Why You're Craving Sweet Foods After Meals & What To Do About It
By: Lindsay Hodgson, MSN
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Do you ever find yourself opening the cupboard looking for some cookies or in the freezer for ice cream after clearing the table? You’ve finished your meal and now you find yourself drawn to something sweet to satisfy a craving or a “sweet tooth.” It feels a bit like an impulse you just can’t seem to figure out.
Or maybe you swear you’re not going to have dessert tonight. Then you decide a bite or two is fine, and before you know it you’re done with the box or carton, leaving you feeling guilty that you ate more than you planned.
Perhaps sweets are a “weakness” for you so you rarely keep those foods in the house to prevent you from being tempted to eat them.
Whatever your experience, it is common to feel out of control around sweet foods. For many, these cravings can be amplified after meals. You are not alone in feeling like it is a problem you need to solve or that you lack discipline. Here, we dive into why you may be craving sweets after meals, what you can do about it, and offer some insight into how you may move forward in making peace with craving sweets.
What does diet culture have to do with craving sweets?
Many people, like yourself, feel like they “shouldn’t” crave and/or eat sweets after meals. You might feel guilty or ashamed, and feel like sweets shouldn't have that power over you.
More specifically, craving sweets after meals may be a difficult experience for you because:
You think you “should” be done eating. Your thoughts may sound something like, “I just ate, why do I feel the need for more food?”
You associate sweet foods as “bad” or “unhealthy.” Your thoughts may sound like, “X food is unhealthy so if I want something after dinner I’ll have [insert diet alternative such as fruit/tea/diet-friendly dessert etc].”
Diet culture has unfortunately done an excellent job at making you believe it is wrong to eat sweet foods after meals, or that it should only be done in “moderation.” Walk through a snack aisle at any grocery store or glance at a menu and you’ll see names like “guilt-free cookies” or “sinful chocolate cake.” Go to a dinner party and guests will often say, “I’m going to pass,” or “just a small slice for me, thanks” when asked about dessert.
The messaging you’ve heard from diet culture from an early age emphasizes that sweet foods should be avoided or limited. It’s no wonder you feel this way!
While it can be challenging to slowly challenge the diet culture mindset around sweets, you deserve to enjoy foods you love, including sweet foods, after meals or any time of the day for that matter. Diet culture demonizes foods that bring you pleasure, but you are worthy of having foods you love be a part of your eating pattern. To begin, it can be helpful to explore the possible reasons why you might be craving sweets after meals.
4 reasons why you may be craving sweet foods after meals:
1. You’re restricting the types or amounts of sweet foods you eat.
When you limit sweets, the cravings typically grow stronger. Your body is incredibly smart and a bit rebellious too. Perhaps you’ve experienced a strong food craving when you were on a diet that didn’t allow that particular food. Or maybe you’ve had times where you planned on skipping dessert, but then you couldn’t stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer.
When you’re restricting sweet foods it makes perfect sense that you feel out of control around them because they are “off limits.” Your body can sense deprivation and works to counteract the deprivation to protect the body from scarcity or starvation. This happens in cases of disordered eating and eating disorders too, but also happens with dieting and restricting!
This can happen in the form of “restriction in action,” such as when you don’t allow yourself to have sweet foods in most circumstances or when you're on a diet that does not allow sweet foods. Deprivation can also be felt in the form of “restriction in thought,” such as when you tell yourself you won’t have dessert or think about the foods as “bad” or “unhealthy.”
Consider if any of those experiences resonate with you. Do you restrict sweet foods in thought? Action? Or both? It can feel very scary and counterintuitive to give yourself permission to eat more sweets when you feel out of control around them. But, the irony is that doing so creates a sense of abundance with those foods, so your body knows it won’t lose access to sweets and helps to create more peace in your relationship with food.
Practicing giving yourself permission around sweets also re-frames them as not being “good” or “bad,” but simply a kind of food in your diet. When the thoughts and language about sweets slowly starts to become more neutral, it can help make food decisions take up less headspace and stress.
2. You’re not eating enough carbs, either at the meal itself or throughout the day.
Limiting carbohydrates can play a role in sweet cravings. Sweet foods are a type of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates (found in sweet foods as well as grains, breads, pastas, fruits, starchy vegetables, and more) are a type of nutrient your body needs on a daily basis. When your body breaks down carbohydrates by digesting the food you eat, the cells can use the carbohydrate units (called glucose) for energy.
As a matter of fact, your body and brain prefer to use carbohydrates (versus proteins and fats) for energy. They are so important that our bodies store glucose in our muscles and liver for that very reason. When you are not eating enough carbohydrates, your body will likely have cravings for foods that contain carbohydrates to counteract its sense of deficiency and ensure your body has enough energy to function. Similar to a response in the context of restriction, it is a way your body protects itself from scarcity.
Today, many diets and lifestyles limit carbohydrates for the sake of “wellness” and weight loss. What may seem like an acceptable enough amount of carbohydrates may not truly be enough for your body to feel it has the nutrients and therefore enough energy that it needs.
So get curious: Do you allow yourself to have grain-based carbohydrates at meals? Do you allow yourself to have enough? Reflecting on your thoughts and behaviors around carbohydrate-containing foods may provide more insight into your sweet cravings.
3. You’re not eating satisfying meals, either at the meal itself or throughout the day.
Satisfaction can also be related to cravings. If the foods you ate throughout the day or at a meal left something to be desired, it makes perfect sense that you will turn to other foods that may satisfy you. For example, would you be more likely to crave dessert after eating a salad or a hamburger? Most people would say they’d have a stronger craving after the salad with the rationale that the salad is less satisfying.
While people may have different definitions of a satisfying meal, some things to consider are density of the food, variety, portions, flavors, and textures.. Often when people are dieting or have a lot of food rules, they end up eating less food and a lot of the same foods. This can lead to feeling unsatisfied, wanting something sweet to fill that desire for something more to feel satisfaction.
If you’re finding yourself craving sweets after meals, consider if there are foods, food groups, or flavors you wish you could be eating. Slowly experimenting with prioritizing satisfaction at meals may have an effect on your cravings and make you feel a bit less chaotic around sweets.
4. You’re not eating enough food, either at the meal itself or throughout the day.
A sense of enough (food) is often closely intertwined with craving sweet foods. If your body is deprived of food in general your body will gravitate towards sweets, especially since they are an efficient source of energy for your body. Since we live in a culture that promotes eating less, you may not actually be eating enough, as your senses of “normal” or “enough” are typically through a diet culture lens. It can be useful to ask yourself if you’ve been skipping meals, limiting your portions, or eating foods low in calories to understand and gauge if you're eating enough.
The take home message here is that there is nothing wrong with craving sweet foods after meals. It’s normal to crave and enjoy dessert, even if you’re full after eating a satisfying meal. You don’t require any justification, and eating foods you love is important for your well-being.
However, when you feel out of control with your cravings, the experience can be challenging and bring up shame. The goal is never to limit or reduce cravings, but rather to gain insight on what your cravings may be communicating. Practicing a little bit of curiosity and inquiry with sweet cravings can be beneficial to pinpoint the diet mentality and help you move forward in making peace with food.
And if you’re tired of doing this alone, reach out to a nutrition therapist today to help you to navigate your relationship with sweets!
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Do you relate to craving sweets after meals?
Cravings can feel challenging, especially given the culture we live in that elevates having “control” over your eating. At the same time, you’re not alone, and support can be beneficial in providing insight into your cravings to create more peace with food. At Bravespace Nutrition our Seattle-based anti-diet Dietitians and nutrition therapists work virtually helping people who are struggling with food and body image. It’s possible to change your relationship with food and your body, free up headspace, and live your life with more presence, abundance and peace. Learn more about Bravespace Nutrition, our philosophy, and the services we offer.