Did you know that alcohol and candy have something in common?

How about turkey and bananas? Do you know what it is? If you guessed sugar and tryptophan, respectively, you’re correct. But did you know that eating candy can help people fight alcoholism? Or that eating bananas or cottage cheese can help you sleep better, just like turkey?

There are many foods that can fulfill the need for balance in your body. Cabbage juice, for example, has glutamine, and that helps you control stress. Leafy vegetables have magnesium, known for its ability to calm nerves.

One of the most often cited reasons for turning to alcohol or a drug is stress and anxiety. Eating properly can modify your body chemistry and help you defend your craving for substances. Imagine a meal that helped you to fight addiction and alcoholism—how would it change your life?

Now hold the phones. Don’t think that by changing your diet, you’ll beat addiction. If it were only that easy. But you can absolutely make it easier to beat addiction with a proper diet.

One of the hard facts about a diet is that diets that are short lived and rarely work because people are either inconsistent, or manage it wrong. To be really effective, a “diet” needs to be a change in lifestyle. See, here’s another problem with a diet: you change your habits to accomplish a goal, you achieve the goal, but later you return to your old habits, and the diet was done in vain. What do you think happens next? That’s right, you return to your old ways. So a permanent change (like recovery) isn’t something you do for a week, or 8 weeks, or 12. It’s a change for life, and it’s supposed to be kept strong one day at a time, like recovery. Ahh, now we are beginning to see that recovery from addiction isn’t very different dieting, is it? Good.

Did you know that low blood sugar levels cause alcohol cravings? That means not eating for a long time between meals can increase your craving of alcohol! It also means don’t eat lots of sweets or processed foods. A 1985 study showed that eating 60% to 70% raw foods has several beneficial effects. In addition to helping eliminate cravings for alcohol in 80% of those who changed their diets, it lowered blood pressure, and balanced cholesterol and blood fats. It also helped smokers quit their addiction. In simple terms, it suggests a direct correlation between diet and addiction.

Another correlation is the socio-economic status of a person. Those who are poor, uneducated, and unable to eat properly balanced meals, have a higher incidence of alcoholism than those who have achieved at least middle-class status. Ironically, as the scale continues, the level of alcoholism does as well.

Many people who are addicted to alcohol are also addicted to caffeine. Coffee drinkers suffer a higher level of stress, unbalanced blood sugar levels, and dehydration. It’ll be wise if a person trying to abstain from alcohol also abstains from coffee as well. The same can be said of soda, dried fruits, and fruit juices.

Many people reading this may think, “That’s it, I can’t eat anything!” Quite the contrary, there is lots to eat; you are just going to eat healthier, better-balanced meals. You’ll focus on foods that can help you to detoxify your liver, replace the missing nutrients caused by drinking, and eat fewer sweets.

Finding sobriety starts the day you can say, “I am an alcoholic.” The rest is just a series of steps that you need to follow to find a content state of mind while you’re sober. It’s there, and always has been. Now you have an idea on where to find it.

Go, eat well, and live a happy life. Article Link…