Giving Up Alcohol Vitamins

GIVING UP ALCOHOL – VITAMINS CAN HELP: If you have come to this site because you seriously wish to stop drinking, then I would say that you are halfway there to achieving your goal. Recognizing that one has a problem begins the process whereby we get on to fixing it. We visualize ourselves as we wish to be – a non-drinker. The next step is to begin examining and trying methods which might help us achieve our goal.

For me, finally, there was only one route which I knew I had to take if I was to survive, and that was through the well known body of people who devote themselves to their own sobriety and to helping others give up the booze. (I don’t think I am permitted to quote the organization) However, whether or not you choose to follow a similar path to my own, there is no doubt that in giving up alcohol, vitamins can be of enormous value.

In aiding recovery from any addiction, I would put Vitamin C in the form of a non-acidic type such as calcium ascorbate powder, or Ester C, at the top of my list. Vitamin B would come very close to this. But I think Vitamin C in the above mentioned forms is highly recommended because of its multiple benefits to the person giving up alcohol. The non-acidic types of Vitamin C enable you to take large quantities without your stomach acids being upset at all.

Large doses of Vitamin C are beneficial for the person giving up alcohol, as this helps you cope with anxiety and stress while you are making the adjustment to living without alcohol: Vitamin C in 1000mg doses also works as a sedative and a pain-killer.  It is therefore of great value in giving up addictions. A dose of 1000mg morning and night will help in the general scheme of things  in giving up alcohol- you should sleep better, also, if you take the second (or third) dose for the day in the evening. Don’t worry if your bowel motions are on the loose side to begin with: this is beneficial for the body initially, as many toxins will be expelled via the Vitamin C.  After a few days, you can reduce the amount slightly so that the bowel motions become more normal. You might decide that only the one dose at night-time, to help sleep as well as detoxify, is necessary.

Remember to drink plenty of WATER . Alcohol lovers often drink nothing else except the booze, or coffee, and become used to being dehydrated. Being dehydrated causes another stress in the body and brain which could lead to your succumbing again to a drink of booze, apart from the possibility of damaging your kidneys, liver, and limiting your brain power. You need more water whilst you are giving up alcohol; Vitamins C and B supplements, and indeed all supplements, need extra water for their efficient assimilation.

Vitamin C also helps the body achieve an alkaline state: an acidic body which results from eating too much processed food, dairy products, wheat flour products like bread and pastries and animal protein, bring about an acidic condition in the body. An acidic body creates a stress on the vital organs and the brain, and so you are more likely to want to drink alcohol or take some pacifier which will alleviate this if your body is in an acidic condition. Vitamin C such as calcium ascorbate in 1000mg doses will help you very quickly to restore an alkaline state to the body.

In giving up alcohol, vitamins such as Vitamin C must be supplemented with a good alkaline diet to obtain the best results, the main goal being to create a favourable state of mind and body so that you can make the transition easily. Limit your intake of all acid forming foods such as meats, dairy products, and wheat and sugar. Maximize your intake of foods such as all raw and cooked greens, sprouted grains and seeds like mung beans and alfalfa, which are very alkaline forming, use brown rice when you can to replace wheat products, olive oil to replace butter if you can afford it, raw egg yolk from free range chickens (2 a day – but not the white, as this is acid forming and mucous forming). Eat fruit, but do not overdo, otherwise you may still be overdoing the sugar content in your diet. This brings us to the problem of hypoglycaemia:

Hypoglycaemia,which is, in layman’s terms, the rocketing of blood sugar levels which drop drastically leaving you feeling tired and listless, can be the reason people are drawn to drinking excessively. Alcohol contains a lot of sugar. The hypoglycaemic problem can easily be disguised by taking another drink, as this makes sugar readily available to the body: It is absorbed very quickly into the blood stream. This is a contributing factor in the classic hang-over: your blood sugar is extremely low.  You feel dreadful. You don’t feel right again until you take another drink: bingo. You feel OK again, because you have just had an enormous hit of sugar, but meanwhile the problem is worsening. Hypoglycaemia leads, in many cases, to diabetes, because in the end, the adrenal glands cannot cope with the state of affairs, that is, surviving on a diet of excessive sugar. If you let yourself get to this chronic state of ill-health, then it is very likely you will be forced to give up alcohol anyway. Far better that you are giving up alcohol willingly before this dire situation arises.

If you think you might be hypoglycaemic, with rocketing blood sugar levels contributing to your being addicted to the bottle, then you need to follow the above dietary advice, the ‘Giving up alcohol Vitamins’ included. You also need to be especially careful not to fall into the trap of drinking sweetened bottled drinks to substitute alcohol. You can become addicted to these also.  Apart from the fact that they might cause you to gain weight, the high sugar content and low nutritional value in such drinks will not help you to stabilize your blood sugar levels and will not help you regain your health.

The hypoglycaemic needs to eat small amounts of healthy food throughout the day in order to establish an unfluctuating blood sugar level. As long as you avoid dairy products, wheat and sugar, you won’t get fat. You will also need to limit your intake of fruit until your blood sugar levels remain more constant. Definately avoid bread and other wheat products, and use brown rice instead, with olive oil added to the meal. Eat lots of greens, raw and cooked, and a reasonable amount of protein.  A vegetarian approach which draws its protein source from raw egg yolk, 2 a day, avocado and almonds and nuts is excellent. Great quantities of meat are best avoided, but a nice, balanced meal which includes some protein, meat if you wish, some raw food and some rice, should be the aim at every meal. When you begin to improve, you can introduce more fruit into your diet. I find, having been in this very situation myself, that fruit mixed with a protein food like soya milk, almonds and a couple of raw egg yolks, all blended up together, produces an easily palatable drink which does not affect the blood sugar level adversely. This is because protein and fats help the sugar in the fruit to be assimilated more slowly and gently into the bloodstream so that you don’t experience the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome.

If you are giving up alcohol, vitamins such as Vitamin B Complex, and the minerals zinc and magnesium are also very important. Vitamin B is another vitamin which helps you to manage stress effectively. The stress from giving up alcohol can be overwhelming in the beginning of your self-treatment. Vitamins C and B can be so effective that they can substitute, in many cases, the need to take a palliative drug in order to cope with the stress.

The minerals zinc and magnesium, which you can usually buy as a combination, do wonders for restoring the body’s ability to process carbohydrates. They help prevent the blood sugar levels from rocketing too much, and this, in turn, makes you feel less like taking an alcoholic drink which is charged with sugar.

Evening Primrose oil has been found to be helpful for many people, or St John’s Wort. Take care NOT to overdose on these herbal supplements. If you are taking zinc, magnesium and B complex as well, I would recommend taking a lesser amount then the stated dose of these herbs. You can create a stress in the body by suddenly putting into it a variety of foreign substances such as vitamins and minerals. Be moderate. Vitamins C and B, Zinc and magnesium are ESSENTIALS. You can use larger quantities of Vitamin C than is stated, but do not exceed the stated dose on anything else.

Breathing Exercises for Deep Relaxation are very important in giving up alcohol. See my post to ‘Maximize Your Prana Intake’ and ‘Yoga Nidra’. Good breathing practice is as important as diet and vitamins in the wholistic approach towards regaining health. Good breathing practice helps you cope with anxiety, lowers stress and oxygenates the body and brain. Do look at these posts – and one which includes breathing for better sleep.

If you faithfully try to do your best using all the above measures, you will surely succeed in giving up alcohol. Best wishes.