The Vitamin Cure for Alcoholism: Orthomolecular Treatment of Addictions

The Vitamin Cure for AlcoholismOrthomolecular Treatment of Addictionsby Abram Hoffer, PhD, MD, FRCP(C) and Andrew Saul, PhD 2009, Basic Health, 134 pages [...]The Vitamin Cure for Alcoholism explains how patients can stop craving alcohol and restore their health. Two credible authors wrote this enlightening book. By the time he passed away at age 91 ½, Abram Hoffer, PhD, MD, FRCP(C) had earned an international reputation for researching and developing orthomolecular psychiatry (as a complementary dimension of care), teaching other doctors and educating the public. Thousands of patients recovered. Co-author Andrew Saul, PhD contributed his fascination with forgotten treatments and his capabilities as an author and an educator.Before he became a physician and then a psychiatrist, Abram Hoffer obtained a PhD in biochemistry. Hoffer's advanced degree, research experience and observation skills proved useful during his medical studies. He learned to respect patients and above all, to do no harm. Starting in the 1950s and continuing for sixty years, Dr. Hoffer researched the chemical basis of psychiatry and developed treatments for schizophrenia, psychosis, anxiety, depression and alcoholism. Hoffer did the first double-blind placebo-controlled experiments in psychiatry, in the 1950s. He tested niacin and niacinamide (vitamin B3) for schizophrenia and discovered that optimum (large) doses of vitamins B3 and C can heal psychosis and restore normal brain function. Linus Pauling, PhD (Nobel-prize-winning chemist) read about Hoffer's vitamin therapy and found it so inspiring that, in 1968, Pauling invented a new word when he described Hoffer's practice of prescribing nutritional supplements as "orthomolecular" psychiatry.When his patients had hallucinations, neurotransmitter imbalances, food sensitivities or addictions, Hoffer knew that episodes of mental illness can have a number of causes. He treated each patient according to the practice guidelines of psychiatry. Hoffer noted their mental status and took medical, mental and family histories, checked for infections and tested for medical problems (such as thyroid, adrenal, blood sugar and hormone disorders) before prescribing medications and complementing other treatments with vitamins, minerals and other nutritional supplements. Dr. Hoffer noticed that some patients tried to self-medicate with alcohol. Perhaps patients drank during episodes of schizophrenia or psychosis because they hoped to control their hallucinations, delusions and perceptual distortions. Abram Hoffer administered vitamin treatments when patients went psychotic, over-indulged drinking or took LSD. Over his long and distinguished career, Dr. Hoffer helped thousands of patients by fine-tuning their diets and prescribing regimens of nutritional supplements. He learned that vitamins, trace minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, energy and enzyme cofactors can normalize metabolism and stabilize brain chemistry. Orthomolecular treatments proved safe and effective. Many patients recovered and stopped drinking.Orthomolecular regimens of vitamins complemented other treatments but contrasted with the standard methods. Most psychiatrists only offered talk therapy or treatments with drugs, talks or electric shocks. Why bother telling drunk, depressed, anxious or psychotic patients that their brains need optimum nutrition? Don't sick patients know that alcohol can deplete nutrients and interfere with brain function? Dr. Hoffer remained true to the principles of good medicine; he considered the root causes of symptoms before making a differential diagnosis and recommending treatments. He knew that certain nutrients are essential for health and wellbeing. Hoffer researched metabolic, biochemical and nutritional factors involved with mental illness. He identified alcohol as a liquid sugar, just by looking at its chemical formula. Hoffer believed that biochemical individuality and sugar cravings contribute to alcoholism especially if patients have low blood sugar or problems metabolizing alcohol. As a biochemist, Hoffer reasoned that niacin (vitamin B3) could restore mental health, even after repeated episodes of drinking. He researched vitamin therapy for decades, found it safe and effective and helped thousands of patients recover and live well.Over many years, Abram Hoffer published his research in scientific and medical journals. Perplexed and disappointed by the American Psychiatry Association's refusal to accept his research, appreciate his discoveries or repeat his double-blind experiments with niacin, Dr. Hoffer decided to educate the public about vitamin therapy. Realizing that most physicians do not test for biochemical disorders, monitor nutrition or prescribe vitamins, Abram Hoffer wrote a series of books for patients, families and caregivers in which he introduced biochemistry, summarized research and shared scientific and medical information about orthomolecular medicine. Andrew Saul has also written books to remind readers about still-useful treatments developed decades ago. Whether readers are patients, families, caregivers or health professionals, Hoffer and Saul present their information clearly and succinctly. Abram Hoffer's books include: The Chemical Basis of Clinical Psychiatry, Niacin Therapy in Psychiatry, How to Live with Schizophrenia, Nutrients to Age without Senility, Smart Nutrients, Healing Schizophrenia, Adventures in Psychiatry: The Scientific Memoirs of Dr. Abram Hoffer and Orthomolecular Medicine for Everyone. Decades of editorials and articles in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine share Hoffer's views about schizophrenia, psychosis and alcoholism. (free archives at [...])Hoffer and Saul credit Roger Williams, PhD with researching vitamins in the 1940s, observing that lab rats vary in their tolerance for alcohol and experimenting with vitamins, recommending vitamins for alcoholism and developing the concept of biochemical individuality. (Reference: Alcoholism - The Nutritional Approach by R. Williams, PhD, 1959). In 1968, Hoffer and Osmond wrote New Hope for Alcoholics to report their research and explain that their "ideal program for treating alcoholics" included "insightful experiences from which [patients] derived understanding about themselves and others". Hoffer and Osmond paid careful attention to 1. diagnosis, 2. etiology, 3. assessment of drinking behaviors, 4. treatment of medical and metabolic aspects, 5. hopeful prognosis, 6. suicide prevention, 7. hospital access, 8. competent caregivers and 9. review of patient, family and community rights and duties. They used niacin therapy to treat many alcoholics. New Hope for Alcoholics shared patient case reports, recovery stories and heartwarming testimonials written by several of the hundreds of alcoholic patients who recovered at Guest House, Michigan.Updated a remarkable forty years later, in 2009, The Vitamin Cure for Alcoholism, a concise 134 pages with references, presents (1) Abram Hoffer's decades of research, progress and success using optimum doses of niacin (with other vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements) to heal patients with alcoholism and/or schizophrenia and (2) Andrew Saul's experiences learning about vitamin therapy and teaching forgotten treatments. Readers can learn that even though Abram Hoffer kept busy treating his patients and writing, he encouraged a worldwide network of doctors to consider restorative orthomolecular regimens. A number of physicians confirmed that opti-doses of vitamin B3 can heal alcoholic patients. For example, Dr. R. Smith in Detroit and Dr. D. Hawkins in New York used vitamin therapy to help hundreds of their patients recover from psychosis, depression, anxiety and alcoholism. Bill W., a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, found niacin therapy so important to his own recovery that as a layman, Bill wrote two booklets to encourage members of AA to take vitamin B3 - hundreds recovered.The Vitamin Cure for Alcoholism explains how to protect against and fight alcoholism using nutrition and vitamin supplementation. If you or someone you love has a problem with alcohol or another addiction, don't wait for your doctor to (1) discuss nutrition, (2) test for metabolic disorders, (3) consider your biochemical individuality or (4) suggest an orthomolecular regimen of vitamins and minerals. You owe it to yourselves to read this fascinating book and learn that restorative treatments for psychosis and alcoholism have been researched, developed and administered successfully to thousands of patients, for more than fifty years!Review by Robert Sealey, BSc, CA author of 90-Day Plan for Finding Quality Care [...]

One month update, more or less: Miraculous. This has completely stopped my alcohol abuse. I'm almost afraid to talk about it, for fear it'll stop working. But maybe at this point, I can lighten up a bit. And maybe offer some advice, in case somebody with an alcohol problem is coming here looking for help.If you are a heavy drinker and can't stop, this might work for you. I think the best way to guess whether it will or not is to figure out what kind of a drunk you are, based on chapter 4 of the book "Seven Weeks to Sobriety". I am, without a doubt, a "endorphin high" drunk. Drinking makes me feel great, I do certain tasks better when mildly drunk, I can remember the first time I got drunk, and so on. And over the years, I've gotten habituated to alcohol, and now I need alcohol.If that sounds like you, read on. (There are many other types of alcoholics, and I don't know if this will work for those other types.)What that means is that I drink to manipulate the neurotransmitters in my brain. And after years of doing that, hey, guess what, the neurotransmitter systems in my brain are all out of whack. No surprise there. And so, now my brain craves alcohol, because that gives it temporary relief from those screwed-up neurotransmitter levels. So what used to be an occasional vice is now a steady and unbreakable habit.Sound familiar? Then keep reading.The vitamin cure is all about providing excess niacin (vitamin B3) and a handful of other nutrients. As near as I can tell, having that excess allows your body to produce substantially more neurotransmitters, in particular, serotonin and dopamine. And the result is that, over time, you end up re-balancing the neurotransmitter systems in the brain. And you no longer crave alcohol to do that for you. (This is not the explanation given in the book, but it is what makes sense to me, based on a bit of research.)For me, the impact was immediate: The very first day I dosed myself as directed by this book, I was able to able to stay sober. I was kind of cranky the first week, and had a few beers to settle that out. But, completely unlike the past, a few beers was adequate. I only needed a small dose of alcohol, not a huge one. And now, four weeks into it, eh, I can drink a few beers or not. Drinking is nice, it's fun -- I still enjoy getting drunk -- but in no sense is it necessary. And it takes a vastly smaller dose to make me feel good. I am staying well below the four-drinks-per-day 14-drinks-per-week boundary, below which drinking does not appear to hurt your health.After decades of alcohol abuse, and after trying pretty much everything to quit (including Naltrexone, the Sinclair method), this is a fundamental change, and it occurred immediately. I have no doubt this is real, not a placebo effect. As a bonus, the longer I do it, the easier it seems to be. I don't feel like I might snap and go back to my old ways. After one month, I feel like this is the new normal.So let me finish this by telling you why I think this is working. AA and other abstinence-based approaches keep you sober, but the imbalance in the brain is still there, and the craving is still there. Sure, you're sober, but you don't exactly feel great. You are always at risk for giving in to that craving. Naltrexone (Sinclair method) is more-or-less the same thing -- that blocks opioid receptors in the brain, so that drinking doesn't make you feel good. Presumably, if you do that long enough, your brain learns that it can't get that good feeling from drinking any more. And maybe if you are lucky, that stops the craving. Didn't work for me. I still craved being drunk, and that eventually leads to falling off the wagon.With this, all I can say is, a little alcohol makes me feel fine. Emphasis on little. And I don't even need that every day. And so I'm not a T-totaller. And I'm not an out-of-control drunk. I am now, for want of a better term, a normal social drinker. I'll have a couple of beers, some nights, to get a little buzz on -- and that's it. I'm ... normal. For the first time in decades.I have noticed a few side effects. Sometimes the vitamins,by themselves, give me irritated bloodshot eyes. And if I do drink, I definitely end up with bloodshot eyes. I have to assume that's related niacin's ability to dilate your capillaries (the "niacin flush"). And Primrose Oil (for some type of fatty acid) gave me the trots, so I skip that.FWIW, I don't follow this book slavishly. The gist of it is mega-vitamin therapy, which really just means taking so much of these vitamins that your body always has excess available. I'm at the point where I take "one of each" once a day. That's a gram of C, half a gram of B3 (as niacinamide -- the "flush" type niacin was too much for me), a balanced-B-complex, plus chromium, zinc, and so on. Not rocket science, just enough to make sure I have an excess in my system.So I swallow a handful of (mostly) harmless vitamin and mineral pills with lunch, and I'm good to go. Cheap, effective, and no significant side effects. I could not ask for anything more.This is working for me, full stop. If my story sounds like yours, I suggest you try it and see if it will work for you.

This book is potentially dangerous. It is well written and lays out a pretty compelling case for the niacin therapy they recommend. If, like me, you are convinced to give it a try, you will probably head to the local supermarket and pick up a bottle of 500mg Niacin, along with 1000mg vitamin C, and start casually popping 1g of each into your mouth after every meal. This is what it says to do in the book, so that's exactly what I did.On the second night, I awoke with horrible nausea, and had violent vomiting through the night. Still felt terrible all day the next day -- worse than any hangover, even though I had not drunk any alcohol. After a little investigation, I realized that the niacin capsules I purchased -- and most of what you'll find these days -- were TIMED RELEASE capsules. These do not burn through your system between meals. Instead, they linger in your body, slowly trickling out the niacin while you continue to stack more and more on top of it, until your liver is forced to deal with a large quantity of niacin all at once. The result is acute liver toxicity. Some people have even ended up with liver transplants after a mere 3 days of attempting to do high quantities of niacin, but using the timed release capsules because they didn't know any better.While the authors talk a little about flushing in the book and elevated liver enzyme levels, nowhere in the book to they point out that you can seriously injure yourself in a very short period using the most common form of timed release niacin that you'll find at your local grocery. BE CAREFUL!

I wish everyone would read this book. It would change lives. I started Vitamin B3 and C therapy and have noticed an amazing difference with reduced anxiety, depression, and food cravings.

Very useful book an hope for many people. A friend of mine who started to follow Dr Hoffer's recommendations (the book was bought for him) after a year is becoming a social drinker, and a week ago said to me that he cannot drink as much as in the past. Unbelievable! The bottom line is that you cannot be an alcoholic if don't suffer from some kind of metabolic disorder or deficiencies.

A lot of medical buff n praise for himself. He could have told you in one page what his cure is....americanized lit.

Bought this because i was drinking more than i should, very informative & stopped drinking for 7 weeks after buying the vitamins unfortunately went back on it again but that was down to my weak willpower

LIFE SAVER. SO GOOD

Every doctor should know about this.