Causes of Increased Thirst After Eating Sugar & Sweets: Can this be Stopped?

From a child to an adult everyone loves to indulge eating sweet food. In fact the word sweet itself can trigger the taste buds to increase salivation in our mouth. People all around the world celebrate a happy event with sweets. Most people know that eating sugar is just adding empty calories around your waist.

But not many people know that eating sweets can make them feel thirstier. May be that is the reason often sweets and desserts are frequently complemented with liquids such as milk or lemonade. The basic reason underlying thirst after eating sweet is the way blood sugar interacts with the composition of cells in the body.

Causes of Increased Thirst After Eating Sugar & Sweets

Many of us feel thirsty after eating a sweet treat. You may not have realized it, till you have read this article. Yes there is a scientific reason for thirst after eating sweets. Sweet food or a dessert contains high amount of sugar. Sugar provides the necessary sweetness.

You feel thirsty because of the way sugar present in food reacts with the composition of cells in the body. Thirst is a natural physiological process and desire to drink fluid or water in limit is normal. You may have increased thirst in summer, after playing sports, physical exercise, etc. The body needs certain amount of fluid for performing various functions. Thirst is generated when your body is in need of fluid, mainly water. If you are feeling thirsty after eating sweets, this means your body is demanding more fluid to keep the balance in cells. Here are some important facts that make you feel thirstier after eating sweets.

  • Once sugar enters into the stomach it is quickly absorbed. It enters the blood stream and flows in the blood. Presence of sugar in blood causes secretion of water from body cells. The body does so to reduce the concentration of sugar. The cells then send chemical signal to brain for their requirement of fluid. Brain reacts to it by triggering the thirst stimulus. This is the reason you become thirsty after eating sweet food or a dessert.
  • The second reason which many researchers postulate is body tries to reduce the overload of sugar in blood. To balance the equation, body discharges signals for increased thirst.
  • Many times sweets are complimented with spices and salty treat. Both these ingredients are known to make you feel thirsty. When the combination of food is eaten, you are sure to feel thirstier.

These few possible factors are known to increase thirst after eating sweet food.

What you must do if you feel thirsty after eating sweet food?

Feeling of increased thirst after eating sweets is body’s way of managing the sugar upload. In some people this is often accompanied with tiredness. Although you may have thirst after eating sugary food, frequent and increased thirst for fluids is also commonly associated with diabetes mellitus. Person may also have frequent urination and feeling of tiredness. This needs to be excluded. The best way to deal with this is to reduce intake of processed sugary food. Instead select foods that are naturally sweet. For example a healthy sweet fruit choice may be good for health and even for your taste buds. It also helps to maintain adequate metabolism and energy. Eat whole grains and cereals as they contain complex sugars instead of plain sugar. Avoid soft drinks if you feel thirsty. You can instead drink water or freshly prepared fruit juice.