Glutamine for Alcohol Craving

They say that a drink or two won't hurt, right? However, when once or twice progresses into few more drinks, and when sometimes turns into every time, then you might just be in for alcoholic problems. Alcoholism occurs when a person exhibits physical addiction to alcohol despite pertinent problems regarding physical, mental and social dilemmas. But, how much is too much? According to studies, those most at risk for the development of alcoholism are those men who consume 15 drinks or more per week and women with 12 drinks or more per week also. It is reported that 1 out of 6 individuals suffer from alcoholism. Most often than not, those who succumb to the influence of alcohol repeatedly will have difficulty leaving this addicting predicament. So what to do when you are at the most tempting moment to grab that glass of alcohol? Scientific evidences says, take glutamine instead.

Glutamine, a free-form amino acid mostly found in the muscles has been used for quite some time now for the treatment of alcoholism. This semi-essential amino acid is not a newbie, in fact it is popularly known as a brain food and a muscle enhancer for bodybuilders. Aside from those, this building block of our body have been utilized for other various purposes which includes being an energy source, enhancing our body's own immune system, serving as fuel for our intestinal linings and improving mood conditions. Conversely, when employed as a nutritional modality to alcohol dependence, will it fare?

Once a person who habitually drinks alcoholic beverages and then suddenly decides to stop, alcohol withdrawal could arise. This condition is characterized by symptoms such as tremor, nausea, hallucinations and anxiety among others. Supplementation with L-glutamine can remedy this problem as demonstrated in scientific researches. This amino acid, which is a component of our brain's neurotransmitter, is notably deficient among alcoholics. Upon supplementation, neurotransmitters in the brains are activated leading to improvements in mental focus, concentration, alertness, attentiveness, improvement in moods and resistance to cravings among alcoholics. This mechanism is possible because L-glutamine inside your body is converted into gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, and gamma aminobutyric acid, or GABA, neurotransmitters, responsible for the prevention of impulsiveness and subsequent reduction of desires for alcohol consumption.

Generally speaking, hypoglycemia or low blood sugar levels are an important contributor for alcohol cravings. Upon consumption of too much carbohydrate, our pancreas produces insulin in response to the increase in the blood sugar levels. However, in situation when too much insulin is produced by our body, reverse mechanism occurs and our blood sugar concentration shoots below the normal. This results to hypoglycemic symptoms such as fatigue, tremors, cold-clammy skin and sweat. In a non-alcoholic drinker, this is a pretty simple dilemma as foods are the only sound solution in this kind of situations. However, when it comes to alcoholics, this is an opportunity to turn to alcohol, since it is known that this beverage relieves the hypoglycemic symptoms more readily than the sugar found in foods. And as the vicious cycles continue, an alcoholic person only sinks more down to the alcoholic pit, exposing the alcoholic addict more to the toxic effects of alcohol. L-glutamine, on the other hand, helps in the stabilization of our body's sugar level, by promoting the release of glycogen from our muscle stores to bring up sugar's concentration in our bloodstream. By keeping a balanced regulation of insulin and sugar in the body, hypoglycemia is kept at bay, keeping alcoholics from yearning for more drinks.

Alcoholism is a serious problem needing attention and determination in order for a person to break free from the alcohol's wicked grip. This amino acid, as a treatment is indeed promising, but as usual won't work if a person, in the first place, is not committed enough to undergo alcoholic management. It is rather beneficial to cope healthily and not destructively through nutritional support. So the next time you feel like having a few alcoholic drinks, grab a glutamine instead.