3 reasons that explain why you crave sugar after a meal

And what to do about it

It’s normal and okay to eat sugary foods after a meal sometimes. Image: iStock

Feeling like something sweet after dinner is a familiar feeling to most of us, but if you end up overeating or bingeing on whatever your choice of dessert is most nights, it might be time to question why, says dietitian and nutritionist Lyndi Cohen.

Ever notice yourself automatically reaching for the tub of ice cream the moment you’ve finished a meal? Before you’ve even had a chance to digest your food or actually assess whether you’re still hungry?

There’s a reason you crave sugar after a meal. In fact, there are a few! But if you understand the factors driving the sweet tooth you experience after each main meal, you’re better able to decide whether something sugary will really hit the spot, or whether you’re simply acting on autopilot.

Here are some of the most common reasons you crave sugar after a meal, and what to do about them.

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You’re not eating enough

It’s important to make sure each of your main meals is balanced and contains a source of complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats. If you’re forever striving to keep your portions small or shave off one of these core components in order to 'save calories' for your sweet treat, you’re beckoning the sugar cravings to come knocking.

Building balanced meals including all of these three major food groups will not only help you to feel satisfied after eating, and therefore less in need of something sugary, but it will also help to stabilise your blood sugar levels, which again reduces your sugar cravings. It’s a two-for-one bargain.

Also, try to crowd in other foods with high nutritional value to your main meals to 'bulk' them up, or make them more satisfying. How can you add more vegetables, a source of fibre, maybe a fun salad dressing containing some extra virgin olive oil or healthy fats to amp up the satiety you feel after eating? This will again help to prevent those sugar cravings, and you’ll start to notice that actually, you’re just fine without inhaling a dessert after every meal. As I always tell my clients, eat more to eat less. 

One more thing - try integrating your binge foods into your daily diet so they no longer feel like tempting forbidden fruits. When you do eat your sweet treat, make sure to serve it alongside some of these food groups too. Can you add a source of protein to your plate - like some Greek yoghurt, along with some Maltesers? Maybe you want to throw in some fruit, for antioxidants and vitamins, or a little healthy fat (yes, this is your permission to add in some peanut butter - you’re welcome!). By building a more balanced plate around your sweet treat, you’re helping your brain avoid feeling deprived while getting in more nutrients. 

It’s habitual

A lot of the time, we actually teach ourselves that we need to have a little something sweet every time we finish a meal. Notice whether you reach for the Tim Tams on autopilot the moment the last forkful of food touches your lips, or whether you take a moment to pause after eating and check in on your hunger levels before cracking open the packet.

If you operate out of habit, chances are you’ve conditioned yourself to need something sweet to make your meal feel 'complete' and allow you to feel satisfied. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, you deserve to enjoy a little delicious moment if you want one!

This only becomes a problem if you find yourself unable to stop loading food into your mouth until you get that sweet item to cap things off, or if you can’t stop at one sugary food, and end up overeating or bingeing on whatever your choice of dessert ends up being.

Lyndi Cohen says it is possible to change your mindset around diets. Image: Supplied

To stop the habitual sweet-seeking before it wraps its arms tightly around you like your clingy 7-year-old niece at Christmas, try to create a bit of space between when you finish your meal, and when you reach for the Biscoff spread. Instead of dipping your tablespoon straight into the jar the moment you swallow your last bite, set a timer on your phone for 20 minutes. During this time, go and wash up your dishes, have a glass of water, and take a lap of the block to get some fresh air. Then, when the timer goes off, ask yourself: do you still want something sweet? Or has the craving disappeared? Reminding yourself all the while that “I can always have more whenever I want” (and meaning it!) can make all the difference. 

If you do want some sugar, allow yourself! (More on this next…) But if you realise you’re actually pretty satisfied and don’t feel like anything else right now, you’ll realise you were only operating out of habit when you reached for the Biscoff. Maybe save it for the next time you truly feel like it instead.

If you do feel like something sweet, allow yourself to indulge - just not all the time. Image: Pexels

There are some lingering diet rules at play

If you’ve got any sneaky rules around sugary foods - things like how much you’re allowed to eat, when or under what circumstances you’re allowed to eat them, or ways you have to compensate or eat differently after you eat them, this is a big red flag. It means you’re much more likely to find yourself overeating these sweet foods after each meal and feeling guilty or ashamed as a result.

If you’re lying in bed at night, agonising over the Krispy Kreme (or two) you ate that day, and wondering how you can 'make up for it' tomorrow, this is another warning sign that it’s time to do an inventory of any diet rules at play in your life.

If you do have lingering diet rules dictating how you eat, chances are that you feel a fair amount of stress around these sweet cravings you experience following a meal. You might even notice you spend a decent portion of your day plotting and planning what your sweet snack after your next meal could be, and then feeling bad about it once you’ve eaten it.

Instead of feeling like you don’t have permission to eat a sweet treat after a meal, I want you to work on including sugary foods regularly in your diet. Remove any rules you might have around added sugars or “unhealthy” foods and normalise these foods as part of a balanced diet. 

In unpacking your diet rules, you’re ensuring that sweets become just as appealing as any other food. They’re neutral, just like chicken breast or broccoli, and the urge to scoff them down after each meal is suddenly far less pressing. This also means, that when it comes to asking yourself whether you’re acting out of habit or you truly want a sweet after dinner, you’re better able to objectively figure out your answer. And, if it turns out that you do want a sugary dessert to cap it all off, you won’t need to feel guilty about it, and you’ll be far less likely to overeat or overdo it on the desserts.

Instead of eating seven Tim Tams in one sitting, you might find you’re miraculously satisfied with one. After all, you know you can have another one tomorrow if you want to. Or, some days you might shock yourself by realising you don’t feel like a Double Chocolate Tim Tam today - because again, endless opportunities are awaiting you very soon. 

I want to bring it home that it’s normal and okay to eat sugary foods after a meal sometimes. I just want you to ask yourself if you truly feel like something sweet after eating, or if you’re purely reaching for the Cadbury block out of habit or to numb some emotional void you might be experiencing. But, if you genuinely do feel like a little something something after a meal, allow yourself to eat and enjoy it! Sugar is part of a balanced diet, and you do deserve to savour something yummy when you want it. 

Lyndi Cohen is a dietitian and best-selling author and is known for calling out nutrition nonsense, challenging diet culture and promoting healthy body image. You can follow her on Instagram here, visit her here, or download her Back to Basics app. 

Originally published as 3 reasons that explain why you crave sugar after a meal