Vital Wellness

Aside from a thiamin deficiency, excessive drinking can also cause a defi­ciency of vitamin B6, a nutrient needed for formation of red blood cells as well as reactions involved in normal cell functions.

Pyridoxine, or vitamin B6, is more rapidly eliminated from the body during heavy drinking, over 50 percent of those who drink excessively seem to have defi­ciencies. Eating a well-balanced diet that includes 1.3 milligrams of vitamin B6 can correct the problem, but only if no further alcohol is ever consumed. Good food sources of pyridoxine include meat, fish, poultry, or fortified cereals. Read the rest of this entry »

The unsteady gait, confusion, and poor memory that many of us associate with someone who drinks excessively are also symptoms of brain damage caused by long-term alcohol abuse. Alcohol not only affects the brain indirectly by impairing absorption of vital nutrients, but it’s directly toxic to the brain as well.

Thiamin Food Source

Studies using brain imaging have consistently found that alcoholic men and women have greater brain shrinkage than non-alcoholics. The cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for coordination and some forms of learning, seems to be especially vulnerable to alcohol. The cerebellum is also affected by the body’s stores of thiamin, which regulates the metabolism of brain cells. Read the rest of this entry »

Although alcohol devastates the body both directly as a toxin and indirectly through nutrient loss, scientists suspect that it may also affect the body’s natural antioxidant defenses.

Alcohol Abuse In Pregnacy

Antioxidants are substances that protect your body’s healthy molecules against damage by unstable molecules called free radicals. Heavy alcohol use not only increases the production of free radicals, but it also depletes stores of antioxidants, like vitamins C and E. That means that while those nasty rogue molecules are increasing exponentially, the natural warriors needed to fight them off are decreasing rapidly. This imbal­ance is called “oxidative stress.” Read the rest of this entry »

You probably know someone with a drinking problem. In fact, maybe that person is you.

Problems with alcohol are fairly common in the United States. Two- thirds of all Americans drink and sixty percent are light to moderate drinkers, but up to 10 percent drink excessively.

Alcoholic Problem

The lights to moderate drinkers are probably in pretty good health, because is safe and may be beneficial, since it lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. But excessive alcohol consumption is another story. Excessive drinking on a daily basis—more than three drinks for a woman and more than six for a man—increases your risk of cancer and can damage the liver, pancreas, heart, and brain, and also increases the risk of breast cancer in women, says doctor. It can cause vitamin deficiencies resulting in anemia, memory loss, osteoporosis, and night blindness. Although rare in this country, when scurvy due to vitamin C deficiency and pellagra due to niacin deficiency do occur, it’s usually in alcoholics. Read the rest of this entry »