Adding this nutrient can help boost mood in recovery and reduce withdrawal symptoms, making it one of the best supplements for alcohol cravings. Managing alcohol cravings requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses the underlying causes of addiction and provides individuals with the tools and support necessary for long-term recovery. Alongside professional help and therapy, incorporating herbal remedies foods that curb alcohol cravings into the recovery process may offer additional support. An overgrowth of a bacteria naturally found in the intestine, candida, are fed and intensified by alcohol consumption, according to the University of Kentucky’s Stephen C. Byrnes, N.D 2.
The protein in poultry and fish helps in the production of dopamine, which can help improve your mood as you fight alcohol cravings. Bananas are rich in vitamin B6, which the body needs to produce and use serotonin. This neurotransmitter is key to reducing depression and anxiety—common reasons people use alcohol and also common issues that arise when quitting alcohol (4).
Curbing Alcohol Cravings: Medications, and Home Remedies
The drug helps ease alcohol withdrawal symptoms like insomnia, anxiety, and depression. EAT A BALANCED DIET
There is indisputable evidence that alcohol cravings can be curtailed with the right diet and nutrients. Often a craving for a drink is really a reflection of low blood sugar that can be remedied with food such as cheese and crackers or an apple—the foods I recommend when people are craving herbs to curb alcohol cravings carbs since it’s the same issue. If you eat a balanced and healthy diet, with enough complex carbs and protein, you can often overcome your alcohol cravings without being coerced or feeling pressured, and you lower your chance of relapse as well. Typically, the best source to learn behavioral interventions on how to deal with alcohol cravings is in formal substance use disorder therapy.
Chronic alcohol use can deplete your body of vitamins and minerals by reducing your appetite, interfering with nutrient absorption, and impairing your body’s ability to use nutrients effectively. In a 2011 study, 20 participants recovering from AUD took a dietary supplement with D-phenylalanine, L-glutamine, and 5-HTP during detox. Results indicated reduced psychiatric symptoms and improved mental well-being and immune function. Supplementing with specific vitamins and minerals like thiamine, vitamin C, and magnesium can support your liver’s recovery and restore essential nutrients that AUD has depleted.
Getting Professional Help for Alcohol Cravings
Most people who experience cravings notice a mix of internal and external triggers. Many individuals who drink large quantities of alcohol are deficient in vitamin B1, or thiamine. In fact, this is one of the main vitamins given to people going through medical detox from alcohol. Vitamin B1 deficiency can cause weight loss, irritability, fatigue, and in extreme cases lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, also known as wet brain.
When individuals quit drinking, their liver needs to detoxify the body and repair any damage caused by alcohol. Milk Thistle contains a compound called silymarin, which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can aid in the healing process. One of the active ingredients in milk thistle extract is silymarin, which may improve liver function in people with alcohol use disorder. Naltrexone is a medication that belongs to a group of drugs known as opioid antagonists. It binds to and blocks opioid receptors in the brain, which reduces the buzz and intoxicated feeling you get from drinking alcohol. This herb is commonly used to manage the withdrawal symptoms of alcoholism.
FDA-Approved Alcohol Craving Medications
Experts think it might work by protecting the liver and lowering specific proteins like collagen produced by the body. That said, little information is available about its use during alcohol withdrawal. While reducing cravings for alcohol, goldenseal can also desensitize your mouth with its bitter taste. At the same time, this herb can kill off the bacteria in your intestines that contribute to your alcohol cravings.
In addition to reducing daily drinking, naltrexone has been shown to reduce alcohol cravings as a measurable symptom (3). This herb is an excellent home remedy for treating liver diseases caused by alcoholism. This herb enhances liver functions, along with repairing the damage caused to the liver.
How to Curb Alcohol Cravings: Medical and Natural Remedies
The powerful health benefits of dates include providing an energy boost, increasing iron in the body, and aiding digestion. Vitamins are essential for aiding the liver after alcohol misuse by helping with detoxification, regeneration, and metabolism. When we withdraw from alcohol, the suppression of certain neurochemicals will make the brain demand more alcohol so it can reach homeostasis, or its normal state of functioning (where alcohol is now deeply involved). While we are unable to respond to your feedback directly, we’ll use this information to improve our online help. Just quality information to help you live your most limitless sober life.