Alcohol Addiction: Diet, Nutrition & Lifestyle
Alcohol addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain from alcohol, impairment in behavioral control, craving alcohol, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response. Like other chronic diseases, the addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Health, finances, relationships and careers are destroyed. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability, brain damage, health problems, severe nutrient deficiencies, and premature death.
“Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain. Whatever the substance you are addicted to - alcohol, food, legal or illegal drugs, or a person - you are using something or somebody to cover up your pain.” —Eckhart Tolle
Many people are exposed to alcoholism in their families. My father was an alcoholic and I also lost a younger sister to suicide as a result of her alcohol addiction. It’s no surprise that my ex-husband was also an alcoholic. Consequently, I had a desire to understand and educate myself on addiction and alcoholism, a devastating, destructive and deadly disease that affects not only the alcoholic, but impacts the entire family. I also am the nutritionist for the RiverSource, a holistic drug and alcohol treatment center located in Arizona.
In the U.S. alone, there are 17 to 20 million alcoholics (about one in every ten people). The third highest cause of death in the United States (the silent, unknown killer) is alcohol-related death. 7,000 children under the age of 15 try drinking for the first time every day. This is a frightening statistic. The individual who begins drinking before age 15 is four times more likely to become an alcoholic.
For most people, the occasional drink is not harmful and may even offer some health benefits, but for the millions who abuse alcohol or are alcoholics, alcohol is a dangerous poison.
Anytime you get even moderately drunk, you risk:
- Dehydration
- Electrolyte imbalances
- Gastrointestinal distress
- Difficulty sleeping and/or breathing
- Hormone imbalances
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Depression
- Brain cell death, memory loss and cognitive dysfunction
- Malnutrition
- Fatty liver
- Hepatitis
- Cirrhosis
- Candida
- B vitamin deficiencies and severe mineral deficiencies
- Loss of muscle tone, sagging skin, grey hair
- Accelerated aging and reduced life expectancy by 10-12 years
- Increased risk of cancer, diabetes, pancreatitis, dementia, hypertension, heart attack and heart disease
Women are physiologically more sensitive to alcohol than men because their bodies tend to have lower water and higher fat contents. Alcohol abuse seems to have more serious long-term consequences for women, although excessive alcohol especially affects men, their brains, their memory, and their testosterone and estrogen levels through liver damage. Alcohol abuse causes enlarged breasts (gynectomastia), reduced sex drive, erectile dysfunction, reduced testosterone, decreased growth hormone production, and shrunken testes. Men who drink more than 36 grams of alcohol (or 2-1/2 drinks per day) increase memory loss by up to six years. Frequent and heavy alcohol use also causes gut dysfunction, estrogen dominance, anemia, numerous nutrient deficiencies, leaky gut (intestinal permeability), upper gastrointestinal bleeding, Candida infections, nerve damage, brain damage and erectile dysfunction.
The liver is an amazingly resilient organ that can handle abuse for years and seem fine until one day there’s serious damage that’s accumulated. Regularly drinking either 3-4 pints of beer, 2-3 glasses of wine or 3-4 shots per day is considered heavy drinking.
According to Joseph D. Beasley, M.D., author of How to Defeat Alcoholism and director of Comprehensive Medical Care in New York, “alcoholism is a disease that involves the body, mind and spirit. The latest medical evidence indicates that about three out of four people who suffer the disease of alcoholism have a genetic tendency to develop the problem.”
Your DNA is not your destiny! Although there can be a genetic tendency to develop alcoholism, genes are plastic based on environmental epigenetics. Although you can’t change your DNA, you can alter which genes you turn on or off. Did you know that you can turn certain genes on or off depending on your diet, nutrition, lifestyle choices and what you’re doing in your environment? Add in the tools of our consciousness including beliefs, thoughts, intentions and actions, which are linked much more strongly with our health, longevity and happiness than our genes. So, bottom line, we much each take responsibility for our choices, and our overall health and well-being.
According to a study in the journal Biological Psychiatry, there is a link between alcohol consumption, cravings for alcohol and activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines that contribute to systemic inflammation in alcohol-dependent patients. Inflammatory pathways are stimulated in alcoholics by bacteria that has escaped the gut barrier that correlate with alcohol cravings. These findings suggest protecting and restoring gut integrity, healing leaky gut, and reducing all sources of inflammation to help patients recover from alcohol use disorders. (All disease starts in the gut! —Hippocrates)
Alcohol, drug abuse and depression often go hand-in-hand. Alcoholic beverages contain the psychoactive drug ethanol (grain alcohol), which has a depressant effect. The reward center of the brain is meant to provide pleasure – the particular nerve hormone (neurotransmitter) is dopamine. Those with addictions tend to have fewer dopamine receptors causing them to crave and seek more and more of the addicted substance to experience pleasure. Every biochemical process in the human body depends on appropriate levels of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain) such as serotonin and dopamine. Norephinephrine, epinephrine and GABA can also be considered. These neurotransmitters exist not only in the brain, but also in the gut. In fact, only five percent of serotonin is found in the brain. Serotonin is the primary gut neurotransmitter with close to 90 percent located in the gut, hence the importance of a healthy functioning microbiome and digestive system. Genetically, low serotonin and low dopamine levels may predispose individuals to depression and addictions, including alcoholism. Excessive drinking reduces levels of dopamine and serotonin. Alcoholics are often deficient in dopamine and also tend to have methylation problems.
Alcohol addiction causes damage to the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is where willpower resides. The only way out of this is through detox, nutrition and recovery to allow the prefrontal cortex to heal and the reward center to re-build the dopamine receptors. Meditation is one of the most powerful ways to aid in recovery and heal the impairment of the prefrontal cortex. Meditation must be a continued and consistent practice as one of the spokes of the healing journey. Meditation is actually the 11th step of the 12-step program.
Healing the brain and recovery does not happen overnight. It is a life-long process that requires a nutrient-dense real food organic diet, supplemental nutrients, lifestyle changes and environmental changes including the people, places and things you surround yourself with.
Alcoholics tend to lack alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme in the stomach that breaks down and gets rid of alcohol before it reaches the bloodstream, which implies deficiencies in magnesium and zinc, and an overload on the pancreas all of which can be improved by a eating nutrient-dense, enzyme-rich real foods, nutritional support and ruling out infections in the gut such as Candida.
Over 76 percent of alcoholics have a genetic disorder metabolizing alcohol, which causes them to crave alcohol. Alcoholism is associated with numerous nutritional deficiencies and food sensitivities. The root cause of alcohol cravings is a deficiency of B vitamins, trace minerals, essential fatty acids (DHA, EPA and GLA) and protein. Alcoholics also tend to have neurotransmitter imbalances and amino acid deficiencies, specifically L-glutamine, dopamine, L-tyrosine, 5-HTP and methionine.
A critical factor involves conversion of the essential fatty acids into certain prostaglandins such as PGE1, which elevates mood and makes us feel good. Alcohol stimulates the release of PGE1 in the brain. Alcoholics are often deficient in PGE1, which causes a desire to drink and the more they drink the more PGE1 levels are depleted. Overconsumption of alcohol results in a feedback system that sets up a vicious cycle involving PGE1 and GLA, a precursor of PGE1 that helps reduce cravings for alcohol.
Many alcoholics have hidden food sensitivities, particularly to foods from which alcohol has been derived. These include wheat, corn, yeast, grapes, sugar, fructose and potato. It’s estimated that 80 percent of alcoholics are gluten-intolerant. Alcoholics improve greatly when ALL grains, ALL sugar and ALL gluten products are removed from their diets.
Alcoholics often suffer from hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and blood sugar instability. Individuals tend to experience cravings when they’re hypoglycemic, and as a result experience sugar, carbohydrate and alcohol cravings, mood swings, irritability, gluten intolerance, brain fog and adrenal exhaustion. These conditions can be remedied by eating a nutrient-dense diet that contains plenty of organic protein, tons of healthy healing fats, and fiber from leafy greens and vegetables.
The best diet for the alcoholic is one that eliminates ALL gluten, wheat and processed grains, soy, soda, sugar, potato, fructose and processed carbohydrates. A nutrient-dense diet high in B vitamins, rich in clean protein, plenty of leafy greens and vegetables, low-sugar fruits and healthy, healing fats is the best diet for a recovering alcoholic. Protein and fat help prevent blood sugar fluctuations, increase energy, fuel the brain, and eliminate cravings. Protein, rich in amino acids, provides fuel and helps balance brain chemistry by boosting the levels of mood regulating neurotransmitters. The first 40 grams of protein eaten every day goes to rebuilding the immune system. If you are not rebuilding your immune system, you’ll have a hard time rebuilding your brain chemistry to be happy and think straight.
Former alcoholics often replace alcoholic drinks with sweets and sodas without realizing that sugar disrupts intestinal flora, destroys their microbiome and is a fuel source for Candida, yeast and other fungi. Candida saturates the body with a toxic by-product called acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a major by-product of alcohol ingestion and it produces symptoms similar to an alcohol hangover. This serious toxin poisons tissues and is not eliminated very easily. It accumulates in the brain, spinal cord and muscles. Under certain conditions these pathogenic yeasts actually convert sugars in the gut to alcohol. Walk into any AA meeting and you’ll find a spread of candy, cakes and cookies. Some alcoholics will even convert the sugar to alcohol metabolically and maintain their alcohol addiction in this way. There are well-documented cases of inebriation caused by sugar and soda consumption and Candida overgrowth in persons who abstain from alcohol. When the alcoholic turns to sugar, he/she is often fueling himself with alcohol throughout the day.
The alcoholic or recovering alcoholic requires specific nutrients and a diet high in animal protein and healthy fats. They seem to do best with 3 nutrient-dense meals daily and should never go more than four hours without food to avoid hypoglycemia. All attempts should be made to avoid sweets, sugary beverages and starchy carbohydrates.
Addressing nutritional deficiencies and nutrient needs of the alcoholic is crucial and absolutely necessary for long-term success.
Supplemental Nutrient Support is individual based on the individual’s unique biochemistry. Basic nutrients for the alcoholic may include:
Primary Support (details for each supplement below can be found in my web store)
| * B vitamins that include thiamine, folate, B6, B12 | * L-Glutamine powder |
| * EFAs w/GLA: EFA Sirt Supreme | * Multi-vitamin/mineral: BioGlycozyme |
| * Magnesium glycinate & magnesium threonate | * Zinc Carnosine or ZnZyme Forte |
| * Digestzymes | * Bio D Mulsion Forte |
| * Chromium GTF | * Probiotics |
Secondary Nutrient Support (specific to each individual). Descriptions for each product can be found here.
| * Meriva-SR - Curcumin | * N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) |
| * R-form of alpha lipoic acid (R-ALA) | * L-Tyrosine |
| * MCS-2 | * Livotrit and Beta-TCP |
| * Niacinimide. Inositol | * Candida Cleanse supplements |
| * Methyl-folate Plus or Methylguard Plus | * Li-Zyme Forte |
Low-dose Naltrexone is a prescription drug invented by Dr. Bernard Bihari, a Harvard educated board certified doctor in neurology and psychiatry. Used in low dose, starting at 1.5mg dose and compounded, Naltrexone is an opiate-agonist that has potential benefits for addiction, cancer, HIV, immune disorders, neurological and autoimmune disorders.
Healing and recovery from addiction is a life-long process. Have patience, commitment, faith, love and compassion for self.
As a holistic nutritionist and functional health practitioner, my philosophy is to identify the root cause of any underlying health issues, slowly "peel away the layers of the onion," and design a healing protocol and comprehensive LIFESTYLE plan specific to your unique biochemistry so you can heal, experience vibrant health, balanced hormones and look, think and feel better than ever for a lifetime. I consult with men and women throughout the U.S. and with clients locally in the Phoenix area. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation! Thank you!
Copyright © Paula Owens. All Rights Reserved.
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