Coconut Oil for Alcohol Addiction?
Until I read “Coconut Ketones: A New Approach to Alcoholism” by Bruce Fife, N.D. in December’s Well Being Journal, I had no idea that the craving for alcohol was not only emotional (a coping mechanism for daily and sometimes deep seated distress), but a survival mechanism–an attempt to keep the cells of the brain alive!
Let me summarize this eye-opening article. Recovering alcoholics who have given up the bottle but still exhibit the behaviors that drove them to drink in the first place are sometimes referred to as being a “dry drunk”. Dry drunk symptoms are real and overwhelming. They include depression, anxiety, irrational thinking, irritability and a craving for alcohol–because the brain cells of a chronically heavy drinker can no longer get the energy they need from glucose.
Why not? Because alcohol triggers oxidative stress and inflammation leading eventually to insulin resistance. And without insulin, the brain cells cannot absorb glucose (their natural fuel) effectively from other sources. Eventually the cells starve to death–unless they get acetic acid for fuel from yet another drink.
Although alcohol itself is toxic to the brain, the acetic acid derived from it does not need insulin for absorption. So when the alcoholic takes another drink, the brain cells then get the fuel they need to survive. But at what price?
Roger Hershline, PhD, MD to the rescue. Suffering from dry drunk syndrome himself, he studied brain metabolism and eventually discovered coconut oil (which can be absorbed by the brain cells without insulin) as the best food to nourish and heal the brain. He wrote The Coconut Oil Miracle, giving other sufferers the benefit of his experience. Scientific research has shown that the brain can indeed generate new cells: “neurogenesis”. So overcoming alcoholism is now a real possibility. One does not have to be a “recovering” alcoholic forever.*
Though coconut oil, according to this article, can heal the brain and relieve dry drunk syndrome in as few as 4 days, it cannot relieve the underlying distress that may have led the person to this or any other addictive behavior in the first place. But EFT generally can. It is a relaxation modality which uses the acupuncture system to relieve stress, traumatic memories and unresolved emotional issues that tend to be the root cause not only of addictions, but of chronic disease. With EFT (tapping) we can now heal the past in order to change the future.
* In case you’re interested, Dr. Hershline himself took up to 8 tablespoons of coconut oil daily, but 5-6 tablespoons daily taken in three divided doses with food is recommended by this article.
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