Craving Control: Why Sugar Is So Tempting in Parkinson’s Disease

Written By: Renee Rouleau- M.S. Neuroscience and Bridges for Parkinson’s medical contributor

With Parkinson's Disease (PD), you may notice a strong craving for sweets—or even a full-blown sweet tooth. Perhaps you’ve loved sweets your whole life and now you feel like it’s blown out of proportion, or maybe you’ve never been a dessert person and now all you want is chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!! (Wolz et al., 2009). . Many people with PD experience significant changes in their appetite and cravings, especially for sugary or processed foods. But why does this happen, and how does it affect brain and muscle health?

Cravings in Parkinson’s are often linked to changes in brain chemistry. Parkinson’s affects dopamine, a brain chemical that controls movement, mood, and our brain's reward system. When dopamine levels drop, the brain may look for quick ways to feel better—such as  eating sweets . Sugary foods can act to temporarily raise dopamine levels, giving the brain a jolt that says “give me more!” As a result,   you feel good and want to do it again and again, causing a sugar craving. But as we know from previous articles, and from seeing kids after a “sugar high,” overdoing it on sugar can lead to energy crashes, weight gain, and even worsen, fatigue and over time, inflammation  (Jamar et al., 2021; Ma et al., 2022).

Several studies have found that people with PD often crave carbohydrates and sweets more than others, especially women, and people who heavily drink or have diabetes (Palvara et al., 2021; Haas et al., 2024; Cheng et al., 2024). Aside from dopamine, this may also be due to the disease's effect on the gut and how it communicates with the brain. There are studies that suggest the gut-brain axis and how the body’s microbiome, “the collection of all microorganisms (like bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that live in a particular environment, such as the human body or a specific area of it like the gut”) changes in PD, altering hunger, cravings, and mood (Jamar et al., 2021; Kwon et al., 2024). In short, your gut and brain are having a conversation—and that craving may not be entirely in your control.

Aside from your brain asking you to bring in more dopamine hits, there are also medications you may be taking called dopamine agonists (DA)-“a class of medications that mimic the effects of dopamine in the body by activating dopamine receptors.” that can affect eating habits or sugar cravings. There have been many reports that people who use DA have compulsive eating addictions, which mostly consist of sugary, or highly processed foods (de Chazeron et al., 2019; Cuzzolaro & Melchionda, 2021). The good news is that most of the time with some medication adjustments, this can be helped if not completely resolved. That being said, if you’re experiencing any significant cravings, you feel like you can’t stop eating, and you’re undergoing significant weight changes, please consult your neurologist to adjust any of your medications that could be causing this and affecting your overall health!

This brings us to the nutritional component, giving in to too many unhealthy cravings can lead to poor nutrition. Diets high in added sugars and processed foods lack the vitamins, fiber, and healthy fats the brain and muscles need to work well. Over time, this can increase inflammation in the body, worsen motor symptoms, and even affect thinking and memory (Mota et al., 2023). A balanced diet with whole foods—such as  fruits, whole grains, nuts, and lean proteins—can help reduce cravings naturally by keeping blood sugar steady and providing lasting energy.

If you’re struggling with cravings, don’t be too hard on yourself. They’re a real part of how Parkinson’s affects the brain and the body. But small changes like eating regular meals, staying hydrated, and including protein and fiber in snacks can help you feel more in control. Working with a dietitian who understands PD can also help you build a realistic eating plan that keeps your brain and body fueled—without giving sugar the upper hand. All in all, sweet treats are fine every once in a while in moderation! But if you’re feeling the sugar bug too often, it may be worthwhile to look into it and seek nutritional advice from your  doctors and dieticians.

References:

Cheng, X., Wu, T., Han, L. et al. Association between added sugars intake and Parkinson’s disease status in U.S. adults: a cross-sectional study from NHANES 1990–2020. Arch Public Health 82, 225 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-024-01445-8

Cuzzolaro, M., Melchionda, N. (2022). Parkinson’s Disease and Eating and Weight Disorders. In: Manzato, E., Cuzzolaro, M., Donini, L.M. (eds) Hidden and Lesser-known Disordered Eating Behaviors in Medical and Psychiatric Conditions . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81174-7_31

de Chazeron, I., Durif, F., Chereau-Boudet, I. et al. Compulsive eating behaviors in Parkinson’s disease. Eat Weight Disord 24, 421–429 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-019-00648-1

Haas, J., Berg, D., Bosy-Westphal, A., & Schaeffer, E. (2022). Parkinson's Disease and Sugar Intake-Reasons for and Consequences of a Still Unclear Craving. Nutrients, 14(15), 3240. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14153240

Jamar, G., Ribeiro, D. A., & Pisani, L. P. (2021). High-fat or high-sugar diets as trigger inflammation in the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 61(5), 836–854. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2020.1747046

Kwon, D., Zhang, K., Paul, K. C., Folle, A. D., Del Rosario, I., Jacobs, J. P., Keener, A. M., Bronstein, J. M., & Ritz, B. (2024). Diet and the gut microbiome in patients with Parkinson's disease. NPJ Parkinson's disease, 10(1), 89. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-024-00681-7

Ma, X., Nan, F., Liang, H., Shu, P., Fan, X., Song, X., Hou, Y., Zhang D. (2022). Excessive intake of sugar: An accomplice of inflammation. Frontiers in Immunology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.988481

Mota, B., Ramos, M., Marques, S. I., Silva, A., Pereira, P. A., Madeira, M. D., Mateus, N., & Cardoso, A. (2023). Effects of High-Fat and High-Fat High-Sugar Diets in the Anxiety, Learning and Memory, and in the Hippocampus Neurogenesis and Neuroinflammation of Aged Rats. Nutrients, 15(6), 1370. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15061370

Wolz, M., Kaminsky, A., Löhle, M. et al. Chocolate consumption is increased in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol 256, 488–492 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-009-0118-9