Foods That Make You Tired: 7 Energy-Draining Foods to Avoid

Feeling exhausted despite getting enough sleep? The culprit might be hiding on your plate. While food is meant to fuel your body and provide energy, certain foods can actually have the opposite effect, leaving you feeling sluggish, drowsy, and depleted.

Understanding which foods make you tired is crucial for maintaining optimal energy levels throughout your day. Your diet plays a fundamental role in how energized or fatigued you feel, and making informed food choices can significantly impact your productivity, mood, and overall well-being.

This comprehensive guide explores seven common foods that can drain your energy and explains the science behind why they make you feel tired. We’ll also provide practical alternatives to help you maintain steady energy levels all day long.

Why Do Certain Foods Make You Feel Tired?

Before diving into specific foods, it’s important to understand the mechanisms behind food-related fatigue. Several factors contribute to post-meal tiredness:

Blood Sugar Fluctuations: Foods that cause rapid spikes in blood sugar typically lead to equally dramatic crashes, leaving you feeling exhausted and craving more sugar.

Digestive Demands: Heavy, high-fat meals require significant digestive effort, diverting blood flow and energy away from other bodily functions, which can make you feel sleepy.

Nutrient Deficiencies: Foods lacking essential vitamins and minerals fail to provide your body with the building blocks it needs to produce energy efficiently.

Inflammatory Response: Certain foods trigger inflammation in the body, which can contribute to feelings of fatigue and lethargy.

1. Refined Carbohydrates and White Flour Products

White bread, crackers, pastries, and other products made from refined flour are among the top culprits when it comes to foods that make you tired. During the refining process, these grains are stripped of their fiber-rich outer layer and nutrient-dense germ, leaving only the starchy endosperm.

This refining process has significant consequences for your energy levels. Without fiber to slow digestion, refined carbohydrates are rapidly broken down into simple sugars that flood your bloodstream. Your pancreas responds by releasing insulin to manage this sugar surge, but this often results in an overcorrection that leaves your blood sugar lower than before you ate.

The result? An energy crash that leaves you feeling more tired than when you started. This cycle becomes even more problematic when you reach for another refined carbohydrate to combat the fatigue, perpetuating a draining pattern throughout the day.

Better alternatives: Choose whole grain versions of bread, pasta, and rice. These contain intact fiber and nutrients that provide steady, sustained energy without the dramatic peaks and valleys.

2. Sugar-Heavy Breakfast Foods

Starting your day with sugary breakfast foods is a recipe for mid-morning energy crashes. Many popular breakfast items—including flavored cereals, pastries, muffins, sweetened yogurts, and granola bars—contain shocking amounts of added sugar that can sabotage your energy before your day even begins.

The problem extends beyond just the immediate energy crash. Research suggests that consuming high-sugar foods in the morning can set off a cascade of cravings throughout the day, making you more likely to reach for other energy-draining foods. This creates a vicious cycle where you’re constantly battling fatigue and hunger.

Many breakfast cereals marketed as healthy options contain up to 12-15 grams of sugar per serving—sometimes accounting for more than half of their total carbohydrate content. When combined with low fiber and minimal protein, these foods fail to provide the sustained energy your body needs.

Better alternatives: Opt for protein-rich breakfast options like eggs, Greek yogurt (unsweetened), or steel-cut oatmeal topped with nuts and fresh berries. These choices provide steady energy and keep you satisfied longer.

3. Alcoholic Beverages

While alcohol is often associated with relaxation and may help you fall asleep initially, it’s actually one of the most significant foods that make you tired—both immediately and the following day. Alcohol’s sedative effects might seem beneficial for sleep, but they come at a steep cost to your energy levels.

Alcohol disrupts your sleep architecture, particularly the restorative REM (rapid eye movement) sleep phase. Even if you sleep for eight hours after drinking, the quality of that sleep is significantly compromised, leaving you feeling unrested and fatigued the next day.

Additionally, alcohol is metabolized into acetaldehyde, a toxic compound that your body must work hard to eliminate. This detoxification process demands considerable energy and resources, contributing to that characteristic next-day exhaustion.

The dehydrating effects of alcohol further compound fatigue, as even mild dehydration can significantly impair energy levels and cognitive function.

Moderation guidelines: If you choose to drink, limit consumption to no more than one drink per day for women and two for men. Avoid alcohol at least 3-4 hours before bedtime to minimize sleep disruption.

4. High-Caffeine Foods and Beverages (When Overconsumed)

This entry might seem counterintuitive—after all, caffeine is famous for boosting energy. However, excessive caffeine consumption or poor timing can actually contribute to chronic fatigue and make you feel more tired over time.

When consumed regularly in large amounts, caffeine leads to tolerance, meaning you need increasingly higher doses to achieve the same energizing effects. This creates dependency where you rely on caffeine just to feel normal, rather than genuinely energized.

Caffeine has a half-life of about 5-6 hours, meaning that coffee consumed in the afternoon can still be affecting your system at bedtime. This interferes with your ability to fall asleep and reduces sleep quality, creating a cycle where you need more caffeine the next day to compensate for poor sleep.

Energy drinks present an even greater concern, as they often contain extremely high caffeine levels—sometimes 200-300mg per serving—combined with large amounts of sugar. This potent combination can lead to severe energy crashes and disrupted sleep patterns.

Better approach: Limit caffeine intake to morning hours only, keep total daily consumption under 400mg (about 4 cups of coffee), and ensure you’re getting adequate sleep rather than relying on caffeine as a substitute.

5. Fried and Heavily Processed Fast Foods

Fast food and fried items are notorious energy drainers due to their high fat content, excessive sodium, and lack of essential nutrients. When you consume a meal high in saturated and trans fats, your digestive system slows down considerably, as fats take much longer to break down than carbohydrates or proteins.

This sluggish digestion means energy-providing nutrients are released into your bloodstream much more slowly, delaying the energizing effects you’d normally expect from a meal. Meanwhile, your body diverts significant blood flow to your digestive tract to handle the heavy meal, reducing blood flow to your brain and muscles—this is partly why you feel sleepy after a large, greasy meal.

Moreover, fast foods are typically devoid of the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients your body needs to efficiently convert food into usable energy. Regular consumption displaces healthier, nutrient-dense foods from your diet, potentially leading to deficiencies that manifest as chronic fatigue.

The high sodium content in most fast foods can also cause dehydration and bloating, both of which contribute to feelings of sluggishness.

Better alternatives: Choose grilled or baked proteins with plenty of vegetables and whole grains. If you’re eating out, look for lighter options that emphasize fresh ingredients over deep-fried preparations.

6. Foods with Hidden Sugars

Sugar doesn’t just hide in obviously sweet foods. Many seemingly healthy or savory products contain substantial amounts of added sugars that can drain your energy without you realizing it. Common culprits include:

• Flavored coffee drinks and specialty lattes
• Bottled smoothies and fruit juices
• Salad dressings and condiments
• Protein bars and “health” bars
• Flavored instant oatmeal packets
• Tomato sauce and pasta sauces
• Dried fruit and trail mixes

These hidden sugars contribute to the same blood sugar rollercoaster that leads to energy crashes, but they’re particularly problematic because people often don’t realize they’re consuming them. You might think you’re making a healthy choice, only to experience unexpected fatigue later.

Reading nutrition labels carefully is essential. Look for terms like sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, dextrose, fruit juice concentrate, and honey—these are all forms of added sugar.

Better approach: Choose whole, unprocessed foods whenever possible. When buying packaged items, check labels and aim for products with less than 5 grams of added sugar per serving.

7. Very Low-Calorie or Restrictive Diet Foods

In an effort to manage weight, many people turn to extremely low-calorie versions of their favorite foods or follow restrictive eating patterns. However, consistently consuming too few calories is among the foods and eating patterns that make you tired, as it fundamentally deprives your body of the energy it needs to function.

Calories represent energy units, and when you don’t consume enough to meet your body’s basic metabolic needs, several problematic adaptations occur. Your metabolism slows down to conserve energy, your hormone production becomes disrupted (particularly thyroid hormones that regulate energy), and you may experience decreased mental clarity and physical stamina.

Furthermore, severe calorie restriction often leads to nutritional deficiencies in vitamins and minerals essential for energy production, including B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and vitamin D.

The restrictive approach often backfires, leading to intense hunger that results in overeating later, which then causes uncomfortable fullness and sluggishness—another form of food-induced fatigue.

Better approach: Focus on eating adequate amounts of nutrient-dense foods rather than restricting calories severely. Ensure you’re meeting your body’s energy needs, which typically ranges from 1,600-2,400 calories for adult women and 2,000-3,000 for adult men, depending on activity level.

Additional Factors That Compound Food-Related Fatigue

Understanding foods that make you tired is just part of the equation. Several other factors can amplify or mitigate the energy-draining effects of certain foods:

Meal Timing: Eating large meals close to bedtime can disrupt sleep quality. Similarly, skipping meals or going too long between eating can cause blood sugar to drop too low, triggering fatigue.

Hydration Status: Even mild dehydration (as little as 2% fluid loss) can significantly impair energy levels, concentration, and mood. Many foods that make you tired also have dehydrating effects.

Food Combinations: Pairing carbohydrates with protein and healthy fats helps slow digestion and provides more stable energy than eating carbs alone.

Individual Sensitivities: Food intolerances or sensitivities can trigger inflammatory responses that manifest as fatigue. Common culprits include gluten, dairy, and certain food additives.

What to Eat Instead: Energy-Boosting Foods

Now that you know which foods drain your energy, here are some excellent alternatives that provide sustained vitality:

Complex Carbohydrates: Whole grains, sweet potatoes, legumes, and quinoa provide steady glucose release without crashes.

Lean Proteins: Chicken, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, and plant-based proteins help stabilize blood sugar and provide sustained energy.

Healthy Fats: Avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil support hormone production and provide long-lasting energy.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: Rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support energy production at the cellular level.

Water and Herbal Teas: Proper hydration is essential for maintaining energy. Herbal teas provide flavor without the crashes associated with sugary drinks.

Creating an Energy-Supporting Eating Pattern

Beyond avoiding specific energy-draining foods, adopting overall healthy eating patterns can help maintain consistent energy throughout the day:

Eat Regular Meals: Aim for three balanced meals with one or two small snacks if needed. This prevents blood sugar from dropping too low.

Include Protein at Every Meal: Protein helps slow carbohydrate absorption and provides amino acids necessary for neurotransmitter production.

Don’t Skip Breakfast: A nutritious morning meal jumpstarts your metabolism and provides energy for the day ahead.

Practice Portion Control: Overly large portions, even of healthy foods, can cause post-meal sluggishness as your body works to digest them.

Plan Ahead: Having healthy snacks and meals prepared reduces the likelihood of reaching for convenient but energy-draining options.

When to Seek Professional Advice

If you’ve eliminated foods that make you tired from your diet and still experience persistent fatigue, it may be time to consult a healthcare provider. Chronic tiredness can indicate underlying health conditions such as:

• Anemia or other nutritional deficiencies
• Thyroid disorders
• Sleep disorders like sleep apnea
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Depression or anxiety
• Diabetes or prediabetes

A healthcare professional can run appropriate tests and provide personalized guidance based on your individual health status and needs.

The Bottom Line

The foods you eat have a profound impact on your energy levels throughout the day. While food is meant to fuel your body, certain items—including refined carbohydrates, sugary foods, excessive alcohol and caffeine, fried fast foods, and very low-calorie options—can actually drain your energy rather than replenish it.

By becoming aware of which foods make you tired and making conscious choices to limit or avoid them, you can experience more stable energy, better mood, improved productivity, and enhanced overall well-being. Remember that moderation is key; occasionally enjoying these foods is unlikely to cause long-term problems, but regular consumption can significantly impact how energized you feel.

Focus instead on whole, nutrient-dense foods that provide your body with the vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients it needs to produce energy efficiently. Combined with adequate sleep, regular physical activity, and proper hydration, a balanced diet forms the foundation for sustained vitality and optimal health.

Start by making small, sustainable changes to your eating habits. Replace one energy-draining food with a healthier alternative each week, and pay attention to how your body responds. Over time, these incremental improvements can lead to dramatically better energy levels and quality of life.

Sources:

• Mayo Clinic – Nutrition and Healthy Eating
• Sleep Foundation – How Food and Drink Affect Sleep
• Harvard School of Public Health – Carbohydrates and Blood Sugar
• National Institutes of Health – Sleep and Health
• American Heart Association – Added Sugars
• National Library of Medicine – Dietary Factors and Fatigue