Alcoholism and Nutrition

Alcoholism and nutrition don't go together. This is for a number of reasons. Jane is both borderline anorexic, borderline bullimic and alcoholic. She is also depressed and anxious. She has low self-esteem. Do you think she eats well?

The causes of alcoholism result not only in alcoholism but also (often but not automatically) in poor eating habits and diet. Add to that the fact that alcohol is a food (empty calories) and you are less likely to be hungry. You have a recipe for ill health through poor nutrition as well as the damaging effects through the ingestion of ethanol alcohol (booze).

I think that women who are alcoholics have the added burden of dealing with the image culture of slim women being attractive. There are many arguments for and against the negative effect of skinny models and how that can encourage poor eating and anorexia in the worse case scenario. But poor self image (linked to low self-esteem) is probably once cause of anorexia and also alcoholism. The two are linked by this common cause. Both conditions, of course, result in poor nutrition as mentioned.

Right now Jane is going through a bad time. She is depressed. This comes on for no apparent reason. In fact, I can feel the pressure building towards the next big binge. She is going to AA religiously and taking Antabuse regularly and wrestling with the addiction. She goes running most mornings. But I can see and feel the pressure building for a binge. You can't keep it out. If there is pain in the head (emotional pain) it has to come out. You can keep it locked down for a while but it will come out in some form or other and at the moment it comes out in laxative taking. Jane is going to the loo (toilet) at all hours of the night and she has bad diarrhoea at the moment. She says that it is caused by the Antabuse, but I very much doubt this. She regularly takes laxatives. Maybe I'm wrong and if so it is a sign of my paranoia

In conclusion alcoholics often need supplements to ensure that they maintain a reasonable level of nutrition. When Jane goes to hospital after a binge the doctors do a blood test and invariably prescribe vitamins as her levels are nearly always low in essential vitamins. She often looks anemic too.

Photo pharmacy( ?) shop window copyright princess_of_llyr

Comments

Alcoholism Signs For Family

If a person regularly falls asleep just after breakfast she is possibly an alcoholic. This is because she has had more than a stiff drink early in the morning. Although, alcoholism signs for the family are hard to spot in my experience. What is my experience? It's being the partner and now (2008) a "live in partner" of an alcoholic for about 9 years. Update: I am still her partner but no longer living with her in 2024 which is 16 years after this page was first written! The first section of this article is by me based on experience. The second part is by Bing's Co-pilot after researching the internet. At the end of the article are some pointers as to whether the person in question is an alcoholic. When I first met Jane I didn't know that she was an alcoholic. At that moment in time I was an innocent to the world of alcoholism. It took me about 3 months to realize that she was an alcoholic. What lead me to this revelation? When I didn't know she was an alcohol

Alcoholism and Death

photo copyright crowolf published under a creative commons license kindly granted. These 2 ignominiously go together - Alcoholism and Death . Just after Jane's mini-binge (believe me it was a very minor binge by her standards) of about 20 hours she felt, as usual, suicidal. Jane always feels huge remorse and regret after a binge. She feels bad about letting herself down and bad about messing me around (although it wasn't that bad to be honest - it did though mess up what could have been some time together, which we are lacking at the moment due to work). Jane really does genuinely feel suicidal after a binge. But I must say I don't think she'll ever do it. She hasn't got the courage - I know that sounds horrendously cruel etc etc but this blog is about the plain truth unvarnished. It takes courage to kill yourself and a lots of despair. Jane has the one but not the other. Anyway to get more positive. We had a little talk and I in my usual style, mentioned

Alcoholism is a Disease

1904 Advertisement I have always wondered if alcoholism is a disease . Is this just some sort of idea someone dreamed up years ago as a method to make a buck. You know it could have been that way. People think diseases are either curable or that the symptoms can be controlled to an extent where the person can live pretty normally. The signal sent to alcoholics by the idea that alcoholism is a disease is, "I can be cured by a pill" or "there is hope". And they go off and search for a cure to this mysterious disease...... It may be a disease, though. What is the definition of "disease"? It is an abnormal condition that impairs bodily functions with accompanying symptoms (after Wikipedia). Or here is another definition: An alteration of the state of the body or parts of it interrupting normal function (mine after ThinkExist.com). These are broad definitions. We usually think of diseases as say a virus that infects us and causes illness; the common cold is t

The Diary of a Victim of an Alcoholic

Search This Blog