February 2004
New Canaan Chiropractic Newsletter
"Experience the Difference"
Phone: 966-9777 Bradley A. Williams, DC, CCN Fax: 966-0778

Relapsing after many years of sobriety is more common than people might think. According to an article in February 2004 issue of Alternative Medicine “ a commonly used statistic for alcohol treatment programs nationwide is less than 20% recovery after one year.” It is high time nutrition be a major part in all alcohol treatment programs. In 2003 the National Institute of Health (NIH) Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism announced a 5-year initiative to study the brain chemistry that underlies alcoholism.

Charles Gant, author of “End Your Addiction Now,” believes that the body’s needs must be attended to first when it comes to alcoholism. Alcoholism is primarily a brain chemistry imbalance fueled by a deficiency in certain nutrients. The point here is beating alcoholism requires balancing the body as well as the mind – metabolism is far stronger than free will.

The nutritional approach in general is to reduce the body’s dependence on the simple carbohydrates that, like alcohol, convert quickly to glucose in the bloodstream. Relying on such refined carbs promotes blood sugar highs and lows which can start the desire to drink all over again.

So in the long term an alcoholic’s brain, fooled by the continual presence of feel-good chemicals from alcohol, shuts down production of it’s own feel good chemicals. Thus, depression, anxiety, mood swings and the constant urge to drink to feel better. Of course, everyone’s body metabolism is unique and the approach must be individualized.

Recommended foods/nutrients include high protein food like eggs, fish, poultry; complex carbs like nuts, beans and vegetables; “good” fats; B complex vitamins and amino acids like glutamine, tyrosine and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). Avoid the “whites” (bread, pasta, rice, sugar) and other refined carbohydrates, and addictive substances such as caffeinated coffee, tea and soft drinks – they all promote spike-crash-and-burn energy cycles.

Glutamine lessens cravings and is the fuel to your small intestine lining – a site that must work if anything else is going to work. Tyrosine is a precursor to dopamine (positive moods), and 5-HTP is precursor to serotonin (a feel-good brain chemical).

In closing, if someone you know is searching for an adjunct to an alcohol treatment program, make sure there is a nutritional therapy part to its program as well.

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