Why your ageing brain craves sugar — but actually needs ketones

As we move through midlife, many of us notice new patterns: stronger sugar cravings, brain fog, mood dips, or energy crashes that don’t respond the way they used to. It’s not weakness or lack of willpower — it’s your brain’s evolving fuel needs.

This article explains how your brain’s energy shifts with age, why cravings intensify, and how to support lasting clarity, mood, and energy.

Your Brain’s Fuel Needs Are Always Evolving

Every brain functions best with clean, steady energy rather than the rollercoaster of sugar and carb highs and lows. This is especially true after menopause, when hormonal shifts affect how efficiently the brain uses fuel. Supporting your brain’s energy isn’t about cutting food groups, but about rebalancing how you fuel it.

How to Support Your Brain’s Fuel Needs

To optimise energy and focus, consider:

• Balancing protein, fat, and whole carbohydrates

• Reducing refined sugar and carbs

• Gentle fasting (if appropriate)

• Using MCT oil as a brain fuel

• Supporting mitochondria with B vitamins, magnesium, and CoQ10

These strategies help stabilise blood sugar and provide the brain with more efficient energy.

Ketones = Clean Brain Fuel

Your brain can run on both glucose (sugar) and ketones. Ketones are produced through fasting, lower-carb eating, MCT or coconut oil, and supplementation. They are brain-friendly, anti-inflammatory, easy to metabolise, and supportive of mitochondrial function.

Glucose plus Ketones is A Dual System

While a healthy brain uses both glucose and ketones, with age the brain becomes less efficient at using glucose. This makes ketones an increasingly valuable source of fuel, supporting mental clarity, memory, mood, and stable energy.

Cravings Are a Signal, Not a Weakness

Midlife sugar cravings often mean your body is saying: “I need more fuel.” The problem is that if glucose metabolism is impaired, sugar becomes only a short-term fix. It fuels the cycle of more cravings, blood sugar crashes, and long-term risks such as type 2 diabetes.

The Ageing Brain Has Higher Energy Needs

After menopause, the brain works harder to meet its energy demands. This happens because of lower oestrogen, insulin resistance, and changes in mitochondria (the brain’s “cell batteries”). These shifts lead to fatigue, brain fog, and stronger cravings.

summary

Your brain in midlife and beyond doesn’t just want sugar — it needs ketones for clean, efficient fuel. Cravings are not a moral failing; they are a message about energy balance. By supporting your brain with the right mix of protein, fat, whole carbohydrates, and strategic use of ketones, you can boost clarity, stabilise mood, and ease the fatigue-craving cycle.