Eventually, I was able to work on the underlying factors that drove me to push my addictive tendencies onto other things. I haven’t perfectly mastered them all, but it’s getting better, and that’s the most important thing. It’s like that late 90’s film,Fallen, starring Denzel Washington, where he fights a demon that keeps jumping from why do alcoholics crave sugar one body to the next. That thing was replacing copious amounts of alcohol with copious amounts of diet soda . About a year into my sobriety, I struggled to piece together what in the world was happening with me and soda, in particular, diet sodas. Choosing recovery close to home means your support system is just a few miles away.

But to understand this argument more fully, it is first important to understand what these biochemicals do when they are in your body. Theobromine is structurally related to caffeine, but is a much less powerful stimulant than what you get in a cup of coffee. Additionally, due to dilution, theobromine concentrations are very very low in milk chocolate, which is the most popular form of chocolate, and thus, are not physiologically significant. When selecting whole-grain foods, be sure to keep your eye on their ingredients list. Some foods will contain extra sugar that is unnecessary — try to avoid those options. Luckily, various dairy products can replenish these deficiencies, as they are rich in vitamin B2 and vitamin A. Alcohol cravings can present themselves for countless reasons.

How To Handle Sugar Cravings in Addiction Recovery

Which means, newly sober people in early recovery should pay attention to their daily sugar intake. Some people may be concerned about their cravings for sugar and dopamine in early sobriety.

She works to create content that inspires clients and families to advocate for the support they deserve. So does sugar help with alcohol withdrawal, making it easier to get through this process a bad thing? This is called a transfer addiction when you replace one type of addiction with another. Alcohol’s effect is typically worse than that of sugar, though. If you or someone you love is struggling with alcohol addiction, give Find Addiction Rehabs a call today. We can provide you with rehab, detox, and recovery resources that are tailored to your specific needs. You are not alone in this journey — help is always available.

Finding Replacement Rewards

Meanwhile, leptin (the hormone that lets us know we’re satisfied) is lowered. That’s why we reach for high-energy food like sugar when we are tired. Sugar and alcohol also are known to affect serotonin, another one of your body’s feel-good chemicals. This is why sweets and alcohol can help you de-stress and generally improve your mood, at least at first. A replacement addiction is when you quit one addictive behavior but feel like you need to replace it with something else. In this case, your mind and body are tempted to replace alcohol with sugar.

Sugar affects the brain’s neural pathways, and weight gain affects the individual’s self-esteem and poses a risk to an alcohol relapse. As such, individuals in recovery from alcohol should prioritize their nutrition and pay attention to their sugar intake. Addiction specialists and addiction treatment centers are placing more focus on the nutritional component of recovery.

Does One Drink Break Sobriety?

This can become especially apparent when alcohol is removed from the equation. After you quit drinking, your body knows that it can reach a similar state through sugar. In fact, according to the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, sugar affects many of the same neural pathways in the brain as alcohol does. You expected discomfort and intense cravings when you quit alcohol, but not this.

When an individual engages in a behavior that the brain perceives as beneficial to survival , it produces a chemical signal called dopamine. Dopamine is the chemical that causes feelings of pleasure and happiness. The brain uses it as a reward system to reinforce certain behaviors. For example, the brain perceives sex as important for procreation. So it produces high levels of dopamine during and after sex in order to reinforce that it’s a good, useful action. And to encourage the individual to engage in that same behavior again. In comparison, drugs cause the brain to flood with dopamine and trick it into believing that drugs are necessary and important for human survival.