Does Craving Sugar Increase Your Risk of Relapse? (E96)
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Gill discusses sugar cravings. It’s very common to go from having no interest in desserts or sweets at all to all of a sudden be craving them all the time once you stop drinking. There’s split advice on this in the sober community. Some say to just eat the sugar and worry about it later once you’re more comfortable with not drinking, and there are other people who say to avoid sugar entirely. In episode 41 she explained in detail why we crave sugar in sobriety, and in this episode she covers what we can do about it and if we should avoid sugar or not. You’ll learn about some of the latest research on sugar cravings and alcohol use disorder, if sugar consumption really increases relapse risk, and what the science suggests we should do about eating sugar in sobriety.
Sources
L. Yung, E. Gordis, J. Holt. Dietary choices and likelihood of abstinence among alcoholic patients in an outpatient clinic. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 12 (4) (1983), pp. 355-362
Stickel, A, et al. Changes in Nutrition-Related Behaviors in Alcohol-Dependent Patients After Outpatient Detoxification: The Role of Chocolate, Substance Use & Misuse, 2016. 51:5, 545-552
Abrantes, A. Daily associations between alcohol and sweets craving and consumption in early AUD recovery: results from an ecological momentary assessment study. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2022. 132:108614.
von Ranson KM, & Cassin SE (2007). Eating disorders and addiction: Theory and evidence. In Rubin JS (Ed.), Eating disorders and weight loss research (pp. 1–37). Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Goodman A. (2008). Neurobiology of addiction: An integrative review. Biochemical Pharmacology, 75(1), 266–322.
Cite this episode
Tietz, G. Episode 96: Does Craving Sugar Increase Your Risk of Relapse? Sober Powered. 2022.
