Sugar Cravings After You Stop Drinking

It's 9pm, the time you'd usually open a bottle. You haven't. Instead you're standing at the kitchen counter eating biscuits straight from the packet, wondering when you turned into someone who needs dessert every night.

You're not the only one. Here is why sugar cravings show up when you stop drinking, and how to keep them from turning into the new habit.

You're not imagining it

A German study asked 222 people who had just been through alcohol detox about their habits before and after. Nearly four in five said they were having more coffee, cigarettes, chocolate or sweets than before. The rise in chocolate and other sweets was large enough to be statistically significant.

A later study followed 150 people for six months after they stopped drinking. Craving for chocolate and eating it both went up, and the biggest rise came in the first month. Craving for other sweets went up too.

Both studies were in people treated for alcohol dependence. There is very little research on people who decide on their own to drink less, so we can't say how common this is for everyone. If it's happening to you, though, it has been seen before.

Your brain is looking for its reward

Sugar seems to act on the same dopamine reward system in the brain that alcohol does. Researchers have also found a long-standing link between liking very sweet tastes and drinking heavily, in both animals and people. Rats bred to prefer alcohol, for example, also drink sweet solutions far beyond their normal fluid needs.

So when the drinks stop, it makes sense that your brain goes looking for something similar. A bar of chocolate is easy to find and gives a quick hit.

The evening slot is still there

NIAAA describes how urges to drink are often set off by external triggers, such as people, places and times of day. When you stop drinking, the trigger doesn't go anywhere. You still get home from work and sit on the sofa at 8pm, the time you used to pour a glass. Your hands and your mouth want something, and sweets fill the gap.

Some drinks were sweet in their own right too, like cocktails, alcopops and sweet wines. If your evening drink came with sugar, part of the craving may be for the taste itself.

What about blood sugar?

You may have read that alcohol crashes your blood sugar and that's why you crave sweets. The evidence for that is weaker than it sounds. A review of the research found little sign that alcohol causes low blood sugar in people who are eating normally. It is mainly a risk for people who drink heavily while eating very little.

Tiredness may matter more. NIAAA notes that sleep after drinking is broken up, and sleep can take a while to settle after you stop, as our article on sleep after you stop explains. In a brain-scan study, sleep-deprived people showed more desire for high-calorie foods. A short night makes the biscuit tin harder to resist.

If you have diabetes, tell your doctor you're changing how you drink. NIAAA notes that alcohol affects blood sugar control in people with diabetes, so your usual routine may need adjusting.

Why some sugar early on is fine

In the six-month study above, people who stayed sober for the first month ate three times as much chocolate as those who went back to drinking. The researchers suggested that, for some people, more chocolate might help protect against drinking again, at least for a while. An older review also noted that sweets may reduce alcohol intake in some heavy drinkers.

There is a calorie argument too. A bottle of wine holds about five standard glasses, roughly 625 calories by NIAAA's figures. If a few squares of chocolate get you through the hour when you'd have opened that bottle, the trade is in your favour. Staying off alcohol is the priority in the first weeks, and you can tidy up the rest later.

If you drink heavily every day, stopping suddenly can be dangerous. Talk to a doctor first.

How to keep it from becoming the new habit

• Ride out the craving. NIAAA's advice for an urge to drink is to accept it as normal and temporary and let it crest and pass like a wave. The same approach can work on a sugar craving. How to ride out an alcohol craving walks through it.
• Plan the treat. Decide on one thing you'll have after dinner and enjoy it, so the evening has a set end point instead of a packet that keeps going.
• Don't keep large bags of sweets in the house. NIAAA suggests keeping little or no alcohol at home, and the same idea applies to sweets.
• Eat proper meals, especially if you were drinking heavily and eating little before.
• Give the evening slot a new job. NIAAA's ideas for distracting yourself from an urge include a walk or a phone call, and an alcohol-free drink you look forward to can help too.
• Tighten up after the first month. Once your evenings feel normal again, start cutting back. The NHS advises adults to have no more than 30g of free sugars a day, about seven sugar cubes.

Notice that last one is a later step. Trying to give up alcohol and sugar in the same week is a lot to ask of yourself. If the cravings come with low mood or feel out of control, talk to a GP.