Why Do I Always Crave Sweets After A Meal? Is It Good Or Bad

Craving for sugar and sweets after eating a full meal is not uncommon. Almost everyone loves eating the last course of meal, which is the dessert. It is very hard to eliminate sweet following a meal. While some people have occasional craving, some persons regularly crave something sweet to eat even after a full dinner.

For them even a piece of chocolate or a peppermint may be enough. Dieticians suspect several contributory factors that may lead to such unhealthy indulgence. According to some researchers, after a meal, the main function of the body is to digest food. In doing so, it has to utilize lot of energy. Since plenty of energy is lost in digestion, the body needs to increase its energy soruce which its gets instantly from sugar. Besides biological need, often psychological causes and lifestyle factors can also cause sweet craving after a full meal. Fighting craving for sweets is not tough task, but before that we must understand the reasons for such craving.

Causes for Craving of Sweets After a Delicious and Filling Meal

Several reasons are known to cause post meal sugar craving. There are three main reasons known to cause the craving. The reason can be physiological, lifestyle related and psychological.

• Often low serotonin level is found to be the cause for post meal sugar craving. Serotonin is a chemical in brain which is linked with mood. It is considered to be a mood elevating brain chemical. You feel sad and depressed when your serotonin is low. Sugar helps the body to absorb tryptophan, which in helps to produce serotonin. Thus eating sugar prompts to release serotonin, which improves mood. Sweet craving is more if you are depressed or sad. Its body’s way to elevate your mood.
• Secondly if you are eating a diet high in simple carbohydrate the possibility of sweet craving increases even you have eaten a full meal. An unbalanced diet rich in carbohydrate can cause rise in blood sugar level remarkably within a short span of time. But at the same time blood sugar tends to drops soon. So the body needs this ‘high’ again. This results in craving for sweets after eating a meal.
• At times some people have habit of eating sweets after a meal. If you stop this for few days, you will feel craving for sweets. This is because you will not feel you have completed your meal unless after eating a sweet treat.

Ways to Resist the Temptation of Eating Sweet After Meal

There are several ways in which you can avoid sugar craving.

• Avoid eating only a carbohydrate containing meal. Include all other macronutrients such as protein and fats in your diet. Also eat more of complex carbohydrates that keep you full for longer duration between two meals.
• Check labels on packaged food items as often nowadays sugar is added in many foods products that you may actually not know.
• Take a good night sleep as many times a disturbed sleep may make you tired during the day. This may trigger you to eat sugar for boosting your mood.
• Brush your teeth after meals. It helps to curb sweet craving that occurs after eating a meal.
• Even if you want to eat, consume fresh fruits or dried fruits as beside sweetness, they provide additional nutritional value.
• Increase your serotonin level by regularly exercising. This will reduce high craving for sweets and sugar as exercise helps in secretion of feel good hormone called serotonin.