You wake up already tired. You get through the morning on chai or coffee. Lunch gets skipped, or it’s whatever is left on your toddler’s plate. Then around 3pm it hits: the heavy eyelids, the brain fog, the sudden craving for something sweet.
If you’re tired at 3pm every day, you’re not lazy and you don’t lack discipline. There’s a good chance your blood sugar is behind it.
Why you feel tired at 3pm
Foods that digest quickly, like sweetened tea with a biscuit or white bread, raise blood sugar faster than foods that digest slowly. Researchers at Harvard’s Nutrition Source explain how different carbohydrates affect blood sugar differently.
When you go many hours without eating, or your first “meal” is mostly tea with sugar and a biscuit, your blood sugar tends to rise quickly and then fall just as fast. That drop is often what you feel as:
- Sudden tiredness or “hitting a wall”
- Trouble concentrating
- Irritability
- Strong cravings for sugar or carbs
Many busy women, especially moms, live this cycle every day. Meals get delayed, hunger gets ignored, and tea becomes the thing that “holds us over.” In many South Asian households, meals are also carb-heavy and eaten without much protein, which can make these swings more noticeable.
Why willpower doesn’t fix it
Telling yourself to “just push through” or “have less sugar” misses the point. When your body is on a blood sugar roller coaster, cravings are a signal, not a character flaw. The better question is not “how do I resist?” but “how do I stop the crash from happening?”
The simple fix: pair your chai with protein
You don’t have to give up chai or coffee. Try adding a little protein when you have it:
- A small handful of almonds
- A boiled egg
- Hummus with cucumber or carrots
- Plain yogurt
Protein slows how quickly sugars from your tea and food enter your bloodstream, which can help smooth out the spike-and-crash pattern. Many people notice steadier energy within a few days of trying it.
Eating carbohydrates alongside other foods changes how quickly they affect you. Diabetes Canada has a helpful guide to the glycemic index if you want to learn more.
Try this tomorrow: have your morning chai with a boiled egg or a few almonds instead of on its own. Notice how you feel at 3pm.
This is only one piece
Pairing your tea with protein is one of the 4 simple habits in the GEMS Method, a gentle approach with no calorie counting and no foods to cut out.
This article is for general education and is not medical advice. If you have diabetes or another health condition, check with your healthcare provider before changing your diet.
Written by Mushaal Ijaz, MSc, Certified Holistic Nutritional Consultant, Nutrition Gems.