Re: Alcoholism seen as a Nutritional Disease

Hi Jurplesman,

I do find your arguments very interesting and compelling when it comes to the *physical+ part of addiction and alcoholism. I do, however, think you misunderstood my point to Chris in the example, and don't think that the physical explanation is enough. If you would like to discuss the mechanisms of insulin resistance and how it relates to the craving put in place by drink #1, I am all ears!

However, my point to Chris is that the mental obsession with alcohol is the real problem. If the mind was not a problem, the first drink would always be decided againt and the whole problem of drinking too much would be sidestepped.

I've seen too many people enter recovery and stay for long periods of time without relapse, and without, to my knowledge, changing their eating habits too much, to believe that it's solely a physical issue. I've seen too many people relapse after getting out of a treatment program that, for instance, focuses on what you recommend -- a high-protein diet to supplement detox and early abstinence to believe diet and nutrition is the only part of the answer we need to pay attention to.

And I'm too familiar with the spiritual malady that alcohol "cures" for the alcoholic to believe that a physical remedy for alcoholism would be enough for a real alcoholic.

You might want to familiarize yourself with the disease as set forth in the AA basic text, the "Big Book." There is a very specific definition for the mental part of the disease that might jive with the rest of your theories, but it's really what alcohol does for the alcoholic spiritually that the program treats, with the result that the mental obsession to drink again is removed.

I am completely open to the idea that God can change my level of insulin resistence, though, if that is what it took to eliminate my desire to drink and to provide me with a feeling of immunity around alcohol! ;)

Tweet