Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsNutritionDigestionEnergy SupplyHypoglycemiaMaintenance of FunctionMedical ComplicationsTaking Care of Yourself

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Nutrition

Digestion

Energy Supply

Hypoglycemia

Maintenance of Function

Medical Complications

Taking Care of Yourself

Good nutrition is, of course, essential for providing energy and maintaining body structure and function. Manyalcoholics, however, tend to eat less than the amount of food necessary to provide sufficient carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals.

As a result, many drinkers with alcohol use disorders are at least mildly malnourished and if their disorder is severe enough for them to be hospitalized, they are usually severely malnourished.Restored nutrition is one of the most important features of a 28-day inpatient program. Improving diet also helps brain function, which can be important for improvingwillpowerneeded for recovery.

How Nutrition Is Supposed to Work

The digestive system is supposed to work this way: The body begins to breakdown food into usable molecules in the mouth and continues the process in the stomach and intestines, with help from the pancreas.

Nutrients from digested food are absorbed into the blood from the intestines and carried to the liver where they are prepared for immediate use or for storage for later use.

Alcohol inhibits the natural breakdown of nutrients in several ways:

Eating a balanced diet provides the body with the necessary calories to be used for energy, but somealcoholicswill ingest a lot of their total daily calories from alcohol. As a result, fewer calories are obtained from nutritious food sources, which means that there will be fewer vitamins and minerals ingested.

Alcohol does provide calories, but the body processes and uses the energy from alcohol differently than it does the calories from food.

If alcohol is substituted for carbohydrates, calorie for calorie, the person will lose weight instead of gain weight. This means they are getting less energy from alcohol calories than from food calories.

In alcoholics who are malnourished, consuming alcohol can cause a decrease in blood sugar, which can cause serious injury. The hypoglycemia, even if short-lived, can cause the brain and other body tissue to be deprived of the glucose needed to function.

Vitamins

Vitamins help regulate many physiological processes in the body essential to maintaining growth and normal metabolism. By impairing absorption, metabolism, and utilization of vitamins, chronic heavy drinking can cause vitamin deficiencies.

Alcohol consumption can cause deficiencies in vitamin A, C, D, E, K, and B vitamins.

These deficiencies can cause night blindness, softening of the bones, slow healing of wounds, decreased the ability of the blood to clot and, in the brain, severe neurological damage.

Minerals

If you are drinking more than the recommended guidelines, chances are you are probably not eating as well as you should either. Here’s an overview of how this can impact your nutrition and cause medical complications.

Liver Disease

Alcohol itself is the major cause of alcoholic liver disease, but poor nutrition can decrease nutrients normally found in the liver and therefore contribute to alcohol-related liver damage. Research has found that dietary fructose plus ethanol promotes liver inflammation.

Alcohol also depletes carotenoids, a major source of vitamin A and E in the liver.

Pancreatitis

Brain Damage

Nutritional deficiencies can have a variety of severe and permanent effects on how the brain works. Thiamine deficiency in particular, which is frequently seen in people with severe alcohol use disorders, can cause serious neurological problems, impaired movement, and memory loss.

There is some indication that omega-3 fatty acid deficits may also influence brain function in people with alcohol use disorder.

Pregnancy

Not only does drinking during pregnancy have direct toxic effects on fetal development, but alcohol-related nutritional deficiency can also affect the fetus, compounding the risk of developmental damage. Alcohol has been shown to restrict nutrition flow to the fetus.

The Benefits of Quitting Alcohol

Excess alcohol in your system is potentially causing a variety of negative health effects on your body. Plus, you may also be facing a risk of damage from poor nutrition.

If you or a loved one are struggling with substance use or addiction, contact theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helplineat1-800-662-4357for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

If you or a loved one are struggling with substance use or addiction, contact theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helplineat1-800-662-4357for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.

For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

12 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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American Addiction Centers.The Effects of Alcohol on the Pancreas. October 2019.

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Relationships Between Nutrition, Alcohol Use, and Liver Disease.National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

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