VictoriaC

I saw this clip on my local news website and thought I would share. It sure explains why my entire family are all chocoholics.

Having a sweet tooth could mean you're at greater risk of becoming an alcoholic.

Researchers studied 163 social drinkers. One group had a family history of alcoholism and the other did not. The research subjects rated several liquids for sweetness.

The study found that people with alcoholic relatives were 2.5 times more likely to prefer sweets than those who had no family history of the disease.

Previous animal research has shown a link between the consumption of sweet fluids and alcohol intake.

kitkat

Hmmm...interesting, but I am a total sweet tooth and no one in my family is an alcoholic and I have absolutely no desire to drink...I'm taking a statistics class right now, so I kind of question the sample they took and how much research really went into the study. But that's just my newly educated brain talking :-).

Thanks for posting!!! You gave me something to think about!

Cecilia

Are you sure they wernt talking about the Codies. If youre under stress you crave comfort foods and carbohydrates and sweets.

According to my doctor your body produces a hormone called cortisol that makes you crave these things and store weight around your middle. 60 pounds in my case.

Oh great. So now not only am I stressed but Im fat too. Thatll help my stress. If Im gonna be under all this stress I should at least get to be skinny. LOL.

mamaweasel

Susan Powter (a recovering A) wrote a whole book about this subject. There are studies regarding it, also. Beer and other alcoholic drinks are nearly purely sugar, which itself can play havoc with one's blood sugar, insulin, brain chemistry. It has been strongly suggested that sugar problems and alcoholism are linked (not in everybody, of course, but in those with these problems) and that having uncontrolled blood sugar problems, along with sugar cravings and eating too much of it makes quitting drinking all the more difficult and that going on a lower carb diet and correcting blood sugar problems makes it easier to quit. It seems that alcohol causes sugar cravings and sugar cravings cause alcohol cravings and so on in a vicious circle. I think AA makes a seriously grave error by serving all those doughnuts.

constant

I have noticed that my alcoholic in-laws really pack away the sweets when they are "not drinking" for any period of time. Like for lint or lent..I don't know how to spell...they quit drinking, but they PIG on sweets.

My hubby will also "fill-up" on sweets when his isn't drinking and my Dad will eat cookies for breakfast when he stays here. He usually drinks his breakfast, but sweets do seem to be his sutstitute too!!

I think there is some relationship...not sure what because I LOVE sweets and I am not an alcoholic....very CODIE thought!! Of course I only ALLOW myself REAL sweets on special occasions!!

Constant

VictoriaC

It's funny because since my husband hasn't been drinking, he has been eating Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough by the pints. He goes through about three pints a week and is always bugging me to get more "sweets" when I go food shopping. I try to keep this stuff out of the house because if it is there I'll eat it. Now instead of making beer runs, he makes ice cream runs. Which is totally fine with me - there's no rage involved in an ice cream binge!