Recovery from alcoholism is one of the most daunting tasks that many individuals face. It is hard on the mind and equally on the body, that only leads to relapses. Less than half of the adults who try to detox are successful in their first attempt. So, how do you detox safely from alcohol?
Thankfully, there are many centers that are now capable of offering inpatient and outpatient supervised services for individuals who want to quit alcohol.
Many wonder if they can successfully detox from alcohol at home. This is doable if the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal are mild. For example, if the person is used to drinking heavy amounts of alcohol on a daily basis, the withdrawal symptoms may be severe enough and as such, detox could be safer in an inpatient facility.
Severe alcohol withdrawal at times requires an admission to the hospital. Mild-moderately severe cases can be managed at home but require a lot of dedication from the person as well as supportive staff.
The best way to detox from alcohol at home starts with proper mental outlook, a good nutritious diet, proper hydration techniques with electrolyte-rich fluids, correction of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, psychological counseling and activities to keep the mind in focus (yoga, exercise, etc.).
This is no surprise. Alcohol is a dehydrating agent and those who consume a good amount of it, usually suppress their urge to drink water during that episode. Once the alcohol affects mentation, the oral intake of liquids goes down even further making the body more dehydrated.
Once this happens, the central nervous system effects of alcohol cause drowsiness further impairing a person’s ability to drink water and fluids. The result? Severe dehydration that is partially responsible for the symptoms of hangover.
Conversely, hydration can help eliminate toxins, particularly alcohol byproducts at a faster rate. Increasing the vascular (blood volume) compartment by hydration allows the toxins to be distributed in a larger space while stimulating their elimination via urine. This allows for a faster recovery during detoxification.
Additionally, electrolyte deficiencies are fairly common in alcoholics, particularly that of magnesium, potassium, thiamine (vitamin B1) to name a few. The water and electrolyte depletion makes the body feel fatigued, tired, more hungover, limiting the brain’s capacity to logically prepare for a successful detoxification effort.
One of the recent understandings in alcohol dependency is that at least in long term alcoholics, the gut-brain axis plays a large role in relapses and is responsible for the psychiatric manifestations of the addictive response. Which means, the lower you are on electrolytes and hydration, the worse your cravings.
Alcohol ingestion alters the gut microbiome which generate toxins that are presumed to play a role in stimulating cravings. This can lead to a person relapsing after a detoxification attempt.
Hence, there is more emphasis now on targeting the gut microbiome to improve the success rate of detoxification from alcohol, particularly if done at home or in an outpatient setting.
Hydration allows electrolytes to get back in balance. Individuals who are dependent on alcohol are low in electrolyte status, particularly of sodium, magnesium and potassium in addition to ongoing deficiencies of vitamins.
Dehydration worsens during an alcohol withdrawal state due to increase in the body activity (tachycardia, restlessness) and due to a rise in core body temperature. This dehydration leads to worsening of cravings and prevents the individual from getting adequate nutrition.
Thus, hydrating with an electrolyte drink, such as HuMOLYTE, allows replacement of vital minerals such as magnesium, sodium and potassium while allowing the prebiotic, 2’-fucosyllactose (2’-FL) to improve the gut health of the individual.
Improvement in the gut microbiome can help improve the gut-brain axis allowing individuals to focus on detoxification.
HuMOLYTE is specifically formulated to allow replacement of electrolytes particularly magnesium, sodium and potassium, all of which are depleted in chronic alcoholism. Improvement in the body stores of these minerals allows the body to be in a better balance.
Magnesium and potassium replacement allow for improvement in fatigue and mood. Magnesium in the mix helps relieve anxiety and allows for physical conditioning. A small amount of sodium allows for water to be retained inside the body, improving blood pressure and sodium status of the individual.
The prebiotic, 2’-fucosyllactose has many purposes- first, it has been shown to strengthen the gut barrier membrane by maintaining the integrity of the gut cells. This is vital because alcohol is a toxin that damages the stomach (gastric epithelial) cells directly. By helping maintain the integrity of these cells, 2’-FL can prevent the gut from being leaky that can further waste electrolytes and water.
Secondly, 2’-FL can help change the gut microbiome into a favorable one. This prebiotic, first isolated from human (mother’s) milk, selectively feeds good bacteria in the colon and maintains a balance or symbiosis.
As the bad bacteria are kept in check, they cannot liberate toxins so freely in the blood—allowing the person to have less cravings and improve the chances of a successful detoxification. In fact, a recent school of thought is that since the gut microbiome is highly altered in alcoholism, selectively changing it through prebiotics or nutrition can improve the chances of successful recovery by reducing addictive behavior.
Thus, by improving hydration status of an individual with electrolytes along with a gut supplement such as 2’-FL, HuMOLYTE can allow them to have a chance for a successful detox and hopefully, prevent a relapse.
