No, it doesn’t just happen to you.
Headache, nausea and general discomfort are the most common responses of your body when you drink too much alcohol. But sometimes you may just wake up very, very, very hungry.
It is not your imagination. The hungry after a night of drinking is real and the science behind why it happens is in fact quite simple.
Metabolizing alcohol can upset your blood sugar balance by emptying your glycogen or carbohydrate stores,? explains Dr. Nitin Kumar, gastroenterologist and weight management specialist.
Glycogen is your body’s preferred source of energy.
So, when you run out of all your available glycogen by metabolizing alcohol, you need more. As a result, you start to feel hungry.
Because glycogen comes from carbohydrates, you may have a special craving for foods like bread and sugar. You may also want something more salty as well, due to the dehydrating effects of alcohol.
Dehydration can lead to cravings for salty foods,? says Dr. Kumar.
Add all this up and the craving for a mountain of hotcakes with fried bacon strips doesn’t seem so strange anymore.
You don’t have to take that much to wake up hungry. A study published in the journal Alcohol & Alcoholism found that just three drinks are enough to decrease levels of leptin, the satiety hormone, by 30 percent.
But, in real life, we all deal with alcohol differently. If you’re a slim person, one copy may be enough to make your stomach rumble in the morning.
If your tolerance is higher, you may need more than three drinks to notice the difference in your hunger level the next day.
Whatever the case may be, after an afternoon of drinks, eating extra calories may not be a good idea. So how do you keep post-binge hunger under control?
Obviously, taking less is a good start. The less alcohol you consume, the less hunger induced by low blood sugar.
Drinking water and soft drinks can help – both between drinks and the next morning suggests nutritionist Elizabeth Smith.
It will help you avoid dehydration caused by eating salt.
And try to eat foods with some protein and healthy fats.
? Protein and fat can help balance blood sugar and achieve greater satiety,? adds Smith.