Vitamin Supplementation Fights Alcoholism

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Fri, 1 Jul 2005 14:46:19 -0500

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Vitamin Supplementation Fights Alcoholism

 

 

 

 

Treatment Protocol for Alcoholism

(Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, July 1, 2005)

 

A Message from Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.:

 

" Ever since I met Bill W, the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous and we

became close friends, I have had a personal interest in the treatment

of alcoholism. Bill taught that there were three components to the

treatment of alcoholism: spiritual, mental and medical. AA provided a

spiritual home for alcoholics that many could not find anywhere else and

helped them sustain abstinence. But for many AA alone was not enough; not

everyone in AA had achieved a comfortable sobriety. Bill recognized that

the other two components were important. When he heard of our use of

niacin for treating alcoholics, he became very enthusiastic about it

because niacin gave these unfortunate patients immense relief from their

chronic depression and other physical and mental complaints.

 

" Niacin is the most important single treatment for alcoholism, and it

is one of the most reliable treatments. And it is safe, much safer than

any of the modern psychiatric drugs. Niacin does not work as well when

alcoholics are still drinking but in a few cases it has decreased the

intake of alcohol until they were abstinent. This conclusion is based on

the work my colleagues and I have done since 1953.

 

" I know of many alcoholics who did not want to stop drinking, but did

agree to take niacin. Over the years, they gradually were able to reduce

their intake until they brought it under control. Some alcoholics can

even become social drinkers on a very small scale. I have not found many

who could. But I think that if started on the program very early, many

more could achieve normalcy. I suspect that treatment centers using

those ideas will be made available one day, and will be much more

successful than the standard treatment today. This all too often still

consists

of dumping them into hospitals and letting them dry out, with severe

pain and suffering. When they are discharged, most go right back to the

alcohol, the most dangerous and widely used street drug available

without a prescription.

 

" Orthomolecular treatment is the treatment of choice. The following

protocol for alcoholism outlines the importance of the nutritional

factors

that have been shown to be very successful on treating this condition.

The treatment can be used alone but is best combined with dietary

advice and additional nutrients. "

 

The late Dr. Roger Williams, a chemistry professor at the University of

Texas and former president of the American Chemical Society, also wrote

extensively on the alcoholism.[1] Dr. Williams recommended large doses

of vitamins and an amino acid called L-glutamine.

 

What should the alcoholic do to help stop drinking and return his or

her body to normal functioning? Supply the following nutrients to the

body:

 

1. Vitamin C to saturation (on the order of 10,000 to 20,000 mg per day

and more). High doses of vitamin C chemically neutralize the toxic

breakdown products of alcohol metabolism. Vitamin C also increases the

liver's ability to reverse the fatty build-up so common in alcoholics.

 

To titrate to saturation, take 1000 mg of vitamin C every hour. When

saturation is reached, there will be a single episode of diarrhea; then

reduce the dosage to 1000 mg every four hours.

 

2. A B50-complex tablet (comprising 50 mg of each of the major

B-vitamins, 6 times daily).

 

3. L-Glutamine (2000 or 3000 mg). L-Glutamine is an amino acid that

decreases physiological cravings for alcohol. It is one the two primary

energy providers that burn glycogen to provide fuel to the brain and

stimulates many neurofunctions. L- Glutamine is naturally produced in

the liver and kidneys. Alcohol harms the kidneys and liver, thus

supplementation is vital (concurrently reducing cravings for sugar and

alcohol).

 

4. Lecithin (2 to 4 tablespoons daily). Provides inositol and choline,

related to the B-complex. Lecithin also helps mobilize fats out of the

liver.

 

5. Chromium (at least 200 to perhaps 400 mcg chromium polynicotinate

daily). Chromium greatly reduces carbohydrate mis-metabolism, and

greatly helps control blood sugar levels. Many, if not most,

alcoholics are

hypoglycemic.

 

6. A good high-potency multi-vitamin, multi-mineral supplement as well,

containing magnesium (400 mg) and the antioxidants carotene and d-alpha

tocopherol.

 

 

In summary, the alcoholic's body needs the proper nutrients in adequate

quantities to return to normal metabolic functioning. The above

nutrients are safe, effective, inexpensive and available from discount

stores

or health food stores without prescription.

 

There is not even one death per year from vitamins. Pharmaceutical

drugs, properly prescribed and taken as directed, kill over 100,000

Americans annually. Hospital errors kill still more.

 

Most illness is due fundamentally to malnutrition. This not only

includes the chronic diseases, but also viral and bacterial acute

illness,

which are greatly aggravated by inadequate nutrition.

 

Supplements are not the problem; they are the solution. Malnutrition is

the problem.

 

What is Orthomolecular Medicine?

 

Linus Pauling defined orthomolecular medicine as " the treatment of

disease by the provision of the optimum molecular environment, especially

the optimum concentrations of substances normally present in the human

body. " Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy

to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org

 

Take the Orthomolecular Quiz at

http://www.orthomolecular.org/quiz/index.shtml

 

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit

and non-commercial informational resource.

 

Editorial Review Board:

 

Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.

Harold D. Foster, Ph.D.

Bradford Weeks, M.D.

Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.

Eric Patterson, M.D.

 

Andrew W. Saul, contact person. email: omns .

 

To UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.orthomolecular.org/.html

To at no charge: http://orthomolecular.org/.html

 

[1] Williams, RJ, Roach, MK, " Impaired and inadequate glucose

metabolism in the brain as an underlying cause of alcoholism--an

hypothesis. " ,

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1966 August; 56(2): 566–571.

http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=224410

 

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