Ketogenic diet and cravings
 

Hi all!

I'd like to know if anyone has changed their diet to a ketogenic diet and did help with cravings?

Thanks for your input in advance

dawmrichy

I have in the past and yes it helps for me.

This is just my experience but sugar for me is a drug. It causes a full on dopamine rush, just like alcohol. I often hear people say "folks crave sugar when they aren't drinking because they are replacing the sugar they are no longer getting from alcohol". That didn't work for me. The alcohol I drank (vodka) has NO sugar NO carbs. Soooo I really believe I crave sugar for the same reason I crave alcohol. Dopamine. Soooo eat sugar, keep the dopamine receptors reacting to a drug, at some point this is more likely to end up with me using alcohol to get the rush. Its just another drug. So remove the drug that hijacks the dopamine receptors (sugar and alcohol) and guess what? Dopamine response will normalize (usually) over time and I won't crave either.

Problem for me with Keto is its hard to do with a plant based diet. Its possible, but hard. I do find eating more healthy fat (not my weight in bacon or Gouda cheese) does help with sugar cravings.

She says all this after polishing off the last chocolate cupcake her ex-husband made. Ok. Work in progress. Haha.

Wait.

Gouda = good.

That's all I've got.




Well, except yeah - I have a problem with sugar. I'm not willing to give it up completely or go keto, though. I don't look at it as the Evil Empire, just a little problem I have to keep an eye on. For me, moderate carb works well. On 1900 calories, that's about 150g carbs (or under) daily.

I stopped drinking in May and started a modified keto in August and a strict(er) September. I did notice my cravings decrease, but it may have been a combination of Wellbutrin, time away, and the cognitive cravings management tools I learned in outpatient rehab.

Remember you get 20-50gms of carbs per day. A banana is about 20 grams. The lower, the better your ketosis.
That's no CARBS, not just no SUGAR, including any sweets (including things like ketchup), rice, bread, pasta, beans, root veggies, fruit, flour thickened sauces... You should lose a ton of weight on keto if you watch your macro ratios, keep in ketosis and keep your overall calorie consumption at a deficit. You cannot cheat very much on it if at all. A full carb meal will kick you out of ketosis for up to 3-4 days.

If you're are working out like a demon, including weight training, you can up your protein/lower fat ratio and do a small carb hit immediately before a workout and some protein powder after.

I found my energy was more level during the day, without the afternoon carb crash.

keto diet
 

I've been on the keto diet for over a year. I'm trying to convince my ASO to try the diet But we all know it's not my decision. He is just starting his recovery. Soooo I'm doing some research. Thank you for all of your input. I find it interesting what works for people. I don't think eating copious amounts of sugar is the answer. But that's just me.

Dawmrichy

Dawmrichy when I first quit drinking I ate really high carb for the first six months. Lots of sugar, ice cream, candy, etc. To me, it helped a lot with cravings.

I feel like that was a normal transition for me. I knew to cut back as soon as I could, but I had been tracking food and macros for many years before I quit drinking. The carb preference died a natural death for me.

I'd say let your friend find his own way - what works for one may not work for others. It's his journey and he has to decide.