Alcohol is only a symptom of an underlying problem

I receive many questions from readers of my weekly article about alcoholism and I try to answer them in detail to the best of my ability. However, alcoholism is a very complex disease and requires a lot of questions and answers before I can make an assessment and tailor a program to suit the individual.

There are many complexities underlying alcoholism including depression, Bipolar 1 & 2, OCD and Borderline Personality Disorder. Most of these hidden disorders take years to diagnose and effective counselling cannot be undertaken until the patient is receiving the right medication or taking dietary supplements to balance the brain chemistry.

Anyone can stop drinking; it’s staying stopped that’s the problem. The underlying cause can be a myriad of the above in conjunction with genetic, biological and environmental predisposition to this disease.  Alcoholism is an emotional disease and we need to look at the biology of the brain and how alcohol, prescription drugs, stress, poor nutrition and/or poor absorption, alter or destroy many of the natural substances the human brain needs in order to create and regulate emotions. As a result, our brains alter physically – but the changes are expressed emotionally.

Alcohol and Gender Differences

Women absorb and metabolise alcohol differently than men. Women generally achieve higher concentrations of alcohol in the blood after drinking equivalent amounts of alcohol.  Following are some of the areas in which women experience more effects than man who drink alcohol at the same rate as women:

• Liver Damage – Compared with men, women develop alcohol-induced liver disease over a shorter period of time and after consuming less alcohol. Women are also more likely than men to develop alcoholic hepatitis and to die from cirrhosis.
• Brain Damage – Women may be more vulnerable than men to alcohol-induced brain damage. Using MRI, researchers found that a brain region involved in coordinating multiple brain functions was significantly smaller among alcoholic women compared with both non-alcoholic women and alcoholic men.
• Heart Disease – Among heavier drinkers, research shows similar rates of alcohol associated heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy) for both men and women, despite women’s 60% lower lifetime alcohol use.
• Breast Cancer – Many studies report that moderate to heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk for breast cancer, although one recent study found no increased breast cancer risk associated with consumption of up to one drink per day, the maximum drinking level reported by most women.
• Traffic Crashes – Although women are less likely than men to drive after drinking and to be involved in fatal alcohol related crashes, women have a higher relative risk of driver fatality than men at similar blood alcohol concentrations. Laboratory studies of the effects of alcohol on responding to visual cues and other tasks suggest that there may be gender differences in how alcohol affects the performance of driving tasks.

In the 30 years I have been counselling alcoholics, both male and female; none of the above statistics had an impact on anyone giving up drinking alcohol.  Once sober, it’s good to look back and say: “There but for the Grace of God, go I” and know that I have distanced myself from being one of those statistics.

In the meantime, you might like to help your liver with the following suggested products.

LivaTone Plus is a more powerful formula that can support liver function when there are more chronic liver problems. LivaTone Plus combines the proven doses of St Mary’s Thistle with the benefits of Turmeric and Selenium. It also contains all the B vitamins and the amino acid Taurine as well as the antioxidant vitamins C and E. LivaTone Plus is designed to support the step one and two detoxification pathways in the liver.

L-Glutamine, found in our Ultimate Gut Health Powder, can help support efficient brain function along with Tyrosine Mood Food as Tyrosine is necessary for the manufacture of dopamine and noradrenaline, which are required for concentration, alertness, memory and a happy stable mood.

Magnesium is known as The Great Relaxer and may assist in the reduction of stress, nervous tension, anxiety and sleeplessness.

Glicemic Balance Capsules aid in the metabolism of carbohydrates and supports insulin function and is helpful in curbing sugar and carbohydrate cravings when you are detoxing from alcohol.