Quitting drinking…
Headaches, fatigue, nausea, cravings, peer pressure and everything else under the sun that seems to be working against you.
You start Googling your symptoms to see if there’s any solution for the pain, and you see articles recommending supplements that promise to help you overcome withdrawal.
The reason being that drinking booze causes all kinds of nutrient deficiencies, and the pain you’re feeling is a result of your body not getting the essential vitamins and minerals that it needs.
Sure, alcohol can result in some deficiencies, and these deficiencies can cause some problems…
But, are these pills going to fix everything overnight?
No, of course not.
In this article, we’ll explore these deficiencies further, talk about why supplements aren’t the solution to stopping drinking, and, what you should do instead if you want to become sober without AA or willpower.
Does alcohol cause nutrient deficiencies?
The short answer is ‘yes’, it does.
I’m sure you’ve heard the term “empty calories” thrown around when talking about alcohol. But, what exactly does it mean?
Empty calories means that there aren’t many vitamins, minerals, or nutrients inside. And the body can break it down very quickly because it doesn’t contain much fat or protein.
So, even though you’re still getting some calories by drinking alcohol, mostly from ethanol and sugar, it doesn’t contain anything useful for your body.
On top of this, alcohol has been shown to inhibit your body’s ability to absorb key vitamins and minerals.
Not only is your body getting extra calories without any of the upsides, anything you do eat is going to waste.
It’s like riding a bike with training wheels, or making Usain Bolt run 100m while holding some dumbbells.
You could have the best diet in the world and eat incredibly healthy foods, but if you keep drinking booze then you’re stopping your body from getting the nutrients it needs to perform.
Which vitamins and nutrients are alcoholics missing out on?
We know that alcohol isn’t doing much good for your body, but there are some key nutrients that almost all drinkers are lacking.
This is why it’s so easy for people to sell supplements helping you stop drinking. The more specific it is, the more likely you are to believe it.
Vitamin A
Have you ever heard someone take a shot of something strong and say “that’ll make you go blind”?
That saying originally came from people making drinks illegally, like moonshine, and due to impurities from poor manufacturing they would quite literally go blind.
While modern drinks don’t quite have the same effect, they still cause massive deficiencies in vitamin A.
Vitamin A is crucial for long-term eye health, and even moderate drinking can cause significantly lower levels to be stored in the liver.
Source: Hepatic vitamin A depletion in alcoholic liver injury. Vitamin A levels in the livers of healthy people and patients with various stages of alcoholic liver disease.
Another study, carried out by Leo and Lieber, found that feeding alcohol to rats for 4-6 weeks resulted in a 60% reduction in vitamin A within the liver.
More importantly, trying to supplement the rats’ diet with 5 times the amount of vitamin A they need had no effect on the levels in their body.
No matter what the researchers tried they couldn’t counteract the damage done by alcohol.
Vitamin B1, B2, B6, and B12
B vitamins are some of the most important nutrients for humans if we want to perform at our best.
If you’re a regular drinker, you’re much more likely to be deficient in vitamin B due to poor nutrient absorption and a lower quality diet.
They affect everything from brain function to testosterone production, and even impact your energy levels, mental health, and more.
Also, long-term deficiencies in vitamin B, thiamine in particular, have been linked to serious brain conditions such as WKS and cerebellar degeneration (CD).
CD is much more common in alcoholics, and almost 40% of heavy drinkers showed signs of this condition.
Zinc
Yet another crucial mineral for growth that alcoholics are lacking (noticing a pattern?).
Zinc deficiency has been associated with a whole host of problems, ranging from inflammation to sexual issues, and approximately 50% of alcoholics are deficient.
Long-term deficiencies of zinc can also result in breathing problems and brain damage, which, when combined with the lack of B vitamins can massively increase your risk of developing serious issues later on.
Free Video Training:
How To Use First Principles Thinking To Get Control Of Your Drinking
Why supplements aren’t the solution to alcohol withdrawal
If heavy drinking results in all of these deficiencies, it may seem like a simple fix to take a few pills every day and leave it at that.
However, taking supplements to help with alcohol cravings is like fixing a leaky bucket with sticky tape.
It might work for a bit to hide the problem, but it’s not going to be any good in the long run.
This is where a lot of people fall into the trap of seeking quick wins to solve their problems with alcohol, instead of tackling it at the root and fully understanding why they drink in the first place.
Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still need to overcome these nutrient deficiencies once you stop drinking, but expecting B-vitamins and supplements to magically solve your problems isn’t going to accomplish very much.
So, if alcohol supplements aren’t going to cure your addiction, what will?
The best way to overcome alcohol addiction and stop drinking forever
Here at Soberclear, we take a different approach to getting sober than the more popular methods out there.
I spent years battling an addiction to alcohol, and no matter how many meetings I went to, supplements I took, or programs I bought, I couldn’t get over my drinking.
It wasn’t until I understood what it means to truly be free of alcohol, to be Soberclear, did I realize that I’d been doing it all wrong up until now.
Whenever I tried to stop drinking in the past, I was always convinced that it was going to be hard.
I was an addict, it was my fault, my personality; and I branded myself a recovering alcoholic.
I was convinced that by going sober I would always be missing out on something.
I’d see other people enjoying themselves, being successful, and having a great family – all while drinking alcohol.
If they can do it, why can’t I?
This line of thinking always brought me back to drinking, taking things too far, and falling back into my ruinous lifestyle.
As it turns out, everything I knew about alcohol was completely wrong.
I didn’t have an addictive personality, there aren’t any benefits to drinking, and becoming sober is in fact one of the easiest things you can do.
First principles thinking
Using first principles thinking was the first step for me to truly understand and overcome my addiction.
FPT is basically the act of breaking something down into its simplest parts, and then rebuilding it into something new.
Elon Musk famously applied this to his business, SpaceX, and a few years later he now runs one of the most successful space-based companies in the world.
When we apply this line of thinking to alcohol, we begin to see alcohol for what it really is.
Once you realize that there are no benefits to drinking, and that the only reason why you think you enjoy it is because of what you’ve been led to believe by your friends and the media, quitting becomes easy.
Alcohol is no longer something you have to fight against. You get to make the choice to stop, and relinquish any control it has over you.
Becoming Soberclear
I haven’t had a drop of alcohol in over 2 years, and there isn’t a day that goes by where I want to start again.
I’ve never thought to myself “Man, I’d love a beer right now” or, “Go on, one drink won’t hurt.”
I’m completely free of alcohol, and my life has never been better.
Since becoming Soberclear I’ve built a successful business, moved to Thailand, met my amazing girlfriend Aor, and experienced a new way of living that I never thought would be possible.
I tried AA, detoxing, willpower, alcohol supplements, and every other method under the sun, but none of them worked.
Maybe they worked for you, and if so that’s amazing! Congratulations on living a sober life.
But, if they didn’t, and you want to experience what it feels like to truly overcome an addiction, check out the free Soberclear training where I outline everything you need to know to finally break free from alcohol and start the next stage of your journey.
