What is the cause of sweet tooth attacks?
People who eat irregularly, skip meals, and sometimes experience stressful situations during the day are more likely to have sweet tooth attacks, that is, a tendency to eat sweets. Carbohydrates provide a large portion of the energy the body expends and are the first nutrient it uses as energy. They turn into glucose (sugar), the end product of the digestion of carbohydrates in the food we eat, and are absorbed from the small intestine and mixed into the blood. Thus, glucose is used by all tissues to meet their energy needs.
Additionally, the brain tissue uses only glucose for energy. For this reason, the body will want to meet the energy it needs, that is, hunger attacks (sweet cravings), by taking carbohydrates, that is, sugar, intensively.
What happens in our body during these attacks?
The reason for these attacks is during the day. These are the fluctuations seen as our blood sugar rises and falls. In this case, if you satisfy this sweet tooth with foods containing white sugar, irregular fluctuations in your blood sugar will occur again in a short time and you will enter into a vicious circle with the desire for sweets.
If you consume a meal containing whole grains and carbohydrates with high fiber content, blood sugar will increase. Your sugar cravings will remain at a balanced level and your desire for sweets will decrease noticeably.
Is there a connection between sweet cravings and psychological state?
Eating behavior is related to both hormones and psychological events. When we look at hormones, cortisol, which is secreted during stress, causes hunger attacks, that is, sweet cravings. In stressful situations, individuals especially turn to carbohydrates, that is, sugary foods, because these foods ensure the secretion of the happiness-giving hormone serotonin.
When we look at it from a psychological perspective, we can also call this situation emotional eating. It is the sudden desire to eat due to stress, sadness, and turning to sweet and sugary foods even though the individual is not hungry. This situation, which we encounter as a sudden desire to eat, temporarily relieves after a while, but gradually causes weight gain, that is, obesity.
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