Alcoholism is bad. (Collective “duh.”) What I did not previously realize about it,
having been understandably preoccupied with the family and societal results of
alcoholism, was how bad it is, nutritionally, for alcoholics themselves. Admittedly, many alcoholics may have more
pressing problems than malnutrition, like accidents, depression, anxiety,
dysfunctional relationships, and general life-spiral. All those things are well beyond the scope of
my practice, but the nutrition thing is my growth area.
Here’s how alcoholism
contributes to malnutrition in alcoholics.
It starts because alcohol has calories but almost no other
nutrients. When people replace food with
alcohol, they deprive themselves of stuff their bodies actually need, like
vitamins and minerals. Alcohol also
alters digestion and absorption of other nutrients in the body, so even the
good stuff people with dependency issues eat doesn’t have full benefits in the
body. The most common micronutrient
problems involve folate, thiamine, and vitamin A, which can result in
everything from anemia to nerve damage to impaired immunity to brain
damage. All fat-soluble vitamins (A, D,
E, and K) get depleted in alcoholics.
Not enough problems? How about
alcohol-induced scurvy? The fluid loss
that accompanies alcohol consumption can contribute to deficiencies in calcium,
magnesium, iron, and zinc.
This is not a comprehensive
list, but should give a sense of why we might all want to make sure that our
consumption is under control. For some
of us, that might mean no consumption at all.
Those of us who are women should aim for no more than one drink per day
and those of us who are men should stop at two.
And no, saving up all of the week’s drinks for use on the weekend is not
a good idea.
Let’s be smart.
