avoid the slump, we can control how deep it goes. In my opinion, personal experience and clinical experience is breakfast as one of the biggest levers.

A high carb, low protein breakfast such as cereal, toast with jam or a muesli bar leaves you hungrier and more likely to reach for sugar by mid-afternoon. Whereas a protein rich breakfast changes the whole day.

Studies show higher protein breakfasts improve appetite control and reduce snacking on sugary foods later on.

I aim for about 30 grams of protein in the morning. That might be eggs on wholegrain sourdough, Greek yoghurt with berries and nuts, or a protein smoothie using my 1010SDL protein powder as it is the best on the market.

Beyond breakfast, every meal needs protein, fibre and healthy fat. Together they release energy slowly so you avoid the spikes and crashes. Meal order matters too, vegetables and protein before carbohydrates significantly lowered the rise in blood sugar after the meal.

Strong advice I always give is don’t skip meals. Running on coffee until 2pm is almost a guaranteed crash.

Then there’s hydration. Mild dehydration has been linked with poorer concentration and mood and thirst is easily mistaken for hunger. Before your next 3pm coffee, drink a big glass of water and wait 10 minutes.

Light matters too. Outdoor light is many times brighter than office lighting. Ten minutes of morning sunlight helps set your body clock, and a short walk after lunch helps your muscles use glucose, flattening the blood sugar rise.

And underneath all of this is sleep. You cannot fix a 3pm slump on five hours of sleep, no matter how good your breakfast is.

Adults need seven to nine hours a night for steady energy, focus and food choices. Keep regular sleep and wake times, and try to stop caffeine by around midday.

When the slump does hit and sometimes it will, the fix is not another coffee.

Try my five minute reset.

• Drink a big glass of water.
• Step outside for three to five minutes of daylight.
• Take five deep breaths, with the exhale longer than the inhale.
• Have a small protein rich snack such as Greek yoghurt with berries, an apple with peanut butter, one of my 1010 SDL protein bars or hummus with carrot sticks.

This works. For those of you who are working, finish a task before my five minute reset then come back to your desk for a new task, I find this really does help.

If you do have the luxury to do this then a quick nap can be an amazing solution. Just 18 minutes is the perfect amount of time to not impact falling asleep at night.

The afternoon crash is not who you are. It is what your day is doing to your biology.

Change the inputs, and the outputs will change.