From an article that I read, it involved the interaction of alcohol with our brain’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter, known as GABA. An alcohol that is consumed will attach itself to the neurotransmitter, slowing our body down, reaction and all, and reduce our anxiety and stress levels. It also reduces our inhibition sense, making us feeling less guilty about normally eating anything reckless, like eating a whole greasy pizza alone or a pack of fries. Our brain becomes “health-unconscious” when we drank alcohol.
According to another article, there is the physiological answer for the issue. The hypothalamus, or the part of the brain that controls and regulate our circadian rhythms, body temperature and more importantly, hunger, is stimulated by alcohol. So yes, consuming alcohol makes us hungry because it triggers the hypothalamus to makes us feel hungry, especially for junk food.
Another one that read suggests that we become hungry because alcohol affects our blood sugar level. The body actually considered alcohol as poison, so our body defense mechanisms are triggered to get rid of the dangerous part. Working overtime, the body skips its effort to maintain a healthy level of blood sugar. The fall in the blood sugar level then led to cravings for carbs in particular. So that explains why our hunger from drinking would be directed towards carb-rich junk food.
A study I read of off a few years ago from researchers in the UK came up with another theory. Simply, alcohol directly affects our appetite control of our brain. Food actually looks more appealing after drinking some alcohol.
There you go, the four above might work together to cause hunger from drinking alcohol. Our inhibitory factor getting cut off, then hypothalamus getting triggered, the fall in blood sugar level and food looking so much more appealing to us.
That’s why does alcohol make you hungry. Cheers and get some chips!