Do you remember those binge drinking sessions you had when you could not stop eating the next day? And not only could you not stop eating but you craved fatty foods and just kep’t on eating the entire day? Well you are not alone.

A joint study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)* found that those who drink more alcohol tend to eat less fruit and vegetables, make poorer food choices in general, and consume more calories from a combination of alcoholic drinks and unhealthy foods. By itself, Alcohol is laden with calories. A small glass of white wine will set you back about 90 calories; a regular beer about 150 calories and a small marguerita a whopping 450 calories and that does not include the nachos.

So why do we crave food after a binge drinking session?

1. People who drink more alcohol, tend to eat less omega-3 fatty acids, which are fats that are critical for our brains to work properly. These fats are found in fish like salmon and tuna. What’s worse is that alcohol actively depletes these omega-3s from your brain. Insufficient omega-3s can also link directly to a cycle of addiction. When you combine too few omega-3s, with too many omega-6 fatty acids, (the everyday fats you find in a typical American diet), it causes an imbalance which increases the craving for alcohol and food, and an inability to feel satiated.

2. Alcohol is also high in carbohydrates which are turned into sugar in your body. That sugar goes into your bloodstream and increases your blood sugar level. Your body then automatically responds by producing more insulin to lower your blood sugar level. This is also why you can feel shaky, dizzy or tired. To overcome this feeling of lethargy and tiredness from the low blood sugar level, your body sends out hunger signals that tell you to eat more so your blood sugar can get back to normal levels.

3. Alcohol is a diuretic which means it encourages the body to lose more water than it takes on by halting the production of the body’s anti-diuretic hormone. This makes you urinate excessively, speeding up the loss of fluid from the body which in turn causes dehydration. Dehydration causes bodily stress, resulting in a reduced metabolic rate but in addition to this, it is easy to confuse the feeling of dehydration with hunger, meaning you eat more..

So in conclusion, it is no surprise that if you stop drinking, you are more likely to lose weight. You will not be consuming the calories from alcohol in the first place, you will not have the same hunger pangs, the same urge to eat fatty foods, or the dehydration! And that follows that you will feel healthier overall.

* A joint study by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) led by Dr Breslow, National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) , published April 2005 in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association,