While the best way to get the benefits of vitamins is from food, many people take vitamins as pills, liquids, drink mixes, or gummies. Talk with your physician or a nutrition specialist to find out which is best for you. You can get vitamins over the counter at almost any grocery or drug store or even online.
Healthy fats, particularly omega-3 fatty acids in foods like fatty fish, walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseeds, play an essential role in brain health. Since alcohol consumption affects the brain and can lead to conditions like depression and anxiety, these fats can aid in recovery by enhancing cognitive functions and mood. It’s vitamin B1, or thiamine, a substance that plays a key role in converting the foods we eat into energy.
Nutritional Side Effects of Unassisted Withdrawal
Certain health consequences become more likely with continued alcohol use, and people who consume alcohol excessively or daily are most susceptible to the following conditions. If this is you, don’t stress too much—what you’re experiencing is normal. Below, we’ll discuss https://g-markets.net/sober-living/top-10-best-sober-living-homes-in-boston-ma/ why this happens, and some ways to overcome these cravings as you adjust to sobriety. Since you’ve found yourself on this article, you’re already moving in the right direction. Anyone who is struggling with a serious drinking problem should seek professional care.
If this is a concern for you, consider periodic fasting if intermittent fasting isn’t helping you as quickly as you’d like. As previously mentioned, insufficient amounts of zinc can negatively impact your skin and appetite and can also reduce your sex drive. Zinc can help clear alcohol-related toxins from your body while Thoughts of Recovery No 17 The Spiritual Malady Step 1 also keeping your thyroid health in great shape. Consider a zinc supplement, or eat plenty of shellfish, beef and pork, oats, cashews, and chickpeas. To determine which foods are best for alcohol recovery – and understand why they’re so helpful – it’s critical to learn more about what alcohol really does to the body.
Nutritional Supplements for Alcohol Recovery
The goal of withdrawal management programs is to provide clients with medical care and sometimes medication in order to maintain the healthiest state possible while the body is eliminating drugs or alcohol. This may include things like an IV drip for hydration or vitamins to keep levels of both stable throughout withdrawal, leading to a smoother transition to treatment. This deficiency can lead to problems, such as slow wound healing, softening of the bones, skin problems, decreased blood clotting, and neurological damage.
- In addition, notwithstanding emerging evidence of the remarkable individual differences in the absorption and excretion of vitamins, these values have changed little over the years.
- These vitamins also aid your body in absorbing calcium, so not getting enough vitamin C and vitamin D can make your bones weak and brittle.
- Lack of these nutrients can result in anemia, which makes the sufferer feel cold, lethargic and frequently dizzy.
Chronic alcohol use can deplete your body of vitamins and minerals by reducing your appetite, interfering with nutrient absorption, and impairing your body’s ability to use nutrients effectively. In a 2011 study, 20 participants recovering from AUD took a dietary supplement with D-phenylalanine, L-glutamine, and 5-HTP during detox. Results indicated reduced psychiatric symptoms and improved mental well-being and immune function.
How Substance Abuse Disrupts Nutrition
Thiamine deficiency can lead to beriberi which can affect the heart or nervous system. This nutrient deficiency can also lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a memory disorder due to damage to the nerve cells. Additionally, chronic alcohol use may cause issues with metabolism, utilization, and absorption of vitamins. There are two different types of vitamins, fat soluble and water soluble. Fat soluble vitamins can be stored in the body while water soluble vitamins cannot. Various studies show that vitamin C reduces stress and anxiety and decreases the severity of depression (62-67).
In addition, other studies have studied vitamin B status as well [55,56,57]. In contrast, Laufer et al. [56] only showed an effect of ethanol on vitamin B12, with no effect on vitamin B9. However, in another study, Beulens et al. [57] showed that beer drinking raised vitamin B6 and appeared to reduce vitamin B12 levels while having no effect on vitamin B9 levels. However, further studies are required to clarify the relationship between alcohol consumption and the intake of vitamin B to be able to provide nutritional management strategies for chronic liver disease. More specifically, B vitamins can aid in the alcohol withdrawal process. Thiamine is a vital nutrient for your body’s energy metabolism and can prevent the development of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome during alcohol withdrawal.