Alcohol Addiction: Ten Ways To Stop Drinking So Much

Alcohol drinking and binge drinking are driven by powerful nutritional influences. For almost all heavy drinkers and alcoholics, changing nutritional habits can make it easier to control drinking habits, and alcoholics can use diet to avoid falling off the wagon. Here are 10 principles of nutrition every problem drinker needs to know.

1. Sugar drives alcohol consumption.

Increasing blood sugar levels makes it easier for the liver to clear alcohol out of the bloodstream. As both blood sugar levels and blood alcohol levels fall, people who have a problem with alcohol begin to crave both alcohol and sugar. Consuming either substance alone creates a craving for the other. Avoiding alcohol helps sugar addicts avoid sugar, and avoiding sugar, even if it takes a lot of willpower, helps alcohol addicts avoid alcohol.

2. High-fructose corn syrup is especially problematic for heavy drinkers.

High-fructose corn syrup is used to sweeten soft drinks, candies, baked goods, fruit juices, cereals, and bread. High-fructose corn syrup is only "high" in fructose. It's not 100% fructose. The other sugar in the mix is glucose. The problem high-fructose corn syrup for alcoholics and other problem drinkers is that it prolongs the "sugar high" that comes from eating too many sweets, and it deepens the "sugar crash" that inevitably follows. Pure table sugar, while not recommended for anyone, can cause fewer problems for alcoholics.

3. A banana daiquiri or a Bloody Mary can make you drunker faster.

Bananas and tomatoes contain unusually large amounts of naturally occurring serotonin. These two plants (and also walnuts) make the same antidepressant chemical that is found in the human brain and also in the lining of the digestive tract. When you consume a banana daiquiri or a Bloody Mary, you give the lining of your digestive tract a dose of a natural antidepressant. Besides increasing the likelihood of diarrhea and gas, the natural serotonin causes the drink to pass out of your stomach faster so the alcohol it contains is absorbed into your stomach faster. 

4. Certain protein foods help your brain make pleasure chemicals similar to those it makes in response to alcohol.

The brain makes a number of different reward chemicals that give a feeling of satisfaction, of not needing to drink or eat or play to feel good. One of these chemicals is enkephalin, which is made in greater abundance when the brain has an adequate supply of the amino acid D-phenylalanine. You don't necessarily have to take a phenylalanine supplement or eat a high-phenylalanine food every time you drink, but it's a good idea to eat egg whites, tofu, seaweeds, pork skins, or cheese on a regular basis to provide your brain with phenylalanine.

More Dietary Interventions That Help You Get a Handle on Drinking

5. Most alcoholics and heavy drinkers suffer magnesium deficiencies.

Magnesium is a mineral that the body uses to make over 200 different enzymes. Magnesium deficiency is a key factor in depression, degenerative diseases of the brain, and heart disease. It's easy to get enough magnesium, however. Simply make a point of eating at least one serving of a green leafy vegetable every day, or take 400 mg of a magnesium supplement, which will only cost a few cents. Magnesium helps many heavy drinkers sleep better and also to avoid bouts of depression that increase the temptation to drink.

6. The liver makes the detoxifying enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (the enzyme that reverses a hangover) with vitamin A.

Drinking alcohol interferes with the small intestine's ability to absorb vitamin A, but making detoxifying enzymes depletes the liver's supply of vitamin A. Consuming small amounts of vitamin-rich foods every day is essential to detoxification. There's no better natural or artificial source of vitamin A than cod liver oil, but if that's not for you, a small amount of butter or whole milk every day can supply vitamin A in the form the liver uses, or eating several servings of colorful vegetables (such as carrots or squash) every week will provide beta-carotene that the body can convert into vitamin A to make the enzymes that help you get over a hangover.

7. The "munchies" (assuming you do not also smoke pot) are your brain's way of dealing with depression.

High-carbohydrate snacks raise your blood sugar levels, which in turn make it easier for your brain to absorb the amino acid tryptophan, which in turn it uses to make the feel-good chemical serotonin. If you have constant cravings for crunchy high-carb snacks, chances are that your brain is trying to stave off depression. Unfortunately, the sugar your digestive tract releases from these snacks will increase cravings for alcohol. Most problem drinkers find that they have to deal with depression before they can control their appetites either for food or for alcohol, whether or not they are overweight.

8. Cooking with wine or sherry is a no-no for problem drinkers.

Many cookbook authors tell us that the alcohol in cooking sherry or wine added to food boils off, but laboratory testing finds that 5 to 85% of the alcohol added to a food stays in the food, especially if it is cooked in a pot or pan with a closed lid. Cherries jubilee, for instance, retains 75% of the alcohol added for the flambe. Almost any time alcohol is added to a dish that is cooked for less than an hour, most of the alcohol remains with the food.

9. Instead of wine, try a verjuice.

A verjuice is the liquid pressed from unripe fruit. The original use of verjuices was to make Dijon mustard, but nowadays verjuices are used in place of wine when it is necessary to avoid alcohol. 

10. The more you smoke, the more you will want to drink.

The nicotine in tobacco smoke slows down the rate at which food leaves the stomach. More alcohol is broken down in the stomach rather than absorbed in the small intestine, so smokers naturally crave more alcohol to drink. The net effect of smoking on intoxication is minimal, but smoking cigarettes leads drinkers to want to drink more, the more you drink, the more likely you are to get drunk.