Dry January can lead to a sweet tooth since both booze andsugar stimulate the chemical dopamine.- Abstainers may also have low blood sugar and reach for sugar in place of their former crutch.
Scott Pinyard was never a dessert guy — until he quit drinking about six years ago. Then, suddenly, the dad and then-engineer began craving Swedish fish. So much so that for at least a month, he kept the candies in his desk and car.
"When the craving hit, I just allowed it," $4, now the head coach of $4, said during a video for participants of his organization's "
Sugar cravings like Pinyard's are common when going alcohol free. But the urge typically fades, and there are strategies to handle it in the meantime.
Sugar and alcohol both stimulate dopamine
If you're used to guzzling higher-sugar wines or mixed drinks, your body is missing both alcohol and sugar. (I'm crushed but not surprised to learn my favorite canned cocktail, $4, has a whopping 32 grams of sugar.)
But even if your drink of choice is straight liquor or beer, both of which are $4, loosing booze can mean gaining a sweet tooth since $4, a chemical associated with reward.
"When you take away something like alcohol, which is over-producing dopamine, it is so easy you for your brain to say, 'Oh my gosh, I need that. I need my fix,'" This Naked Mind founder $4 said in the video. "And it looks for what it has in its environment, which is so often sugar."
Heavy drinkers also tend to have low blood sugar, which leads to sugar cravings, according to $4, an addiction research center in Ohio.
Reaching for cookies and ice cream may also feel comforting in the absence of your old crutch, $4, a psychologist at the University of New Mexico's Center on Alcohol, Substance Use, and Addictions, $4.
"Any time people change a behavior, our natural gut reaction — literally — is to experience more hunger," she said. "There's the boredom factor and the reward factor," Witkiewitz added, "And
Fortunately, she said, the intensity of the cravings shouldn't last. "The body is really miraculous in coming into a homeostatic state," she said. "Eventually, people feel more cravings for healthier foods and have more energy."
How to cope
Pinyard didn't try to fight his Swedish fish craving. It worked: He stayed dry, the desire faded, and he's since found healthier ways to get his dopamine fix.
Grace says Pinyard's approach can work if you practice self-compassion rather than blaming and shaming yourself for each M&M.
Tell yourself: "I'm going to let my body do what it needs to do by fixing that dopamine depletion in another way — a way that's not going to have me missing my memories or driving my car off the road," she said.
If you want a practical approach, dietitian $4 suggests keeping fruit on hand and seeking natural highs through activities like exercise. Eating protein-rich snacks and meals throughout the day can also keep you full and satisfied, Pinyard said, helping to avoid the sort of sugar crash that leads you to reach for more.
When a hankering strikes, $4, the organization credited with launching the $4 in 2013, also recommends:
- brushing your teeth
- mixing up your routine to fight boredom-induced bingeing
- sipping a nonalcoholic beverage, such as peppermint tea.
A final note: If you find you're swapping sugar in for booze to numb hard feelings, reach out for help to face the underlying driver of both. "There are $4," Witkiewitz said of alcohol use disorder. "Just because you can't do it on your own doesn't mean you can't ever do it."