Everyone knows that addictions are bad for a person.  Smoking causes lung cancer, alcohol causes ulcers in the esophagus and stomach, etc.; too many addictions combined can cause bones to become brittle, the frame withers away, and you are suddenly shorter, weaker and exhausted.

So why are addictions so hard to break?  Why can’t a person just throw down that last cigarette and quit? Well, you see, it’s not exactly a function of will power alone. 

Research has shown that people become addicted to things because there are abnormal levels of certain chemical messengers in the brain (too many of some messengers, and not enough of others).  This leads to a chronic imbalance in the body, which causes a person to want to eat more, drink more, or take drugs.  But the drugs will only help the imbalance for a short time, and before you know it, you need to take more of them, which causes an addiction. 

This is why natural methods have a higher success rate.  And, I’m not talking about those 12 step programs, where you introduce yourself and state that you have an addiction, and then your peers are supposed to help you by making you feel bad if you fall off the wagon.  Those programs do have value, but they are not effective by themselves.  In fact, 70 to 85 percent of addicts will relapse within 6-12 months of leaving the step programs. 

The better way to bring the messengers to their required level is with proper diet and nutrition – and you will be pleased to find out that its not an uncommon diet.

Eat Less Sugar – Sugar leads to a temporary high, and then a crash, which causes mood slumps and a craving for alcohol, drugs and/or more sugar.

More Whole Grains – Increase consumption of raw or lightly cooked fruits and vegetables, eat brown rice instead of white, and have oatmeal for breakfast.

Snack on Protein – This will help balance blood sugar.  Try eating hard-boiled eggs, cheese, nuts, peanut butter and apples every two or three hours.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to break the addiction by yourself just by changing the diet; it will take a long time and a lot of dedication.  That’s why the holistic programs use a physiological and psychological approach, and claim to have as much as an 85 percent success rate.  It’s kind of like this:  If you broke your arm, you would want to see a doctor to get the arm fixed up before you started talking to others about how you broke it.  It’s the same theory, you need to get the messengers back into balance, and then you can do the 12-step program with your peers.

Now back to food:  Good food sets off neurotransmitters in the brain, but food alone cannot act fast enough to get needed vitamins into the system.  The body is slow to deliver vitamins from food, and sometimes there are blockages that prevent food and vitamins from getting through.  That is why addicts drink alcohol and go for drugs; there is quick relief when drugs are delivered as a liquid.  It’s also why it’s necessary to get professional help for an addiction; and my preference would be for holistic methods. 

With holistic methods, professionals will do tests to check liver and kidney function, and nutritional status and then perform psychological surveys to see what brain chemicals are out of whack.  Different vitamin levels will be prescribed for each person.  Vitamins are then put into the system intravenously, bypassing any damage done to the gastrointestinal system that would limit the ability to absorb nutrients.  These vitamins consist of Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, and Vitamin B.  The Vitamin IV is usually recommended for six-ten days.

Since vitamin deficiencies prompt cravings, the Vitamin IV therapy can stop the withdrawal that leads to relapse with other programs.  Once brain chemistry is rebalanced and the body can absorb the nutrients by itself, patients can start taking vitamins orally along with nutritional counseling.

This seems like a much better way to cure an addiction then to put someone on another drug, like sedatives or stimulates.  It will have a life-long effect on your health, and probably a side benefit of natural weight loss.  If you are interested in learning more, try to find a “Health Recovery Center” in your area, or a Holistic Health Clinic.