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Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

E270: Cravings Increase After Quitting Drinking and Peak Around 60 Days Sober and 6 Months Sober

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC

Science, Self-improvement, Education, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.91.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You probably expect that the more sober time you have, the less you crave alcohol. That’s true for some people, but others experience an effect called incubation of craving. This is where cravings build up over time and peak around 60 days, then again around 6 months sober. In this episode, I’ll explain the research on incubation of craving, what you might experience, why this happens, and what you can do to stay sober. What to listen to next: E231: Everything You Need to Know About Alcohol Withdrawal E247: Sober Sleep is the Best Sleep, But Not Right Away E249: Alcohol and Cortisol: Increased Stress and Cravings E265: Rewiring Your Reward System After Getting Sober E266: What Happens After Dry January? Sober Support: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email  Work with me: Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching Courses: The non-negotiable mindset https://www.soberpowered.com/mindset-course Sober milestones: what to expect when you quit drinking https://sobermilestones.supercast.com/ Anger Management https://www.soberpowered.com/anger Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more: https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast. This is a one woman show! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered Sources are posted on my website Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

You probably expect that the more sober time you have, the less you will crave alcohol.

0:06.2

That's true for some people, but others experience an effect called incubation of craving.

0:13.2

This is where cravings build up over time and peak, around 60 days, and then again around six

0:20.0

months sober. In this episode, I'll explain the

0:23.1

research on incubation of craving, what you might experience, why this happens, and what you can do

0:30.5

to stay sober. And before we dig in, I'd like to take a moment to thank my sponsors who made this

0:36.2

episode possible. I recently tried to be the kind of person who eats fruit every night after dinner.

0:43.3

And yeah, that lasted about five days.

0:46.3

Because let's be real, when it's between a bowl of berries and a cookie, I know what my brain is voting for.

0:52.3

And honestly, I'd even rather go with nothing over

0:55.2

fruit sometimes. But that's why I love field of greens. Doctors created it because we're human.

1:01.5

Some days we eat like a nutritionist dream and other days, those sugar cravings get us. A drink

1:07.3

makes is so much easier for me to remember and actually stick with, especially when life

1:12.6

gets busy or I'm just not in the mood. Each scoop gives you a full serving of fruits and veggies

1:17.8

plus essential prebiotics, antioxidants, and vitamins to support your heart, lungs, kidneys,

1:24.2

energy levels, and metabolism. So if you also have good intentions but questionable follow-through when it comes to eating

1:31.7

enough produce, Field of Greens has you covered.

1:34.4

They're offering my listeners 20% off your first order and they have a better health promise

1:39.6

money-back guarantee.

1:41.2

Just use the code power at fieldofgreens.com. That's power at fieldofgreens.com.

1:48.6

Life can feel like a full contact sport sometimes, and when we're sober, that can feel overwhelming.

1:54.9

Now the stress and anxiety can start to build up while we're working on our tools to self-regulate,

...

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