Your sugar craving could stem from your need for energy, says the Cleveland Clinic. Your body learns that the taste of something sweet also gives plenty of fuel when you need it. When you’re hungry, you reach for this fast fuel rather than wait for something more healthy. “Mentally, people could feel like it provides an energy boost and therefore crave sugar,” Feit said. “This however is not a long-term fix and just starts a never-ending cycle of sugar consumption.”
Chronic stress also triggers your sugar cravings. While a short-term stressful event will pause your appetite, your body will also release cortisol, which will boost your appetite (per Harvard Medical School). Your body also signals the hunger hormone ghrelin to get you to eat. Feit said the sugar from your food will also raise your blood sugar. “Then there is a blood sugar crash that causes hunger, weakness, and more cravings which are both a physical and mental cause, as the cycle starts again.”
Feit added that sugar also causes a release of those feel-good neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. If your body has low serotonin levels, you might turn to sugar to boost it. “These hormones are the same hormones triggered when cocaine enters the bloodstream,” she said. “It has been shown to be very addictive, even more so than cocaine.”
