This is so on the mark.

I've been following this thread since its inception - coincidentally I decided to give up
drinking a week or two prior. Congrats B.A.B. 13 days is great! I'm on day 21 of sobriety after
about 20 years of drinking & smoking. I decided to give it all up - and just like ChicagoxBoston
I would do the same thing toward the end of my smoking days. Only my smoking addiction
was cloves. Booze and cloves... what a in$ane combo.

But GenericBikeDude is right. You have to get to the core of what's going on regardless of what
the addiction is. After deciding to finally stop drinking I wondered what the withdrawal was going
to be like and whether food or diet had an impact. (duh, you bet!) Having already been through major
drug problems and withdrawal in the 90's, I wasn't looking to go through that hell again.
What I found was pretty amazing. I'm not a doctor or nutritionist, but I'll try and describe it
the best I can:

You are what you eat. Literally. With alcohol, your body gets all tweaked out - blood sugar,
glucose levels, seratonin, all sorts of things. Your mind plays tricks on you since it's looking
for a sugar fix, etc. Like most addictive substances (nicotine included) I guess there are endorphins
that are generated and have an effect on your brain somewhat similar to opiates. (again, I'm an art director
not a nutritionist, so I'm probably mixing up terminology here to a degree). I happened to find a detox
program that mitigates withdrawal and rebuilds your system using an insane combination of vitamins
and supplements over the course of a couple months. Starts off with 60-70 supplements a day, at 1-2 hour
intervals. All sorts of stuff to aleviate alcohol cravings. (Glutamine is my friend!) A lot of it is all about
hypoglycemia and eliminating a diet that consists of insane amounts of sugar and crap you don't need.
There's way more to it than this, but I'll stop. Imagine combining this with riding though.

It might be a good idea to take a good hard look at your entire existence - what you eat, drink,
smoke, whatever and consider what role each plays in your life. Contrast that with what you aren't
doing - such as supplementing your body with key nutrients that aleviate depression, anxiety, etc.
It's all intertwined and makes sense once you start analyzing things.

All I gotta say is, after waking up hungover and miserable literally EVERY DAY for years on end,
I feel incredible. Do a search for Health Recovery Center in Minnesota. They have interesting angles
on giving up smoking too.


HL