Even if you indulge and give your body sugar to level out, it won’t solve the issue long term. Your blood sugar will drop again, landing you right back where you started. Steps to Recovery and Silver Pines have provided addiction recovery programs in Pennsylvania for over a decade with detox, residential, outpatient, and sober living services. Last year, we expanded our services to include robust mental health services, new locations, and specialized services for our nation’s veterans with more to come this year! Alcoholism is a complex condition that involves physical dependence on alcohol as well as psychological factors. People with this disease may experience withdrawal symptoms when they try to stop drinking, which can make it difficult to quit without professional help.

• She notes that it can help to avoid your triggers as much as possible in early recovery, since triggers are often most intense when you first stop drinking.
• Therefore, abstaining from sweets can help an alcoholic avoid any health complications related to high blood sugar levels.
• Alcoholics should focus on eating healthy, nutrient-dense foods instead of sugary snacks.
• Your unique neurobiology will influence whether you experience intense cravings or not, says Weiss.
• Drinking alcohol depletes the body’s stored glucose, leading to low blood sugar.
• Similar to alcoholism, those with a sugar addiction can experience similar withdrawal-like symptoms when sugar consumption is suddenly stopped.

So, in the context of alcohol addiction, recovering alcoholics tend to subconsciously turn to “rewarding” substances like sugar. As withdrawal symptoms from alcohol abstinence come into effect, the brain seeks euphoria elsewhere. In some ways, this may seem like a coping mechanism, but in many regards, it can simply be an addiction transfer. In addition, alcohol addiction comes with an array of underlying psychological effects and foundations. These tend to not be the main reason why recovering alcoholics crave sugar, as we’ll see next, but they are crucial in this discussion.

Finding Replacement Rewards

Combining medication with therapy and other interventions can prove even more helpful than medication alone. Coping tips can absolutely offer short-term solutions when you’re trying to cut back on alcohol. That said, permanently why do alcoholics crave sugar changing your relationship with alcohol may require a more in-depth approach. Checking in with another person in your life who’s trying to stop drinking can certainly help you ride out a craving with someone who understands.

• This is partially because alcohol can damage the pancreas, which controls blood sugar levels, and partially due to poor diet and malnutrition.
• Consuming too many sweet foods can contribute to weight gain, which can aggravate the symptoms of alcoholism.
• At the end of the day, just remember you don’t have to run the course alone — connecting with a therapist or joining a recovery program can make all the difference.

This means that most people who stop drinking haven’t gotten their full nutritional value for an extended period. Many people in recovery report having a craving for sweets during their first phase, and often, over the course of their lives. Could it be true that sweets can actually curb the craving for alcohol? Within moderation, and within reason, it seems the intake of sugar and high-carbohydrate sugar foods such as fruits, can help to curb cravings. Moreover, excessive alcohol intake can damage the liver’s ability to regulate blood glucose levels by reducing insulin sensitivity.

Why Do Alcoholics Crave Sugar? The Science Behind the Cravings

However, shortly after, that first drink begins to metabolize through our body, and blood sugar then drops. This happens with regular alcohol intake in both the short term and the long term4. Did you know that it’s common for people who have struggled with alcohol addiction to have low blood sugar?

To compensate, recovering alcoholics crave sugar to increase their glucose levels. Also, alcohol abuse can disrupt the hormones involved in regulating appetite, leading to cravings for sugary foods. Eating certain foods high in nutrients may help improve mood while foods low in nutritional value and high in sugar may be a hinderance to one’s mood. Eating a whole foods plant based diet can help stabilize blood sugar levels, resulting in a reduction of sugar cravings as well as alcohol cravings. Maintaining a healthy nutritional lifestyle is a form of self-care and is indicative of caring about your wellbeing, in which case you will be more inclined to care about your sobriety. Alcoholism is a serious condition with many possible causes and effects.

Managing Sugar Cravings After Opioid Use

Alcoholism is caused by a variety of factors, including genetics, psychological issues, environmental factors, and social pressures. Some people are more likely to develop alcoholism than others due to their genetic makeup, and environmental and social factors can also play a role in its development. In other words, what works for a friend won’t always work for you.

While sugar cravings might make you feel good initially, read on to learn why they aren’t always good for recovering alcoholics. Alcoholism affects many different parts of the body, and one of the most common symptoms is a craving for sugar. This is because alcohol disrupts the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, leading the body to believe it needs more sugar to function properly. As a result, recovering alcoholics may experience intense cravings for sugary foods and drinks. As you can see, the unique connection between alcohol and sugar cannot be underestimated. It is deeply rooted in both substances, and largely explains just why recovering alcoholics crave sugar.

Is there a potential danger in substituting alcohol with sugar addiction?

For example, heavy alcohol use can affect the liver, heart, brain, and pancreas in a variety of consequential ways. Alcohol use also compromises the immune system and can be a contributing factor of various types of cancer. Poor nutrition in recovery can serve to exacerbate pre-existing health concerns. Many alcoholic beverages and drinks contain moderate to high amounts of carbohydrates, which consist of simple sugars (ie sucrose and fructose) and complex carbohydrates. As such, high-sugar foods and alcohol consumption have a similar effect on blood sugar.

These children were also more likely to have a family history of depression, which is an additional risk factor for alcohol abuse. These findings do not mean that everyone with a taste for sweets is destined to develop depression or alcohol problems. It does, however, suggest a connection that may be important for those trying to stay sober. It’s not uncommon for individuals who once struggled with alcohol to turn to food in recovery, especially sugary foods.