Long-Term Alcohol Detox - Benefits

This article is about the long-term benefits of alcohol detox.

This year was the first new year in my adult years that I didn't drink alcohol. I felt it was an enjoyable and appropriate start for 2014 because I had come to the realization during the holidays that one major thing holding my health progress back was alcohol. I would go on a juice fast or a raw food diet, only to drink a glass of wine straight after finishing, or in the case of raw foods, even during the diet. This would always cause cravings and tiredness, which would get my focus off track in many ways, in case of the diet but daily routine as well. And sometimes after drinking even a little bit I couldn't sleep properly and/ or would feel a bit down.

Alcohol is a depressant, partly because it leaches B vitamins out of your body. When you wake up in a hangover, what you are feeling are the withdrawal symptoms, as your body clears toxins. If you are like me, for the next one-to-two days you will feel like drinking again. Dehydration and blood sugar imbalances are major parts of the problem and cause fatigue, possibly headache and irritability, together with other symptoms. Alcohol also brings your body out of balance and often makes you crave junk foods.

There are many more downsides to alcohol consumption but in this article I wish to concentrate on the benefits of abstaining from alcohol. It may be fine to drink in moderation, if your body can handle it, but even then I would recommend organic wine and always drinking with or after a meal. Many people, however, get blood sugar imbalances from alcohol, as well as imbalanced moods.

It is a good idea to abstain especially from beer and spirits because they are both grain-based, so not only do you get the sugar in the form of alcohol, you also get simple (bad-quality) carbohydrates which will cause weight gain, bloatedness, problems with the bacterial balance in the intestines, and related issues. Your liver, which is the organ that makes you 'lively' (liver), i.e. energizes you, naturally benefits from reduced alcohol consumption with no small advantages to your health.

Also, at least in the UK, alcoholic beverages are not required to list ingredients on the bottle or the can, so you have no idea what you are drinking. Most likely there will be added sugar, flavours, preservatives, colour, and possibly flavour enhancers. In addition drinking from cans can contribute to aluminium toxicity, which has its own sometimes disabling health consequences.

It is also worth mentioning that Daniel Vitalis has recently linked the hops in beer to increased estrogen, and the 'feminization of man'. In women, too much estrogen often causes menstrual difficulties and other hormonal problems.

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Alcohol Replacements
Self-Hypnosis to Overcome Alcohol-Related Cravings and Confidence Issues
Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol Detox Diet
My Alcohol Habits

Benefits of Detoxifying from Alcohol

The benefits I have personally experienced whenever I stayed away from alcohol for a period of between one week and three months:

• More balanced moods and more upbeat mind.
• Much less fatigue.
• Less bloatedness and fresher appearance.
• I feel smarter and more composed.
• I feel more confident.
• It is easier to eat healthy as I get much less cravings for junk foods.
• Saved money and time.
• Having better conversations as a result of better focus and remembering the conversations later.
• I am conscious of being less easily manipulated by others, compared to when I am drunk.
• Waking up fresh and less tired.

The strange thing is that when I didn't drink for three months as part of an earlier sugar-free diet (McCombs Plan), when I finally drank the taste of alcohol was very strong and overpowering. I didn't enjoy the taste of a glass of white wine anymore! I quickly got used to the taste again, however.

Other, longer term benefits that can be expected from much reduced or completely eliminated alcohol use:

• Higher vibrating states of mind and body
• More alkaline body pH = less tiredness and less disease
• Better gut flora = less depression and happier moods, better digestion and nutrient utilisation, less belly problems
• Reduced sugar and chemical intake = better immunity
• Staying better hydrated = overall health benefit, staying younger
• Less arguments and stress, better relations (even a day or two after drinking you may be more prone to argue)
• Associating with new types of people, those who don't drink much but do other exciting things in life
• Better quality sleep
• Less nervousness and anxiousness
• Getting out of your comfort zone and learning new ways of living and relaxing
• Money saved for holidays, investments or other longer term projects
• Stronger liver and kidneys
• Feeling good about yourself and your self-discipline (brings much longer term happiness than a night at the bar)

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Benefits of Detoxifying from Alcohol
Self-Hypnosis to Overcome Alcohol-Related Cravings and Confidence Issues
Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol Detox Diet
My Alcohol Habits

Alcohol Replacements

I have tried in the past, during my study years, to replace the beer at a computer with a bottle of non-alcoholic beer instead. This was satisfying, however, it doesn't solve many of the other problems to do with liquid, fast-absorbing sugar and carbs, and the related blood sugar problems and weight gain.

Instead, a good replacement to beer is sparkling water! It is a surprisingly good substitute and quite satisfying.

On the other hand, if you go out to a bar don't drink water all night because you will get bored with it. Instead focus on other enjoyable things like conversation, music, dancing, eating, etc. And if you feel like a party-killer, just order a glass of spritzer (half white wine half sparkling water) and sip it a lot slower than anyone else. Make one or two last all night.

Self-Hypnosis to Overcome Alcohol-Related Cravings and Confidence Issues

One of my recent realizations has been that an important part of being successful with anything, and especially with big life changes, is self-hypnosis. A hypnotherapist may be able to help with addictions, but I have a problem with paying for the service and also, I feel that I can't trust another person to gain such privileged access to my mind

Self-hypnosis works through the subconscious mind, which is simply just the part of your mind's functioning that you are not consciously aware of. Your subconscious mind holds some deep beliefs about yourself, including whether you like alcohol or not and whether you need it for confidence. You might be aware of some of these ideas 'at the back of your mind' and try to deny them or not think about them in the hope that they go away (although there are many good ideas similarly stored too).

My big realization recently has been that we are actually 'hypnotised' by our environment all the time. Anything, especially things often repeated, get stored into your subconscious and affect your thinking in ways that you may not be aware of. There may be some intentional 'hypnosis' such as adverts, but everything else in the environment affects too, unintentionally, like the news, sayings people use constantly, choruses of songs often listened to, thoughts you repeat in your head, etc. Part of this subconscious conditioning is that alcohol is fun, relaxing, cool, needed for social life, tastes good, etc. when in fact those are just beliefs and if you change those beliefs you would realise that alcohol is not needed for any of those things.

And here lies the solution: daily affirmations will help change the beliefs in your subconscious mind, and thus help change your unwanted thoughts and behaviour, including the feeling of needing alcohol. Many of the thoughts we have in a day make you feel like they are coming on kind of 'automatically', without you actively choosing to think those things. These are from the subconscious mind. So if you 'programme' your mind to bring you positive thoughts, it will affect your behaviour and feelings too, because there are many deep underlying thoughts in your mind that might cause you to get embarrassed or feel self-conscious for example, but they can be changed.

I have recently started using 5 minutes of self-recorded positive affirmations which I listen to every morning and evening. I use these to inspire myself and to overwrite negative thoughts. I also listen to Brain Sync's subliminals, although I am planning to record my own equivalents of these as well.

Other ways to access and condition your subconscious mind to reduce alcohol gravings and to increase confidence, as well as to achieve other goals, are to described in the following books:

"Self-hypnosis for Life: Mind, Body, and Spiritual Excellence" by Dr. Tracie O Keefe

"The Genie Within: Your Subconscious Mind, How It Works and How to Use It"

In addition, Tony Robbins teaches visualisation techniques, which can also be used for similar purposes.

Before you record your own affirmations, please at the very least familiarize yourself with the Law of Attraction. I have tried in the past to use affirmations but they didn't work because I wasn't doing them properly. The Law of Attraction will correct some mistakes.

I will write another article on the whole topic of the subconscious mind soon, as now I am starting to veer of topic! Keep in mind, however, that repetition is key, and it is said that your daily affirmation start working after 30-90 days.

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Benefits of Detoxifying from Alcohol
Alcohol Replacements
Self-Hypnosis to Overcome Alcohol-Related Cravings and Confidence Issues
Alcohol Detox Diet
My Alcohol Habits

Alcohol Addiction

If you believe you have a more serious problem and are addicted to alcohol, doctors and counsellors may provide support, as well as medication to help through the withdrawal period. If you can quit and get healthy without medication, all the better. Quitting alcohol with the proper supplementation of lost minerals, a proper diet, relaxing environment and self-hypnosis will be of great help for you to succeed. The internet is full of people's stories about how they kicked serious alcohol habits, which you can read for inspiration.

The nature of addiction in general is discussed in this article: Nature of Sugar Addiction

Alcohol Detox Diet

To read more about the nutritional issues to do with alcohol, so that you can detoxify, remineralize and overcome nutrient deficiencies effectively, please read my other article: Hangover Remedies. It discusses how to overcome short-term alcohol withdrawal (hangover) but the same points are important to address with longer-term alcohol habits and binging as well. Even if you continue drinking, consider the natural forms of support listed in the article.

One important thing to address when correcting longer term alcohol abuse, in addition to those points mentioned in the above article, is correcting the bacterial imbalance by the use of probiotics and fermented foods, and by staying away from processed carbohydrates, especially wheat - as well as sugar - which only serve to worsen the imbalance (dysbiosis) in the gut. Your gut bacteria balance is closely linked to mental health as well, because the bacteria plays an important role with brain nutrients and there are even serotonin receptors found in the gut. Needless to say that alcohol is very destructive to the gut flora.

Jump to top of article
Jump to Chapter:
Benefits of Detoxifying from Alcohol
Alcohol Replacements
Self-Hypnosis to Overcome Alcohol-Related Cravings and Confidence Issues
Alcohol Addiction

My Alcohol Habits

So, in my case, I started drinking at a young age and drank a lot through my teenage years and into my late 20s. After living in California and seeing how people drank so little there and actually did many exciting, sociable things in life that didn't involve alcohol, I slowly started changing my habits on my return to London. Now I only drink white wine with sparkling water - no spirits or beer anymore - and even that is getting less and less. I feel very good at my non-drinking habit and the money I save and hope it will last, as just before the Christmas holidays I still had a few weeks here and there when I would drink a (sugary) cider after work. I would straight away notice a change to the worse in my energy and looks on those weeks.

So, in conclusion, even though they say that a glass of red wine is good for your heart, you may consider detoxifying from alcohol for good, as there are many more negatives. However, if you don't have blood sugar issues, weight problems, anxiety, depression, low moods or bad self-esteem, it may be fine to have an organic glass of wine here and there.

Good Books on Alcohol/ Addiction:

"The Vitamin Cure for Alcoholism" by Abram Hoffer, PhD, and Andrew W Saul, PhD:

View in Amazon

"Recovery 2.0: Beyond Addiction" by Tommy Rosen:

View on Amazon

Jump to Chapter:
Benefits of Detoxifying from Alcohol
Alcohol Replacements
Self-Hypnosis to Overcome Alcohol-Related Cravings and Confidence Issues
Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol Detox Diet

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