How do I find out what is causing Protractor synchronisation to slow down?

I have an application that I am testing, and the e2e tests seem to hang and fail until I used browser.ignoreSynchronization=true. Preferably, I would rather fix the application then use this line. I know it's related to $http and $timeout based on this comment: http://ift.tt/1VlCcEX

  /**
   * If true, Protractor will not attempt to synchronize with the page before
   * performing actions. This can be harmful because Protractor will not wait
   * until $timeouts and $http calls have been processed, which can cause
   * tests to become flaky. This should be used only when necessary, such as
   * when a page continuously polls an API using $timeout.
   *
   * @type {boolean}
   */

Is there a method for pinpointing exactly what is causing this delay in my app?