Carbohydrates and Alcohol

[nostalgiaqueen]

Hello,

I'm on day 9 without alcohol, and I'm craving sweet carbs like mad. Is this psychological? Or have other people experienced this, as well? I'm wondering if my body wants to substitute one carb for another.

On a side note, I've gained no weight even though I should have - I guess there were quite a few calories in the alcohol, as well!

Queen

[dsc2]

I'm craving sweet carbs like mad. Is this psychological? Or have other people experienced this, as well? I'm wondering if my body wants to substitute one carb for another.

This is as common as dirt.

A lot of people report the same thing.

Your body probably wants to substitute one carb for the other, yes. As such, it's probably more physiological vs psychological.

Indulge in some sweets (within reason) if it will enable you to stay quit..

[bigsister987]

Welcome to the site nostalgiaqueen. Well done on 9 days.


This might be interesting...



How Your Body Uses Alcohol
A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition measured the effect of alcohol on fat metabolism. The study showed that even several hours after consuming two alcoholic, sugar-free drinks in one hours, participants body lipid oxidation levels (which measure how much fat the body is burning) dropped by an astonishing 73%.

It seems that alcohol, instead of being stored as fat, is turned into acetate; body levels of acetate after drinking can double or even triple. Acetate is what causes the body to stop burning fat. Essentially alcohol consumption stops all fat burning and makes the body deal solely with processing the acetate, which replaces fat as a fuel for the body.

Carbohydrates in the Body
The body responds to carbohydrates in a similar way. Carbohydrates are converted into fat, unless the body has too many carbohydrates. An excess of carbohydrates causes the body to do the same thing as it does with alcohol: it puts the rest of the fat burning process on hold to deal solely with the excess carbohydrates.

So I guess your body might be craving a replacement fuel in the form of carbohydrates. It might be psychological too though. Where you might have rewarded yourself with a drink (or 5!) you feel you need another reward in the form of what your weakness happens to be (chocolate, cake etc). There are over 1000 calories in a bottle of wine, but best not to substitute with 1000 calories of sweets!:eek: