Any ex-drinkers now crave sugar more than ever? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Lori Bell · 03-02-2009, 04:39 PM

Hopefully this is an okay spot for this thread.

As I've shared before, before I began losing weight, I was drinking pretty heavily. I gave up alcohol for several reasons but the calories more than anything. I have never had a real sweet tooth in the past, (well maybe some as a child), but normally my craving would be for salty/spicy foods. (I would eat sugary stuff...I just didn't crave it.) Well now it seems that the only foods I "crave" are sugar fortified. I was telling a friend of mind (who happens to be in AA and sober for several years) about it last night and she said that when she quit drinking she had out of control sugar cravings. She said that's why they always have pie & coffee after their AA meetings...lol Any ex-drinkers have a newly formed mega sweet tooth?

AnAbsoluteDiva · 03-02-2009, 04:43 PM

OMG, Lori. I can't believe you posted this.

I only drank wine... Merlot and Chardonnay. I drank everyday or pretty close to it. Now that I'm not drinking ANY, I have a headache that won't go away. A thud, dud, dull headache. Hurts my teeth, my eyes.

I gave it up because you can't drink wine on South Beach and because I know I shouldn't be drinking that much.

I don't plan to ever go back to drinking wine. It blows my mind how much sugar is in the stuff and how lethargic it makes me feel.

Some people go through this when they give up caffeine.

But to answer your question, I don't feel the sugar cravings just yet.

wendyland · 03-02-2009, 04:44 PM

I've never drank. Mainly because there are so many alcoholics in my family. But, I read in Potatoes Not Prozac that it's very related. Alcocholics and sugar cravings both run in my family.

Lori Bell · 03-02-2009, 05:02 PM

A-Diva Interesting...I didn't have sugar craving for several months after I quit drinking either, that's why I never thought there was a relationship between the 2... But I did have chronic head and eye pain for the first couple months, I chalked that up to allergies....hummm

MrsWolf · 03-02-2009, 05:14 PM

Hi Lori,

I am a sober alcoholic (going on 13 years next months

) and I wish I had more insight for you. I was quite thin when I quit drinking (although a little bloated!) and lost a significant amount of weight at about 6 months sobriety. I certainly have no memory of developing a sweet tooth when I got sober, but then, that whole first year is quite hazy and blurry.

I don't have a sweet tooth now, though. Of course, I have a severe nut allergy, so baked goods have always been dangerous for me and I never got in the habit of eating them. Maybe that's why.

So, I can't help you at all... don't know why I posted this.

Peace, Heather

JayEll · 03-02-2009, 05:14 PM

I had sugar cravings when I first stopped drinking--after I stopped feeling sick all the time, that is.

Lotta ice cream during that period. However, those cravings did lessen as time went on. These days I have no excuse. It's been way too many years... But I've also heard there's a connection. I don't know that any scientific studies have been done, though.

Jay

Buckeye · 03-02-2009, 05:57 PM

I was never really a big drinker but my husband is an alcoholic (sober almost 2 years!) He also has a bad sweet tooth - mainly chocolate. I remember from a college nutrition class that the body metabolizes alcohol the same as sugar. So, I guess that sugar cravings would make sense...

efova · 03-02-2009, 09:38 PM

my dad quit drinking about 15 years ago and has, every night since, had a big bowl of ice cream. i think there's something to the sweet tooth that goes along with quitting the sauce. i can't speak from personal experience, though. i still indulge in a couple glasses of wine on saturday evenings but i have, for the sake of weight loss, given up the glass or two of wine i would generally have a couple times a week with dinner after work.

Lori Bell · 03-02-2009, 09:53 PM

This is very interesting. I wonder if the drug they sometimes give alcoholics to take away the "buzz" they get from alcohol, (Naltrexone) would work on a sugar addict....lol I'm just tired of daydreaming about cookies!

EZMONEY · 03-02-2009, 10:12 PM

Lori I have an "issue" right now with my Budweisers...no secret around here.

I don't ever crave sweet things really. I have had months where I have had Klondike bars every night for a couple of months or Cherry Garcia for more than a couple of months....but I wouldn't call it a craving...more of a habit.

Haven't had a Klondike bar or Cherry Garcia in years.

Went 18 years without any alcohol....didn't crave sweets...never have.

I like them from time to time....rare though.

I think if I quit drinking I might exchange Klondike bars...but crave?...humm...dunno...for me I guess it would be more "habit"....

sws19 · 03-02-2009, 10:16 PM

Wow. this is verrrrrry interesting. I was a pretty heavy drinker until about mid-December. I still drink, but it's significantly curtailed. And I had noticed the return of the sweet tooth but I chalked it up to my theory about diet.
Here's the thing: I have never had much of a sweet tooth. I've always been a salty/spicy/fried kinda girl. However, I did enjoy the occasional sweets and had a major addiction to frozen yogurt. But this was all when I was dieting all the time. Low fat this. Low fat that.
And then I gave up and started eating whatever I wanted. And any semblance of a sweet tooth I once had pretty much disappeared entirely (save for ice cream, which I have never forsaken).
So I wasn't that surprised to discover in the last month that I am again considering donuts and puddings that I never would've given a second thought to just a few months ago. I just figured that I only crave sweets when I deny myself fats and calories. That was my working theory for years. But now I wonder if alcohol is involved as well. Or smoking. Because these are all things I significantly cut back at the same time I started counting calories.

WarMaiden · 03-02-2009, 11:43 PM

My mom is a recovering alcoholic who struggles with sugar addiction, I am a recovering sugar addict, and I am absolutely convinced there is a connection. Alcoholism is particularly strong in my family, but I may have avoided it only because I went far down the path of sugar addiction instead. There is a study here which relates alcoholism and sugar addiction: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/132530.php

Edited to add: The only way for me to control my sugar addiction is to abstain. The same is true of my mother and her sugar addiction, or of her alcohol addiction.

flatiron · 03-02-2009, 11:57 PM

I am a musician so I see a LOT of alcohol (AND drug abuse) and because of that it kinda turned me away from alcohol but I HAVE noticed that all the heavy drinkers I know also crave sweets.

And also the druggies I know (none are friends and I steer clear of them) especially the coke heads REALLY crave sweets when they are trying to go clean.

I don't know what the connection is but I know there IS one.

blackbutterfly · 03-03-2009, 07:35 AM

OH YEAH! I for one never liked any sweets at all and now I keep a dark chocolate dove bar in my fridge and have to seperate the tiny serving sizes in little bags to keep it under control!

doesnt alcohol turn to sugar? that could be why

Jen415 · 03-03-2009, 08:15 AM

Addictions run in the family....my dad and sister are both alcoholics (sis is recovering, dad is not). My addiction? Sugar.

I'm convinced it's all related.