Why Sugar Cravings Get Worse After 35 (And How to Calm Them Without Dieting)
Introduction: When Sugar Suddenly Feels Harder to Control
If you’ve noticed that sugar feels harder to resist now than it did even a few years ago, you are not alone. Many women in their late thirties and early forties begin to feel as though they have lost control over their eating. Foods they once enjoyed casually now feel irresistible, cravings seem louder, and the urge to reach for sugar becomes almost urgent, especially during stressful moments, at night, or when energy dips.
The truth that most women are never told is simple: sugar cravings after 35 are not a willpower problem. They are a biological response to real changes happening in your body. Understanding these changes is the first step toward resolving cravings without shame, without restriction, and without jumping on yet another diet that never works.
Why Sugar Cravings Change After 35
After 35, women begin transitioning into perimenopause, a phase that can last anywhere from five to ten years or more. During this time, several key systems that once operated quietly in the background begin to shift.
Estrogen and progesterone fluctuate unpredictably. Insulin sensitivity begins to decrease. Stress tolerance can lower. Muscle mass slowly declines. Blood sugar becomes less stable.
Individually, each of these changes can be managed, but together, they create the perfect environment for sugar cravings to intensify. Even women who have always eaten healthily or maintained a balanced lifestyle can find themselves surprised by these shifts.
Blood Sugar: The Missing Link Most Advice Ignores
Blood sugar is often framed as something relevant only to diabetes, but it is a crucial factor for every woman in perimenopause. Unstable blood sugar can manifest in ways that affect energy, mood, and behaviour.
Some common signs include:
Afternoon energy crashes that leave you reaching for a chocolate bar
Irritability, anxiety, or mood swings between meals
Intense cravings for sugar or refined carbohydrates
Feeling out of control around food, even when you are full
Waking in the night and struggling to fall back asleep
When blood sugar drops too low, the brain goes into survival mode. It demands the fastest fuel available, sugar. No amount of willpower or motivation can override this signal.
Hormones Make Blood Sugar Less Flexible
Estrogen plays a significant role in insulin sensitivity, and as estrogen fluctuates in perimenopause, your body becomes less efficient at managing glucose. Foods you once tolerated with ease may now trigger larger blood sugar swings. The result is stronger cravings, especially for high-carbohydrate or sugary foods.
This is why many women say:
“I didn’t change anything, but my body did.”
And they are right. Their bodies are responding to real, biological changes that require attention and support rather than self-criticism.
Stress, Cortisol, and Cravings
Midlife is often a particularly demanding phase of life. Careers are advancing, children or teens require more guidance, parents may be aging, and the mental load of managing everything can be overwhelming.
Cortisol, the stress hormone, temporarily raises blood sugar, but chronic stress leads to dips and crashes. The body responds with cravings for sugar and refined carbohydrates as a fast and reliable source of fuel.
Sugar is not a weakness. It is a survival mechanism for an overstressed nervous system. The more chronically stressed you are, the louder the cravings feel.
Why Dieting Often Makes Cravings Worse
Years of dieting can unintentionally teach the body that food is scarce. When combined with the hormonal changes of perimenopause, this can backfire.
Restrictive dieting, skipping meals, or cutting carbohydrates too aggressively can:
Increase cortisol levels
Worsen insulin resistance
Intensify sugar cravings
Slow metabolism
The body responds by demanding more sugar, louder and more urgently than ever. This is why traditional “eat less, move more” advice fails for many women at this stage of life.
Why Willpower Alone Keeps Failing
Willpower resides in the prefrontal cortex, the rational part of the brain. When blood sugar crashes, that part of the brain becomes less effective. This is why cravings feel emotional, urgent, and irrational.
The solution is not to rely on more willpower. The solution is to stabilize your physiology first so that your brain does not feel as though survival depends on sugar.
What Actually Helps Without Dieting
While this post is not a full program, there are foundational strategies that begin to change cravings sustainably:
Eating regularly: Skipping meals increases cravings and destabilizes blood sugar. Planning consistent meals can prevent energy crashes.
Prioritizing protein at every meal: Protein helps balance blood sugar and keeps you feeling full for longer periods.
Pairing carbohydrates with healthy fat and fiber: This slows glucose absorption and reduces the spike-and-crash cycle.
Reducing chronic stress inputs: Even small daily practices, like deep breathing, short walks, or journaling, can lower cortisol.
Supporting blood sugar before addressing sugar: By stabilizing energy and nutrients first, cravings become manageable.
These strategies are the foundation of any lasting sugar reset, especially for women in perimenopause.
Understanding Emotional and Habitual Triggers
Cravings are not only biological, they are also emotional and habitual. Many women reach for sugar out of boredom, fatigue, or the desire for comfort. Recognizing these triggers is essential. For example, if you notice a craving always comes mid-afternoon, it may be linked to a lunch that was too low in protein or a stressful work pattern rather than a lack of discipline.
By learning to identify your triggers, you can respond with support rather than self-judgment. Replacing sugar with balanced alternatives or incorporating stress-relief practices can dramatically reduce the power cravings hold over you.
Small, Sustainable Changes Create Lasting Results
The most effective changes are rarely about perfection. They are about consistent, small adjustments that honour your body’s needs.
Swap refined carbs for whole grains with vegetables and protein
Include healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, or nuts to slow digestion
Drink water regularly to avoid mistaking thirst for hunger
Get adequate sleep to support hormone regulation
Over time, these small adjustments stabilize blood sugar, calm cravings, and improve energy without ever feeling like restriction.
A New Way Forward
Sugar cravings are not your enemy; they are your body communicating that it needs support. Fighting your body with diets or guilt only amplifies the problem.
When you start supporting your body through balanced meals, stress management, and consistent routines, cravings naturally quiet. You begin to feel in control again, not through force, but by listening and responding to what your body truly needs.
If you are ready to take back control of your eating and feel good in your body again, I have three powerful ways to help you get started:
👉 Download my free 7 Day Sugar Reset Guide. It is your step by step blueprint to balance your meals, stop cravings, and stabilize blood sugar naturally.
👉 Check out my 7 Day Meal Plans available on my Linktree. They are designed to make healthy eating simple, balanced, and sustainable for only $9.99.
👉 Join my Fullscript supplement store for free and get access to professional-grade supplements that support blood sugar, hormones, gut health, liver detox, metabolism, stress, and sleep all shipped directly to your door. You can also shop my pre-made bundles so you don’t have to guess what your body needs.
You deserve to feel nourished, energized, and confident every single day.
If you are new here, Hi, I’m Sarah Seguin, a Holistic Nutritionist and Metabolic Balance Coach who helps women in perimenopause break free from sugar addiction, stabilize their blood sugar, rebalance their hormones, and finally feel energized, clear, calm, and in control again. I work with women who feel stuck in the cycle of cravings, emotional eating, brain fog, fatigue, bloating, and stubborn weight that just will not move and I show you how to reset your metabolism in a way that is gentle, nourishing, and sustainable.
The program I run, The Sugar Reset Method powered by Metabolic Balance, is a personalized nutrition and metabolic healing system designed specifically for your unique biochemistry. This is not a diet, not restriction, and not a temporary fix. It is a complete metabolic reset that teaches your body how to use food for fuel, stabilize hunger, reduce cravings naturally, support nervous system regulation, repair insulin sensitivity, and rebalance hormones from the inside out. Women who go through this program not only lose weight, gain energy, and improve mood they learn how to trust themselves and their body again.
If you are ready to start small, download my free 7 Day Sugar Reset Guide to begin balancing blood sugar and calming cravings right now. If you want extra support at the supplement level, you can join my Fullscript dispensary for free and shop practitioner-only brands or choose from my curated bundles created specifically for sugar cravings, hormone balance, and metabolic healing.
And if you are feeling called to deeper support, you can explore my coaching options and book a discovery call.
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You are not meant to do this alone. I am right here with you.
To Your Health,
Sarah