A Sugar Hangover

Ever heard of sugar headaches? Neither had I until today.

Now I’m the first to admit I’ve got a sweet tooth. I look forward to desserts, enjoy chocolate and will pass on pretzels in favour of ice cream every time. When people ask “Do you want a starter or dessert?” I know I’ll skip the starter. It works for me. Everything in moderation.

Last night I was conscious of eating biscuits - Bourbons, my favourite - whilst watching TV. It’s not the first time I’ve eaten biscuits and not the first time sitting in front of the TV eating them either 😉 This time something was different. I noticed it. I was aware. I’m not sure why it happened last night. Maybe it was the amount, the way they were making me feel or that the packet was empty before I knew it? I could go all psychoanalytical - boredom, procrastination, comfort…it’s enough to know it happened and I noticed it.

This morning I struggled to get up. I had a headache, felt lethargic, thirsty and that I hadn’t slept well. It reminded me of the rare hangovers I used to get years ago, before I stopped drinking. (No real reason—I just don’t like the taste.) Since I hadn’t touched alcohol and had eaten a heap of biscuits, I called it a sugar hangover. It made sense. Sugar is sugar—whether we call it alcohol or a chocolate bar—and the body processes it the same way. ! I thought I’d coined the phrase. A quick search on the internet showed me I hadn’t 😞.

Sugar and the Body

Like stress, sugar often gets a bad press, yet it’s both essential and potentially harmful. As a vital part of your body chemistry, sugar, in the form of glucose, is your brain’s primary fuel and a key energy source for every cell in your body. It directly affects your brain, nervous system, and overall physical function, influencing mood, energy, digestion, weight, pain levels, hydration, immune response and even your sex life. Too much sugar can lead to hormonal imbalances, reduced libido, and difficulties with arousal or sexual performance.

The key, as with most things in life, is balance. Too much or too little can trigger a range of symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, irritability, dizziness, confusion, blurred vision, shaking, sweating, and hunger. Over time, excessive sugar intake has also been linked to more serious issues like anxiety, insomnia, inflammation, heart disease, cancer, and even dementia. Thank goodness mine only showed up as a couple of those less severe symptoms!

Before you decide never to touch chocolate or cream cakes again, it helps to know your body acts quickly and normally does a brilliant job in keeping your blood sugar stable. When you eat a well balanced meal with complex sugars, like wholewheat pasta or brown rice, along with protein and fats that also slow sugar absorption, your energy release is steady without a sudden rush, buzz or crash.

When you have a biscuit binge like mine, it is a different story. Your glucose levels spike, inflammation rises - including in your brain, and your body scrambles to restore balance, pumping out insulin and other hormones. That sudden sugar surge, and especially if you started off with low blood sugar, gives you a temporary high, followed by a crash that might look like fatigue, thirst, low mood, or a nagging headache.

The story doesn’t stop there. A sugar spike takes a while to regulate. Often your blood sugar dips lower than where it started, and that’s when the sugar hangover hits. In my case, this morning 😳. A peak, then a trough - and the trough was low this morning. Like a rollercoaster with more downs than ups. I usually love rollercoasters. Not this one though.

There’s also sleep. A high sugar intake, especially in the evening, can mess with your natural sleep cycles. You might fall asleep easily then wake up in the night, or rise in the morning feeling groggy and unrested. Your body is still working overtime while you’re trying to rest. This is exactly what happened to me.

When you know what you don’t know, things makes sense. My sugar hangover explained my fatigue and headache and why my daily cold shower (yes I am that person) felt so brutal today. My body felt inflamed and warmer than usual to touch. Yet after the initial shock, the cold water soothed me just like dipping your feet in the sea after walking barefoot on hot sand.

Many of us are so busy, so disconnected from our bodies, we don’t notice subtle changes like this. The reality is sugar does affect us. Over time, especially if it’s a regular part of our coping or comfort mechanisms, those effects can add up and become life-changing.

Prevention is Better than Cure for a Sugar Hangover

I’m not saying you need to cut out sugar completely. That’s not realistic for most of us and personally, it’s not something I want to do. There is a middle ground—a way to enjoy sweet things without the crash. You can have your cake and eat it!

Next time you grab a biscuit, unwrap a bar of chocolate or go for dessert, throw in a handful of nuts or a slice of cheese, and chase it with a glass of water. This won’t stop you putting on weight though it will slow the sugar rush and may help you avoid a sugar hangover the next morning. By the way, the same goes for alcohol. Your body doesn’t care if the sugar came as a doughnut or a glass of wine. It just wants help.

Oh and just a thought. If a sugar or alcohol can cause hangovers on their own, imagine what a night of sugary alcoholic cocktails could do!

Till next time…

Enjoy the day you create.

Martin