Pantothenic
Acid And Alcoholism
Written By Nutriwonders
CAN YOU REDUCE YOUR CRAVING
FOR ALCOHOL? Dr. Roger Williams, the same doctor who discovered one
of the most famous B vitamins, pantothenic acid, seems to have proven
that you can.
He conducted experiments
in which he offered laboratory rats a choice of water or l0% alcohol
with water. He observed that when fed normal rat chow, about l0% of
the rats chose alcohol and drank excessively. However, he found that
by adjusting the vitamins and minerals in the rat chow, he could significantly
change the number of "alcoholic" rats. Decreasing nutrients
induced alcoholism in almost all of the animals, while increasing nutrients
to megadose levels eliminated the urge to drink alcohol in virtually
all the animals.
With this research available,
why then is alcohol viewed as a mental disorder with treatment focusing
on psychological and behavioral techniques? Alcoholics die at a rate
three times that of the general population, and almost 25% of treated
alcoholics commit suicide. Programs that seek to uncover the emotional
problems that drive the alcoholic to drink and emphasize personal responsibility
and spiritual guidance have an abysmal success rate. There are no statistics
for AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). However, other programs report that only
l5% to 25% of alcoholics treated by these techniques remain abstinent
after one year. Many of them continue to be plagued by cravings, anxiety
and depression.
This last fact is interesting
in view of what William Mayer, M.D., former chief of the U.S. Alcohol,
Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration says. He says that alcoholism
is "a disease...genetically determined...clearly progressive...
We can predict its course even though the speed of its course may vary
from person to person. It is ultimately fatal. It leads to a predictable
physical deterioration and often some mental impairment, and it occurs
in people who have no discernible previous psychological or emotional
disorders."
WHAT'S THE SOLUTION? Joan
Mathews Larson, Ph.D. director of the Health Recovery Center in Minneapolis,
discovered scores of studies clearly establishing the genetic-nutritional
connection and has spent the last 20 years developing, refining and
implementing nutritional protocols for treating alcoholism.
IT WORKS! 75% of the Health
Recovery Center graduates remain sober one year after treatment. In
a follow-up study of 95 graduates published in the International Journal
of Biosocial and Medical Research, 74% were still abstinent after 3
1/2 years. The alcohol craving was stopped. The former alcoholics ceased
to suffer from depression, anxiety and other unpleasant symptoms most
recovering alcoholics experience.
WHY DOES IT WORK? Many alcoholics
have a genetic inability to convert essential fatty acids in food to
prostaglandin E1 and, as a consequence, are almost always depressed
from their teens. In these people, alcohol activates the protaglandin
E1 in the brain and dramatically elevates mood. They drink because it's
the only thing that makes them feel normal.
Therefore the program includes
those nutrients which the body requires for the elevation of mood by
stimulating the productions of hormones such as serotonin. The nutrients
include Vitamin C, B-complex, Glutamine (an amino acid), tryptophan
(an amino acid found in sufficient quantities in many protein powder
mixes) which produces serotonin, and essential fatty acids such as gamma-linolenic
acid which is found in Evening Primrose Oil, Borage Oil and can be made
in the body from Flax-seed oil.
All of these nutrients can
easily be found in any health food store or in the vitamin section of
your local pharmacy.
Good Health!
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