Realest

“One of the many doctors who had the opportunity of reading this book in manuscript form told us that the use of sweets was often helpful, of course depending upon a doctor's advice. He thought all alcoholics should constantly have chocolate available for its quick energy value at times of fatigue. He added that occasionally in the night a vague craving arose which would be satisfied by candy. Many of us have noticed a tendency to eat sweets and have found this practice beneficial.” Page 133-134 Big Book

I’ve heard people, even sober a long time, carrying around chocolate with them in case they get the urge to drink.

Do any one of you carry chocolate around?

Do you think it would help to eat chocolate if you start thinking of alcohol?

Science said it’s non addicting and can be used to boost serotonin and in turn help with cravings.

AAPJ

Personally I think excess sugar is another form of addiction and most chocolate contains a lot of sugar. It's certainly better than consuming alcohol but still a potential problem. So if you choose to consume chocolate the darker the better. My minimum is 70% FWIW. YMMV.

Realest

I didn’t mean a lot of chocolate. Just a small chunk of chocolate to ease the craving.

fini

Realest,
i do not carry chocolate around with me, but i always have some in my cupboard at home. and i have a couple of pieces every evening with my lovely rooibos tea.
not to ward off cravings, but just because i really like chocolate. and yes, the darker the better.
my thoughts on using one substance to deal with craving for another are that i can see that being useful and dangerous. double-edged.
maybe explore the concept of time-frames; when newly sober, one might decide to eat more sweets because one has not developed better coping mechanisms, but hopefully in time this is something that one would work on developing.
since you are quoting from the book, i will just point out that it uses the word craving to describe what happens after the first drink, and not before.

Grungehead

I found that eating anything with sugar in it early in sobriety helped curb cravings. This is because alcohol affects the liver in such a way that prevents it from producing glucose. This causes hypoglycemia which causes the body to crave sugar (and more alcohol). So it's kind of a vicious circle and part of of the physical addiction to alcohol.

Eating something like a piece of chocolate may help to curb the craving for a bit. I found that eating fruit also worked well and was a better source of sugar. Here's an article explaining the connection between alcohol and hypoglycemia: https://reflectionsrehab.com/blog/hy...w-blood-sugar/ I have no affiliation with this place...I just googled "alcohol" and "hypoglycemia" and this particular link seemed to explain it well.

Grungehead

I don't eat much chocolate anymore but I do love it. My sister gave me this for Christmas and they are actually quite tasty.



https://shop.beekman1802.com/products/goat-poop

Dave42001

At the end of my drinking career It was hard for me to eat 1 protein /Cliff bar I was that freaking sick!

I ate anything and everything early on.. I drank a lot of milkshakes and a Ben and Jerry’s!

just me! Keep up the good work!!

Ken33xx

Although I wouldn't say no to chocolate. My first year was about barbecue chips and ice cream.

August252015

Realest - are you having a lot of cravings? I forget if you are seeing a dr. Yes, sweets have been a big thing for me at times along the way- and I have a history of food issues, so maintaining a truly healthy eating routine is important to me - but I pretty much skipped over that part of the BB. There are plenty of other things to deal with intense cravings for alcohol - esp since it seems they can often be emotional etc rather than truly physical. One option is meds meant to diminish/quell them, if that is something a good psych finds appropriate in a person's case.

Have you run all of these questions you've been posing here by your sponsor? I'm assuming you are still using one based on your previous descriptions of step work.

Sunflower79

snitch

I ate so many sweets and chocolate when I quit drinking. There were days I would go to the shop and pick up bags of the stuff. Packs of sweets and different bars of chocolate. I bought them instead of buying wine. Sometimes I would eat until I felt sick. But for me anything was better than picking up a drink. I heard concentrate on not drinking and everything else will follow and that has been true for me. I do still eat it, sometimes more than is good for me but I have a much healthier diet now overall as healthier foods make me feel better and feed my soul. I have lost a stone in weight. (I actually gained weight when I quit drinking). Now the obsession to drink has been lifted from me eating loads of sweets and chocolates would be out of pure greed rather than anything else and I just don't need to eat as much junk anymore.

AlwaysGrowing

Oh! I think my early years were filled with these..

https://www.google.com/search?q=rees...If_pEiE-ZpzPM:

DriGuy

There isn't a lot of actual medical research that has been done on alcoholism. Your doctor may have read the thing about sweets in he Big Book, and is just trying to offer something encouraging. I can't remember if the BB specifies chocolate or not. Chocolate is just another sweet, but high in caffeine. I have heard some alcoholics talk about sweets in general as being helpful.

I never got an ounce of help from sweets or chocolate. and personally I would seriously doubt there is any medical research to back up the claim that, "...all alcoholics should constantly have chocolate available." I think he's just trying to offer a suggestion, because he has nothing else.

I did know one guy with a long history of sobriety that said several times in AA that he liked to reward himself weekly for his sobriety with a good steak dinner. Maybe some alcoholics need a reward for staying sober, but I'm inclined to assume that people just enjoy naughty indulgences like red meat or candy, and I can relate to that.

Otherwise, I don't see a connection there to staying sober. Sobriety itself was always a sufficient reward for me. Steak and candy, or potato chips can be enjoyed without a philosophical spin.

courage2

I sometimes used to eat two spoonfuls of super-rich ice cream to settle a craving. That always helped.

My grandfather always carried hard candies in his pocket after he got sober.

pdm22

When I stopped drinking and quit smoking cold turkey at the same time, in my 20s, I made the switch over to sugar, and unfortunately it ended up being an issue with sugar/ weight gain instead for a while there. I’m in my 40s now and still need to really watch it. Not sure if that will turn into an issue for you or not, but that seems to be a common problem (switching addictions).

Alcohol does deplete your body of amino acids and vitamins/ minerals, which make cravings worse. B vitamins in particular. Eating a diet rich in whole foods; leafy green vegetables, good fats, lean protein, plenty of water and adequate sleep, can help. Evening primrose oil, goldenseal or cayenne pepper can help with cravings. Dandelion or milk thistle tea, to support the liver. Swedish bitters (alcohol free) support the liver & help the body with detox too. Eating fermented foods / probiotics can help heal your gut, which alcohol wreaks havoc on, and causes all kinds of problems like leaky gut and candida over growth, really screwing with neurotransmitter production (this is where the majority of them are produced), and can give a person maddening sugar cravings and mood problems.

Anyways, that’s just what I’ve earned over the years. Maybe the chocolate will be manageable for you and not a problem, but sorting out & doing the above has really helped me manage things.

Hope that helps & good luck.

Realest

There’s scientific proof that chocolate easing cravings.
https://scienceblogs.com/grrlscienti...-and-addiction

DriGuy

Thanks. I read the article, and there was information there that I was not aware of. I'm not denying that chocolate affects cravings. I think I was cautious enough about that when I wrote that previous post. The article is not very convincing, especially in regards to "...all alcoholics should constantly have chocolate available."

Also, as the article also points out, the usefulness of chocolate and sweets is still being scientifically debated. It may eventually be a scientific consensus, even if the effects are subtle, but not yet. Consensus or not, I'm all for anything that helps people get over the hump, and I would never tell an alcoholic not to bother with sweets. There is certainly no harm in it, unless carried to an extreme. And if it helps take someone's mind off of cravings, that's great.

Realest

Yea I was interested because a lady who has 20+ years said she carries around chocolate if she gets cravings. I rarely think about alcohol.

DriGuy

I did early on, but the idea of eating chocolate wasn't something that interested me much, so I never tried it. I'm not sure if I even heard of the chocolate fix at that time.

Tommyh

They told me to have some candy handy when I was new.
Seems like we all have sugar problems,we love it
in the early days they would get a new guy,give him orange juice and honey and have him walk the floors.
For hours they had him walk the floors.It is tied in with the cravings.I was also told I mistook those sugar cravings for a drink crving.My body was really wanting sugar

dam I love sweets,I must be a sugar addict