Why do I want fast food when drunk? The science of 'drunchies'

November 23, 2025 •

5 min read

According to researchers at the University of Buffalo, there's a scientific reason for those late-night, post-drinking fast food runs—a phenomenon they’ve affectionately dubbed the "drunchies". Understanding why do I want fast food when drunk can help you take control of your diet and avoid unhealthy impulse decisions.

Quick Summary

This article explores the scientific reasons behind post-drinking fast food cravings, or 'drunchies.' It delves into how alcohol disrupts appetite hormones, alters brain reward pathways, and lowers impulse control, leading to a strong desire for high-fat, high-calorie foods. Practical strategies for managing these urges are also provided.

Key Points

Hormones are Disruptors: Alcohol confuses your appetite-regulating hormones, like ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and leptin (the fullness hormone), causing you to feel hungry even when you've already consumed calories.
Brain is in 'Starvation Mode': Alcohol triggers neurons in the hypothalamus typically activated during starvation, creating an intense, primal hunger signal that drives you to eat.
Lowered Inhibitions: Intoxication impairs the prefrontal cortex, which controls impulse and rational decision-making, making it much harder to resist the appeal of unhealthy fast food.
Dopamine Reward System: The brain's reward center gets a double dose of pleasure from both alcohol and the high-fat, high-sugar content of fast food, creating a powerful reward cycle that reinforces the craving.
The "Soaking Up" Myth is False: Eating greasy food after drinking does not sober you up. In fact, it can worsen next-day hangover symptoms and is simply adding more empty calories to your system.
Preparation is Key: The best defense is a good offense—planning and preparing healthy snacks in advance helps you make better choices when your judgment is impaired.
Hydration Fights Cravings: Drinking water between alcoholic beverages helps prevent dehydration, which your brain can sometimes misinterpret as hunger, further reducing cravings.

The Hormonal Havoc That Triggers Drunchies

Alcohol's effect on the body is far-reaching, and one of its most significant impacts is on the endocrine system, the network of glands that regulate hormones. A delicate balance of hormones governs our appetite and feelings of fullness. Alcohol, however, throws this system into chaos, creating a perfect storm for intense food cravings.

The Role of Ghrelin and Leptin

The main culprits in this hormonal disruption are ghrelin and leptin, the body's primary hunger and satiety hormones. Under normal circumstances, ghrelin tells you when to eat, and leptin signals when you are full. However, studies show that alcohol consumption interferes with these signals, with research suggesting that alcohol can reduce the production of leptin. This leaves your brain without its 'stop eating' signal, causing you to feel perpetually hungry even after you've consumed a significant amount of calories from your drinks.

Alcohol and the 'Starvation' Neurons

In a fascinating study on mice, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute found that alcohol activates specific neurons in the brain—the AGRP neurons—that are normally triggered during starvation. This neural response causes an intense hunger sensation, essentially putting your brain into survival mode. When combined with lowered inhibitions, this instinctual drive to consume calories can feel nearly impossible to resist, leading to the impulse purchase of a high-calorie fast food meal.

The Brain's Role in Craving Greasy Foods

Beyond the hormonal and hunger-related effects, alcohol also significantly impacts our brain's decision-making and reward centers, explaining why we often opt for unhealthy fast food choices rather than healthier alternatives.

Lowered Inhibitions and Reduced Self-Control

One of the most obvious effects of alcohol is its ability to lower inhibitions. The prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for rational thought and impulse control, becomes impaired when you're drunk. This means the voice of reason that might normally tell you to make a healthy choice is silenced. The instant gratification of salty, fatty, and sugary fast food becomes far more appealing than a thoughtful, nutritious meal.

Dopamine and the Reward System

Alcohol also floods the brain with dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward. This creates a powerful link between drinking and pleasurable experiences. When you combine this with the highly palatable nature of fast food—engineered to be irresistible with the perfect blend of fat, salt, and sugar—you get a "double-whammy" of a reward. The brain learns to associate the high of alcohol with the high of comfort food, reinforcing the craving cycle.

The Truth About "Soaking Up" Alcohol

Many people mistakenly believe that eating greasy food will help them sober up or lessen the effects of alcohol. This is a persistent and harmful myth.

Comparison Table: Myth vs. Reality


Aspect	Myth: Greasy Food Soaks Up Alcohol	Reality: How Your Body Processes Alcohol and Greasy Food
Effect on Alcohol	The fat in food absorbs or soaks up the alcohol, making you less drunk.	Greasy food does not absorb alcohol. While eating a substantial meal before drinking can slow down alcohol absorption, eating after the fact has no effect on your current blood alcohol level.
Sobering Up	It will help you sober up faster.	Eating after drinking does not accelerate the sobering process. Your body metabolizes alcohol at a constant rate, and nothing can speed this up. The only thing that sobers you up is time.
Next-Day Feeling	It prevents or cures a hangover.	Indulging in high-fat, high-sodium foods can actually make you feel worse the next day, as your body must work overtime to process both the alcohol and the heavy meal. Dehydration is also exacerbated by salty foods.
Nutritional Impact	It's a harmless, fun part of the night.	It's a recipe for weight gain, poor digestion, and discomfort, adding a significant number of empty calories on top of the already calorie-dense alcoholic beverages consumed.

How to Curb the Drunk Fast Food Cravings

Managing these cravings requires a proactive and strategic approach. It's not about relying on willpower alone when your inhibitions are already compromised.

Prepare in Advance

One of the most effective strategies is to plan ahead. Stock your fridge with healthier, pre-made snacks before you go out. This way, when you get home and the 'drunchies' hit, the healthy option is the easiest and most accessible one. Good options include hummus with vegetables, air-popped popcorn, or a simple mixed-veg omelette.

Stay Hydrated

Alcohol is a diuretic, which causes dehydration. Your brain can sometimes mistake thirst signals for hunger signals, compounding the problem. A great habit is to drink a glass of water between every alcoholic drink. This helps keep you hydrated and can mitigate some of the confused hunger signals.

Eat a Balanced Meal Before Drinking

Never drink on an empty stomach. Eating a hearty, balanced meal that includes complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats will keep you feeling full and stabilized for longer, making you less susceptible to the hormonal chaos triggered by alcohol. This also slows the absorption of alcohol, making its effects less abrupt.

Optional Outbound Link

For a deeper dive into the brain's reward systems and their relationship with addiction, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers extensive information on the neurobiology of cravings and substance use disorders: Alcohol Craving and Relapse Prediction.

Conclusion: The Brain's Misguided Cravings

The impulse to get fast food when drunk is not a sign of a lack of willpower but rather a complex physiological and psychological phenomenon. It is a perfect storm created by alcohol's impact on our appetite-regulating hormones, the triggering of primal hunger signals in the brain, and the impairment of our impulse control. By understanding the science behind the 'drunchies' and implementing simple preventative strategies, you can take back control of your decisions and avoid the temptation of that late-night burger and fries. Being prepared with healthier options and focusing on hydration are the most powerful tools in your arsenal to combat these powerful, scientifically-backed cravings. It's a battle of biology, not just a matter of choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

The scientific term for drunk food cravings is "drunchies," a combination of the words 'drunk' and 'munchies,' first coined by researchers at the University of Buffalo.

Drunk cravings focus on salty and fatty foods due to multiple factors, including alcohol's disruption of appetite hormones, the activation of primal hunger neurons, and a decrease in inhibitions that makes highly palatable, calorie-dense foods more appealing.

No, eating fast food after drinking does not help with a hangover. This is a myth. Fatty and salty foods can actually worsen dehydration and make you feel worse the next day, as your body works harder to process both the food and the alcohol.

Alcohol lowers inhibitions by impairing the function of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for rational thought and impulse control. This impairment makes it harder to resist pleasurable and unhealthy impulses, including food choices.

Yes, you can manage and reduce drunk food cravings by preparing healthier snacks in advance, staying hydrated with water between drinks, and eating a full, balanced meal before you start drinking.

You feel hungry despite alcohol's calories because alcohol suppresses the hormone leptin, which signals fullness to your brain. This hormonal confusion, along with the activation of starvation-mode neurons, causes you to feel hungry regardless of your calorie intake.

Alcohol can cause fluctuations in blood sugar levels. A spike and subsequent crash in blood sugar can trigger hunger pangs, prompting your brain to seek out carbs and sugar to stabilize itself.