Nutrition & Vitamins for Recovering Alcoholics? - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

LBW · 10-20-2009, 09:26 AM

I recently read that "A lot of the cravings in withdrawal are caused by low blood sugar; your body is used to 1,000 calories or more of empty sugar from alcohol and has adjusted to working with that every day, and suddenly it's not there anymore."

It was suggested that adjusting your diet and getting vitamin supplements to balance out your blood sugar levels and improve your health can help recovering alcoholics with cravings.

Sugah · 10-20-2009, 10:21 AM

If you're pregnant, you really should discuss your alcoholism, your diet and any supplements you're considering with your doctor.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

LBW · 10-20-2009, 11:47 AM

Sugah,

I honestly appreciate your concern, but I swear on the Bible, I haven't drank this entire pregnancy until I had the "incident", as I'm now calling it. The "incident" was one night where I binged drank at 17 weeks prego. I haven't drank a drop since. So the sequence of events were: 3-4 months of not drinking, then one horrible night, and now back to not drinking.

Honestly, it hasn't been difficult to not drink since the incident... partly because I didn't drink prior to the incident, partly because I don't ever want to hurt this baby again.

The good thing is that the incident was a turning point for me. When I said I am NEVER am going to drink again, it was the first time in my life I have ever said that. Before this I just tried different ways to control the circumstances and days I drank so as to minimize damage.

Even though I don't have urges to drink at this moment in time, just making this declaration has stirred up alot of emotion. I'm trying to confront it now so when I am no longer pregnant, I will continue on this sober path. I know I will be tested when I'm no longer pregnant. I will get cravings and I will start to wonder if I can handle drinking again.

I've thought about it and decided I will not tell my doctor about the incident. I do not believe there is any test she can do to see if there damage. If there is a test, I do not believe she can prescribe anything to correct it. I just had a doctor's appointment and the heartbeat was strong, all indications are the baby is perfectly healthy. I have an ultrasound next week.

I was just posting this thread to ask if anyone has heard of using nutrition and vitamins to help with cravings and to help repair liver damage or whatever. Me being pregnant right now, I'm taking only vitamins that my doctor says I should. But I just thought this topic was interesting. I wondered if focusing on the nutrition side of it could help me stay sober after I give birth.

joedris · 10-20-2009, 02:27 PM

Proper nutrition isn't going to do anything to reduce cravings or help you stay sober. Proper nutrition will help you stay healthy provided that you don't drink. Abstinence from alcohol and an effective recovery program will help you stay sober. One danger alcohol consumption poses to nutrition is that alcohol prevents the body from absorbing Thiamin (Vitamin B-1), and this can lead to Wernikie-Karsakoff Syndrome, or wet brain. Unfortunately, this is an irreversable condition resulting in spending the rest of your life in a mental institution.

**CarolD** · 10-22-2009, 12:10 AM

After consulting with my doctor.....for about
6 months after I quit drinking.....
I followed the eating plan found
in "under The Influence"
by Dr. james Milam and Katharine Ketcham.

You can Google for hypoglycemia for similar plans.

I also began taking a daily multi vitamin + a B Complex

I consider the factors above helped me get back in balance.

LBW · 10-22-2009, 08:57 AM

The idea of "curing" an alcoholic with diet and/or vitamins is ridiculious. However, diet and vitamins can help empower me to be stronger. I know that when I focus on eating healthy, exercising and getting good sleep, I feel so strong physically and mentally. If I study how bad alcohol is for my body, it's just one more reason I don't want to drink it. I love feeling healthy and strong. It's such a contrast from what I used to feel in the throws of alcoholism.

My mother-in-law is a hippie new-age vegan and she would probably say (if I ever were to tell her, which I won't) that all my problems with drinking could be solved if I went on a raw food diet. She's been trying to convince me not to get the swine flu shot. I'm pregnant and she thinks vaccines will damage the fetus. So I asked her what she thought about these pregnant women and children that have recently died from the swine flu in our area. She told me they only died because they didn't have proper nutrition. She shrugged and said some people feed their children a diet of junk food. Once she told me that a family friend's baby got cancer because the woman didn't breastfeed. For all her new-age talk, she sure is judgemental blaming people for their own sicknesses. She would never understand alcoholism.
Some people don't.

gonezo77 · 01-13-2010, 09:04 AM

It is my experience any sort of artificial stimulation to the nervous system (including the supplementation of vitamins [notably B vitamins]) is detrimental during my recovery process. I am surprised others have not noticed the same effect.

--Nate

blackbirdsing · 01-13-2010, 10:54 AM

You will "pee out" the excess water soluble vitamins/minerals, but some are not water soluble and the excess is stored in your liver and fatty tissue. (these are referred to as fat soluble and are dangerous in high levels) Vit's A, D and E are examples of fat soluble vitamins and I would definitely talk to your doc before ingesting amounts in excess of the RDA, esp. during pregnancy.
I do know that Omega 3's are essential to brain development, and can be easily added to your diet through oils, nuts and even some veggies. Again, I would talk to your doc- most will advise avoiding supplements such as fish oil during pregnancy- flax oil is a better choice.

Coolmel · 01-13-2010, 01:54 PM

food definately impacted my drinking. on an empty stomach i could drink 12 beers in 4 or 5 hours.

if i ate a big meal it seemed to impact my desire for alcohol. i could maybe drink 6-8. it may have been just because i was a beer drinker...which seems to fill me up more than the gin and tonics.

**CarolD** · 01-13-2010, 03:01 PM

Coolmel....

Welcome back to our Alcoholism Forum
I hope your early sobriety is running smoothly.

barb dwyer · 01-13-2010, 07:47 PM

Someone very dear to me,
who can understand the jibberjabber
confusing & conflicting 'health' food talk
and jargon told me ONE thing

that I did... and it worked.

"Eat real food".

Period.

So I don't buy all that processed stuff any more.
The occasional salami, but ...
other than Ice cream... everything else is from scratch.

Coolmel · 01-14-2010, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarolD

Coolmel....

Welcome back to our Alcoholism Forum
I hope your early sobriety is running smoothly.

thanks carol...day 19 here.

Ramblon · 10-02-2011, 09:53 PM

I've been eating healthy since my quitting 22 days ago. Multivitamin, fish oil supplement, salads, fruit, fish and chicken and some exercise has helped a great deal. Zero cravings ! I use to drink like a fish too. Last time I dried out I had headaches and cravings. Good nutrition helped a thousand fold. Oh and I lost 7 lbs in these 3 weeks.

**CarolD** · 10-02-2011, 10:43 PM

Ramblon...glad to know you are continueing to move forward...

north · 10-03-2011, 08:37 AM

If one is pregnant - whether or not they are an alcoholic - it's a good idea to consult their physician about pre-natal vitamins. They include certain differences such as higher than normal levels of folic acid (Vitamin B9) in order to help prevent certain birth defects.

As for regular multivitamins etc., I no longer take any - which is sometimes hard for me to believe. When I was drinking, I'd have a vast array of supplements - a multivitamin/multimineral, fish oil capsules, additional Vitamin C and Vitamin D, N-Acetycysteine, Alpha Lipoic Acid ... the whole gamut. It was mainly to help counteract my increasingly killer hangovers and crappy eating habits.

Although I didn't make any sort of conscious effort, I somehow naturally weaned myself off the idea that I somehow needed a supplement. This probably happened in natural response to my daily diet getting more and more healthy. I'm now following the advice of my (physician) colleague that once made me cringe "if you're eating a proper diet, you don't need all those damned supplements!"

Anyways, if you are taking multi-vitamins/minerals - whether prescribed or OTC - keep in mind that sometimes they can cause mild side-effects such as upset stomach. Often it has to do with mineral content. I had a friend who reacted poorly to her physician-prescribed pre-natal vitamins and in my case, a popular OTC brand, One-A-Day, had me clutching my stomach due to the inevitable cramping sensation I'd get a minute after swallowing a pill. It seems to really differ from person to person.

SASA · 10-03-2011, 03:21 PM

I took L-Glutamin and it helped me with my cravings. However I took it in the form of a protein poder so maybe it was the protein powder filling me up....

HuskyPup · 10-03-2011, 06:18 PM

Huh, I switched to diet sodas when I stopped, and also, started to eat more protein, and to drinking ginseng tea. (brewed from red Chinese roots) I did crave boiled red-skinned potatoes for a while, I suppose for the cabs, but also because they taste good, especially cooked in stock. But I have tried to eat healthy...lots of greens, lean meats, not many carbs, mainly pasta/rice. I will admit to not eating as much/often as I should, though...I have lost weight,. and kind of want to keep losing, plus, it saves $$$, not to eat too much. I just do not want to let not eating become a new addiction! I figure, I am 5'^'...I used to weigh 125 pounds in college, so I want to be like that again...I was over 140 at one point.

Part of me hates the idea of fat...or even muscle...maybe this is odd, for a guy...but I want to be skinny/sinewy looking, and the idea of maybe getting fat scares me...but also helps me not to drink, as booze has all those calories!!!!!

Beebizzy · 10-03-2011, 10:06 PM

I took a multi vit, omega 3 and a vitamin B complex. I've also tried to improve my diet by including a lot more fruit and veg, and more variety (I still have work to do on that though :-)). Didn't have any cravings, though not sure this is the reason. Might be.

BB

Froglet · 10-04-2011, 05:36 PM

your diet is critical, nost just supplements.

check w/ ur doctor.

10-20-2009, 09:26 AM	#1 (permalink)
LBW Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 91	Nutrition & Vitamins for Recovering Alcoholics? I recently read that "A lot of the cravings in withdrawal are caused by low blood sugar; your body is used to 1,000 calories or more of empty sugar from alcohol and has adjusted to working with that every day, and suddenly it's not there anymore." It was suggested that adjusting your diet and getting vitamin supplements to balance out your blood sugar levels and improve your health can help recovering alcoholics with cravings. Last edited by CarolD; 10-02-2011 at 10:52 PM. Reason: Link removed -commerical site

10-20-2009, 10:21 AM	#2 (permalink)
Sugah Om, Aum, Ohm... Mini Pool 2 Champion! Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Punxsutawney/Pittsburgh Posts: 4,596	If you're pregnant, you really should discuss your alcoholism, your diet and any supplements you're considering with your doctor. Peace & Love, Sugah __________________ There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done Keep me in your heart for awhile ~WZ ANS 01/29/86 - 08/04/08

10-20-2009, 02:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
joedris Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 818	Proper nutrition isn't going to do anything to reduce cravings or help you stay sober. Proper nutrition will help you stay healthy provided that you don't drink. Abstinence from alcohol and an effective recovery program will help you stay sober. One danger alcohol consumption poses to nutrition is that alcohol prevents the body from absorbing Thiamin (Vitamin B-1), and this can lead to Wernikie-Karsakoff Syndrome, or wet brain. Unfortunately, this is an irreversable condition resulting in spending the rest of your life in a mental institution. __________________ God, Please set aside all I think I know about myself, my disease, the Big Book, the 12 Steps, the Program, the people in the fellowship, spiritual terms, and especially about you God so I may have an open mind and a new experience with these things. Amen

10-22-2009, 12:10 AM	#5 (permalink)
CarolD Forum Leader Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Serene In Dixie Posts: 34,835	After consulting with my doctor.....for about 6 months after I quit drinking..... I followed the eating plan found in "under The Influence" by Dr. james Milam and Katharine Ketcham. You can Google for hypoglycemia for similar plans. I also began taking a daily multi vitamin + a B Complex I consider the factors above helped me get back in balance. __________________ Each Day Sober Is A Victory!! Joy In AA Recovery!

01-13-2010, 10:54 AM	#8 (permalink)
blackbirdsing Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 133	You will "pee out" the excess water soluble vitamins/minerals, but some are not water soluble and the excess is stored in your liver and fatty tissue. (these are referred to as fat soluble and are dangerous in high levels) Vit's A, D and E are examples of fat soluble vitamins and I would definitely talk to your doc before ingesting amounts in excess of the RDA, esp. during pregnancy. I do know that Omega 3's are essential to brain development, and can be easily added to your diet through oils, nuts and even some veggies. Again, I would talk to your doc- most will advise avoiding supplements such as fish oil during pregnancy- flax oil is a better choice. __________________ "I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail Yes I would, if I could, I surely would"

10-20-2009, 11:47 AM	#3 (permalink)
LBW Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 91	Sugah, I honestly appreciate your concern, but I swear on the Bible, I haven't drank this entire pregnancy until I had the "incident", as I'm now calling it. The "incident" was one night where I binged drank at 17 weeks prego. I haven't drank a drop since. So the sequence of events were: 3-4 months of not drinking, then one horrible night, and now back to not drinking. Honestly, it hasn't been difficult to not drink since the incident... partly because I didn't drink prior to the incident, partly because I don't ever want to hurt this baby again. The good thing is that the incident was a turning point for me. When I said I am NEVER am going to drink again, it was the first time in my life I have ever said that. Before this I just tried different ways to control the circumstances and days I drank so as to minimize damage. Even though I don't have urges to drink at this moment in time, just making this declaration has stirred up alot of emotion. I'm trying to confront it now so when I am no longer pregnant, I will continue on this sober path. I know I will be tested when I'm no longer pregnant. I will get cravings and I will start to wonder if I can handle drinking again. I've thought about it and decided I will not tell my doctor about the incident. I do not believe there is any test she can do to see if there damage. If there is a test, I do not believe she can prescribe anything to correct it. I just had a doctor's appointment and the heartbeat was strong, all indications are the baby is perfectly healthy. I have an ultrasound next week. I was just posting this thread to ask if anyone has heard of using nutrition and vitamins to help with cravings and to help repair liver damage or whatever. Me being pregnant right now, I'm taking only vitamins that my doctor says I should. But I just thought this topic was interesting. I wondered if focusing on the nutrition side of it could help me stay sober after I give birth.

10-22-2009, 08:57 AM	#6 (permalink)
LBW Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 91	The idea of "curing" an alcoholic with diet and/or vitamins is ridiculious. However, diet and vitamins can help empower me to be stronger. I know that when I focus on eating healthy, exercising and getting good sleep, I feel so strong physically and mentally. If I study how bad alcohol is for my body, it's just one more reason I don't want to drink it. I love feeling healthy and strong. It's such a contrast from what I used to feel in the throws of alcoholism. My mother-in-law is a hippie new-age vegan and she would probably say (if I ever were to tell her, which I won't) that all my problems with drinking could be solved if I went on a raw food diet. She's been trying to convince me not to get the swine flu shot. I'm pregnant and she thinks vaccines will damage the fetus. So I asked her what she thought about these pregnant women and children that have recently died from the swine flu in our area. She told me they only died because they didn't have proper nutrition. She shrugged and said some people feed their children a diet of junk food. Once she told me that a family friend's baby got cancer because the woman didn't breastfeed. For all her new-age talk, she sure is judgemental blaming people for their own sicknesses. She would never understand alcoholism. Some people don't.

01-13-2010, 09:04 AM	#7 (permalink)
gonezo77 Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 15	It is my experience any sort of artificial stimulation to the nervous system (including the supplementation of vitamins [notably B vitamins]) is detrimental during my recovery process. I am surprised others have not noticed the same effect. --Nate

01-13-2010, 01:54 PM	#9 (permalink)
Coolmel Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 15	food definately impacted my drinking. on an empty stomach i could drink 12 beers in 4 or 5 hours. if i ate a big meal it seemed to impact my desire for alcohol. i could maybe drink 6-8. it may have been just because i was a beer drinker...which seems to fill me up more than the gin and tonics.

01-13-2010, 03:01 PM	#10 (permalink)
CarolD Forum Leader Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Serene In Dixie Posts: 34,835	Coolmel.... Welcome back to our Alcoholism Forum I hope your early sobriety is running smoothly. __________________ Each Day Sober Is A Victory!! Joy In AA Recovery!

01-13-2010, 07:47 PM	#11 (permalink)
barb dwyer same planet...different world Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: butte mt Posts: 10,933 Blog Entries: 7	Someone very dear to me, who can understand the jibberjabber confusing & conflicting 'health' food talk and jargon told me ONE thing that I did... and it worked. "Eat real food". Period. So I don't buy all that processed stuff any more. The occasional salami, but ... other than Ice cream... everything else is from scratch. __________________ Knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in fruit salad.

10-02-2011, 09:53 PM	#13 (permalink)
Ramblon Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: new york Posts: 29	I've been eating healthy since my quitting 22 days ago. Multivitamin, fish oil supplement, salads, fruit, fish and chicken and some exercise has helped a great deal. Zero cravings ! I use to drink like a fish too. Last time I dried out I had headaches and cravings. Good nutrition helped a thousand fold. Oh and I lost 7 lbs in these 3 weeks.

10-02-2011, 10:43 PM	#14 (permalink)
CarolD Forum Leader Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Serene In Dixie Posts: 34,835	Ramblon...glad to know you are continueing to move forward... __________________ Each Day Sober Is A Victory!! Joy In AA Recovery!

10-03-2011, 08:37 AM	#15 (permalink)
north Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Overseas... on the shore of an uncharted desert isle. Posts: 223	If one is pregnant - whether or not they are an alcoholic - it's a good idea to consult their physician about pre-natal vitamins. They include certain differences such as higher than normal levels of folic acid (Vitamin B9) in order to help prevent certain birth defects. As for regular multivitamins etc., I no longer take any - which is sometimes hard for me to believe. When I was drinking, I'd have a vast array of supplements - a multivitamin/multimineral, fish oil capsules, additional Vitamin C and Vitamin D, N-Acetycysteine, Alpha Lipoic Acid ... the whole gamut. It was mainly to help counteract my increasingly killer hangovers and crappy eating habits. Although I didn't make any sort of conscious effort, I somehow naturally weaned myself off the idea that I somehow needed a supplement. This probably happened in natural response to my daily diet getting more and more healthy. I'm now following the advice of my (physician) colleague that once made me cringe "if you're eating a proper diet, you don't need all those damned supplements!" Anyways, if you are taking multi-vitamins/minerals - whether prescribed or OTC - keep in mind that sometimes they can cause mild side-effects such as upset stomach. Often it has to do with mineral content. I had a friend who reacted poorly to her physician-prescribed pre-natal vitamins and in my case, a popular OTC brand, One-A-Day, had me clutching my stomach due to the inevitable cramping sensation I'd get a minute after swallowing a pill. It seems to really differ from person to person.

10-03-2011, 03:21 PM	#16 (permalink)
SASA Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 467	I took L-Glutamin and it helped me with my cravings. However I took it in the form of a protein poder so maybe it was the protein powder filling me up.... __________________ We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets." Marylin Monroe

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10-03-2011, 06:18 PM	#17 (permalink)
HuskyPup Shape-Shifting Super-Hero Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Eating Tofu! Posts: 641	Huh, I switched to diet sodas when I stopped, and also, started to eat more protein, and to drinking ginseng tea. (brewed from red Chinese roots) I did crave boiled red-skinned potatoes for a while, I suppose for the cabs, but also because they taste good, especially cooked in stock. But I have tried to eat healthy...lots of greens, lean meats, not many carbs, mainly pasta/rice. I will admit to not eating as much/often as I should, though...I have lost weight,. and kind of want to keep losing, plus, it saves $$$, not to eat too much. I just do not want to let not eating become a new addiction! I figure, I am 5'^'...I used to weigh 125 pounds in college, so I want to be like that again...I was over 140 at one point. Part of me hates the idea of fat...or even muscle...maybe this is odd, for a guy...but I want to be skinny/sinewy looking, and the idea of maybe getting fat scares me...but also helps me not to drink, as booze has all those calories!!!!! __________________ $C:\Documents and Settings\kcarps\My Documents\My Pictures\cb_my__kryptonite_bbcolorbar.gif$ Teen Titans Go! "The body is the soul."-Nietzsche

10-03-2011, 10:06 PM	#18 (permalink)
Beebizzy Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Brussels, Belgium Posts: 266	I took a multi vit, omega 3 and a vitamin B complex. I've also tried to improve my diet by including a lot more fruit and veg, and more variety (I still have work to do on that though :-)). Didn't have any cravings, though not sure this is the reason. Might be. BB

10-04-2011, 05:36 PM	#19 (permalink)
Froglet Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 167	your diet is critical, nost just supplements. check w/ ur doctor.

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