Turning off Cravings for Alcohol?

[Guest guest]

Turning off Cravings for Alcohol? JoAnn Guest

Aug 15, 2006 17:03 PDT

 

 

Turning off Cravings for Alcohol?

 

I read an article about a vitamin/pill that reduces cravings for

alcohol. What can you tell me about it?

 

-- Anonymous

 

 

Answer (Published 03/03/2005

 

 

If there were a vitamin or other pill that reliably decreased

cravings

for alcohol in everyone who needed help, the scientist who

discovered

the effect probably would win a Nobel Prize. Over the years, a

number of

substances have been credited with reducing alcoholic cravings. A

few

may help some people, but none of them works for everyone:

 

 

B vitamins:Research has suggested that alcoholic cravings are due to

a

deficiency in B vitamins and that supplements may lessen the desire

to

drink. But these findings, most of which are more than 20 years old,

haven't been substantiated over time. Still, because alcohol abuse

does

deplete B vitamins in general and thiamine in particular, I

recommend

taking a B-complex vitamin supplement plus extra thiamine (100 mgs).

L-glutamine: Research in both animals and humans suggests that this

amino acid can reduce both cravings and the anxiety that accompanies

alcohol withdrawal. The study in humans was done in 1957.

Participants

took either a placebo or one gram of L-glutamine in divided doses,

with

meals. Results were published in the Quarterly Journal advertisement

 

of Studies on Alcohol.

Kudzu: Extracts from the root of this weed (pueraria lobata), which

is

pervasive and invasive in the southern United States, have been

recommended as a treatment for alcoholic cravings. Kudzu is widely

used

for this purpose by traditional practitioners in China, and some

animal

studies have shown that it decreases the desire for alcohol. Results

of

a pilot study in humans published in the February 2000 issue of the

Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine showed that doses

smaller than those used in the studies in China failed to help

alcoholics abstain from drinking.

Naltrexone: This drug (brand names: ReVia, Depade) reduces the

desire

for alcohol after you stop drinking. Naltrexone works by blocking

the

parts of the brain that sense pleasure in response to alcohol.

Unlike

Antabuse (disulfiram), sometimes used to treat alcoholism,

naltrexone

doesn't make you sick if you drink alcohol while you're taking it.

The

drug usually is prescribed temporarily (for 12 weeks or more) to

help

recovering alcoholics deal with cravings after they've stopped

drinking.

 

 

Andrew Weil, M.D.

 

http://www.drweil.com/u/QA/QA351561/

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets

[Guest guest]

" Ah...but that is where Dr. Weil has not done " his homework " ;

Thiamine did win the Nobel Prize in 1930. Vitamin C also Won.

(Dr. Linus Pauling). But he does mention Thiamine B1 daily.

Dr. Weil aslo states this info from 20 yrs. NO from 120 yrs. ago!!! A.

, " JoAnn Guest "

<angelprincessjo wrote:

>

> Turning off Cravings for Alcohol? JoAnn Guest

> Aug 15, 2006 17:03 PDT

>

>

> Turning off Cravings for Alcohol?

>

> I read an article about a vitamin/pill that reduces cravings for

> alcohol. What can you tell me about it?

>

> -- Anonymous

>

>

> Answer (Published 03/03/2005

>

>

> If there were a vitamin or other pill that reliably decreased

> cravings

> for alcohol in everyone who needed help, the scientist who

> discovered

> the effect probably would win a Nobel Prize. Over the years, a

> number of

> substances have been credited with reducing alcoholic cravings. A

> few

> may help some people, but none of them works for everyone:

>

>

> B vitamins:Research has suggested that alcoholic cravings are due

to

> a

> deficiency in B vitamins and that supplements may lessen the desire

> to

> drink. But these findings, most of which are more than 20 years

old,

> haven't been substantiated over time. Still, because alcohol abuse

> does

> deplete B vitamins in general and thiamine in particular, I

> recommend

> taking a B-complex vitamin supplement plus extra thiamine (100

mgs).

> L-glutamine: Research in both animals and humans suggests that this

> amino acid can reduce both cravings and the anxiety that

accompanies

> alcohol withdrawal. The study in humans was done in 1957.

> Participants

> took either a placebo or one gram of L-glutamine in divided doses,

> with

> meals. Results were published in the Quarterly Journal advertisement

>

> of Studies on Alcohol.

> Kudzu: Extracts from the root of this weed (pueraria lobata), which

> is

> pervasive and invasive in the southern United States, have been

> recommended as a treatment for alcoholic cravings. Kudzu is widely

> used

> for this purpose by traditional practitioners in China, and some

> animal

> studies have shown that it decreases the desire for alcohol.

Results

> of

> a pilot study in humans published in the February 2000 issue of the

> Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine showed that doses

> smaller than those used in the studies in China failed to help

> alcoholics abstain from drinking.

> Naltrexone: This drug (brand names: ReVia, Depade) reduces the

> desire

> for alcohol after you stop drinking. Naltrexone works by blocking

> the

> parts of the brain that sense pleasure in response to alcohol.

> Unlike

> Antabuse (disulfiram), sometimes used to treat alcoholism,

> naltrexone

> doesn't make you sick if you drink alcohol while you're taking it.

> The

> drug usually is prescribed temporarily (for 12 weeks or more) to

> help

> recovering alcoholics deal with cravings after they've stopped

> drinking.

>

>

> Andrew Weil, M.D.

>

> http://www.drweil.com/u/QA/QA351561/

>

> JoAnn Guest

> mrsjo-

> www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets

>

[Guest guest]

PS *Thiamine Vit. B1 was discovered in 1881 by Dr.Korsakoff/Russia!

 

 

, " JoAnn Guest "

<angelprincessjo wrote:

>

> Turning off Cravings for Alcohol? JoAnn Guest

> Aug 15, 2006 17:03 PDT

>

>