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In this episode, Mike explores a surprising angle on cravings: the role your gut plays in when and why they show up. Drawing on new research about the gut–brain axis, he explains how alcohol, stress, blood sugar swings, and even sleep can influence the signals your gut sends to your brain — and how those signals can feel like cravings. You’ll learn simple, science-backed ways to support your gut, steady your mood, and make cravings easier to manage without relying on willpower or perfection.
Want to drink less with no pressure to quit? Visit https://ctbk.co/4doo5dq for a free 15-day trial of the Sunnyside digital app.
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Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
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ABOUT SUNNYSIDE: Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol moderation app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.
Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.
Want to drink less with no pressure to quit? Visit https://ctbk.co/4doo5dq for a free 15-day trial of the Sunnyside digital app.
--
Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
CONNECT WITH SUNNYSIDE:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
- Twitter: https://x.com/joinsunnyside
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside
ABOUT SUNNYSIDE: Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol moderation app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.
Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.
Creators and Guests
What is Journey to the Sunnyside?
Journey to the Sunnyside is a top 1% podcast, reaching over 500,000 listeners every week. It’s your guide to exploring mindful living with alcohol—whether you're cutting back, moderating, or thinking about quitting.
While Sunnyside helps you reduce your drinking, this podcast goes further, diving into topics like mindful drinking, sober curiosity, moderation, and full sobriety. Through real stories, expert insights, and science-backed strategies, we help you find what actually works for your journey.
Hosted by Mike Hardenbrook, a #1 best-selling author and neuroscience enthusiast, the show is dedicated to helping people transform their relationship with alcohol—without shame, judgment, or rigid rules.
This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the leading platform for mindful drinking. Want to take the next step in your journey? Head over to sunnyside.co for a free 15-day trial.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in our episodes do not necessarily represent those of Sunnyside. We’re committed to sharing diverse perspectives on health and wellness. If you’re concerned about your drinking, please consult a medical professional. Sunnyside, this podcast, and its guests are not necessarily medical providers and the content is not medical advice. We do not endorse drinking in any amount.
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Journey to the Sunny Side. I'm Mike Hardinbrook. And today, we're talking about something that might change the way you think about your cravings. And I'm talking about alcohol cravings, sugar cravings, pretty much I am craving blank kind of feeling, and it usually hits you at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:Recently, I've been reading a lot of research in this area, and, of course, I get to interview experts. And one theme keeps coming up, that cravings might not start where you think they do. Most people, they assume cravings live entirely in our mind, in our brain. And of course, the brain, it plays a big role, no question on that. But there's growing evidence that is suggesting many of our cravings actually start somewhere else, in the gut.
Speaker 1:Now, of course, I am not a microbiologist. I am not a gut researcher. But I do pay attention to what scientists are publishing, and what they're finding paints a very different picture of why cravings might be showing up. So today I want to walk through what this research says, what's still emerging, and what practical steps you can take to support your biology. Of course, without adding any pressure or perfectionism on top of everything else that you're already doing.
Speaker 1:First, let's talk about why the gut matters more than we actually think. So, the gut and the brain are in constant communication, and scientists call this the gut brain axis. It's a two way line of chemical messages that affect how we feel, how we think, and even how we react. And one detail still blows my mind. About 95% of the body's serotonin is produced in the gut.
Speaker 1:Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters involved with mood, impulse control, and how reactive you feel to stress. Now this probably doesn't mean that you can fix your serotonin levels with food the way some influencers might be out there proclaiming, but it does mean that when the gut is struggling, mood and cravings can be harder to manage. The gut isn't just about digestion. It's better to think of it more like a regulation system, And this is where alcohol becomes very relevant. So first, let's talk about what alcohol actually does to the gut.
Speaker 1:A lot of us know about alcohol's effect on things like liver, sleep, but few people realize how closely alcohol interacts with our gut microbiome, which are the trillions of bacteria living inside of us. There's been more talk recently about our microbiome in more of the mainstream, but just so you know that this has been published in major journals for many, many years. And in fact, in 2023, a review in Alcohol Research Current Reviews found that alcohol reduces microbiome diversity, which means fewer of the beneficial bacteria and more of the inflammatory species. And another in 2024 in transitional psychiatry showed similar patterns in people with heavier alcohol use, which means more inflammation, less resilience in the gut ecosystem. In early twenty twenty five, a study in Nature reported that even moderate alcohol exposure can make the gut barrier more fragile.
Speaker 1:So you may have heard of this term leaky gut. It's one of those terms that I heard for a long time but didn't fully understand. But researchers usually call it increased gut permeability. So the idea is that the gut becomes less selective about what it lets pass through. So when the barrier weakens, tiny bacteria particles can move into the bloodstream, which then can trigger inflammatory responses.
Speaker 1:And inflammation doesn't just stay in one place, the brain actually gets that signal as well. And that's when you see changes in mood, stress tolerance, maybe your energy, and yes, what we're talking about here cravings. Now don't get all panicky on me. That doesn't mean that one drink is going to ruin your gut. The body is much more adaptive than that, but it does show us that alcohol interacts with the gut in ways that influence how we feel later in the day, maybe the next morning, and the next time that we face a decision around drinking.
Speaker 1:All right, so now let's talk about how gut disruption actually translates into having more cravings. And I found a study published in Addiction Biology in 2023 that followed young adults who binge drink, and the people with more microbiome disruption reported higher cravings over time, even when they weren't drinking. And another study in psychopharmacology found that inflammation originating in the gut can interfere with dopamine pathways in the brain, and those pathways play a major role in reward, habit, and cravings. Now, keep in mind none of this proves that the gut causes all the cravings on its own, but it does show a clear relationship between gut imbalance, inflammation, mood regulation, and craving intensity. The gut really does influence how steady or reactive we feel at a given time, and when we're more reactive, cravings, of course, are going to come on stronger.
Speaker 1:And here's kind of the double whammycravings also show up when blood sugar drops. So alcohol, we already know, is going to make your blood sugar swing. You get a spike, then you get a crash, and then that low blood sugar triggers alarm systems that can feel identical to an alcohol craving. And that's why cravings show up at very predictable times, usually in the late afternoon, maybe after a low protein lunch with lots of carbs, maybe after a stressful day, and of course, we get them when we're tired or the night before we had poor sleep. So in that case, it's not even cravings tied to our emotional state and maybe not solely to gut.
Speaker 1:It's also metabolic. Okay, you got all science y with me. If you're still hanging on, that's all the biology. Now let's talk about what's useful, realistic, and doesn't require anything really that complex. So of course, you can just treat this as a reference point of information.
Speaker 1:If you see something that aligns with your life or of interest, of course, do your own research or talk to your medical provider. Okay, I'm going to give you five quick tips. So tip number one is support your gut with soluble fiber. So soluble fiber feeds beneficial bacteria, and this is gonna help to produce compounds that reduce inflammation. I mean, I am talking about very simple whole foods here.
Speaker 1:So things like oats, apples, you can try avocados, and my daughter's favorite, chia seeds. Alright. Number two is add fermented foods, but do it slowly. So a 2021 study from Stanford found that fermented foods, things like yogurts, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, increased microbiome diversity in healthy adults. And what that diversity does is that it's associated with better emotional steadiness and also lower inflammation.
Speaker 1:Again, you don't need a huge amount of these, just one serving a day can really help. Number three, eat in a way that stabilizes blood sugar. So if cravings happen at a consistent time, blood sugar might be involved. So adding proteins and healthy fats to your meals, that's going help to slow digestion and keep your blood sugar more steady. Okay, number four is consider supplements that support your gut and mood biology.
Speaker 1:So again, are not magic solutions. Again, this is not advice, only information. First one is L glutamine. Some early studies suggest that it does help support the gut lining and reduce sugar cravings. Next one is omega-three fatty acids.
Speaker 1:These help to regulate inflammation and support mood, both of course relevant to cravings. Next, have probiotics. Certain strains have actually shown in animal studies to reduce alcohol seeking behavior, and human evidence is early, but it's still promising. So that's one you could think about. Next is NAC and milk thistle.
Speaker 1:These can support the gut liver connection and help to reduce oxidative stress on the body. Now I know these are quite a few options. You don't, of course, need everything. You can experiment and see what really helps you and makes you feel steady. And then last but not least, pay attention to the timing of your cravings.
Speaker 1:And this can be one of the most powerful insights. So cravings often show up when your gut and your blood sugar are out of rhythm, and the timing is usually going to help to tell the story. Instead of asking, Why do I really want to drink right now? Maybe you can try to ask yourself, you know, what happened in the last few hours? Did you go too long without eating?
Speaker 1:Were you stressed or you tired? Did you sleep poorly last night? Because those moments are going to put pressure on the gut brain system, and then cravings are going to show up right around that time. So when you start noticing these patterns, you can start to change things to make that go away. You know, don't go so long without eating.
Speaker 1:Eat foods that normalize your blood sugar. Try to do some more mindfulness tactics, not be so stressed, and of course, catch up on some sleep with good sleep hygiene. Okay. Here's my big takeaway. Of course, after reading all the work of people who spend their careers studying the gut, cravings aren't just psychological, they're also biological.
Speaker 1:And when the gut is calm, moods tend to be more even. When moods are more even, cravings feel more manageable. And sometimes it's as simple as feeding your gut better, keeping your blood sugar steadier, and giving your body the support it needs to stay balanced. Okay, thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your week and weekend.
Speaker 1:And until then, cheers.