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88 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting..., August 5, 2000
This review is from: Seven Weeks to Sobriety: The Proven Program to Fight Alcoholism through Nutrition (Paperback)
I have often wondered what we as AA have to offer a detoxing newcomer other than "let go and let God", only to watch them get drunk before the night is over. Then we sit back and say "he isn't ready" or "she can't get honest". Larsons book opens many possibilities for AA and others to explore, and takes James Millam's book "Under The Influence" to a new level. I believe the conventional treatment industry and AA is going to be slow to try a new approach, even with thier dismal success rates, but Larson may have opened the door a little wider. This book is definatly worth a read, if at the very least, only to educate yourself as to some of the physical aspects of alcoholism, and at the very most, a working sobriety and knowledge to share with others. The only criticism I have is some of her dubious statistics, and her failure to offer sources for many of her nutrients other than her facility. I imagine that a practicing alcoholic could get frustrated going store to store trying to collect the numerous supplements, and a simple guide would go a long way in helping someone find these things. I hope that future authors will take the idea further. Perhaps it is time we began to take the treatment of alcoholism out of the 1930's.
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89 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How to quit when you don't want to quit., December 16, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Seven Weeks to Sobriety: The Proven Program to Fight Alcoholism through Nutrition (Paperback)
Alcohol was a major annoyance in my life, but I had never succeeded in quitting for more than a few weeks at a time. I just didn't consider that it was actually feasible. I just thought I couldn't give up my precious wine because I was some sort of morally defective type who didn't try hard enough. Twelve Step approaches were, for me, religiously heavy-handed and downright offensive. I had encountered too many True Believers whose grasp on sobriety seemed desperately dependent on endless commiserating and the weird veneration of helplessness. (By the way, the statistics on AA's "success rate" is one of the great eye-openers of Larson's book and worth the reading alone.) If "90 meetings in 90 days" and bumper-sticker slogans haven't meant much success for you, maybe there are good, practical, physical reasons. Dr. Larson has uncovered a vital link between addiction and chemical deficiencies. The clear discussions of various types of alcoholic intolerance was precise and reassuring. Best of all, my own "cure" went practically unnoticed until one day I just didn't want to put wine in my mouth anymore. This happened less than a month after I began taking a carefully researched regimen of vitamins, amino acids and other suppliements that are the keystone to nutritional recovery. At first, I thought it was a fluke, but 13 months later, I still have no desire for even the best wines or any other liquor. This book was recommended to me by a knowledge-able, trusted naturopathic physician who keeps a supply of the book an hand. We are both delighted that Joan Larson has written a book that was nothing less than an act of Grace for me.
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161 of 177 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A valuable book despite the dubious science, April 10, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Seven Weeks to Sobriety: The Proven Program to Fight Alcoholism through Nutrition (Paperback)
First, to be fair, this book together with Audrey Kischline's book on Moderation Management and others, has helped me stop after years of heavy, consistent drinking. I was able to take the complicated regimen of various dietary supplements proposed in the book and reduce it to a simple twice-daily dose, based on a multivitamin pack, amino acid tablets, Glutamine powder and Melatonin. This has led to a diminished desire for alcohol, BUT...Sorry folks, will-power and attitude are still the most important aspects in making any change to your life, including drinking. The debate concerning the role of nutrition and alcohol rages on. Based on a considerable amount of reading, I believe that alcoholism is much more than a simple question of changing diet and taking supplements, although proper nutrition plays an important role in reducing cravings for alcohol. Clearly the nutrition-only approach works for some people, however. Larson's book provides a program of amino acid and vitamin supplements which she claims has a success rate of 74%. If you examine the claim more closely you find it is based on only 100 sample cases from her clinic, and worse yet, buried not-so-subtly in the text is a "buy my mega-package of pills" pitch that turned me off completely. The daily recipe includes Tryptophan, a questionable supplement at best. Extensive reading and my own experience has lead me to believe that the most essential "non-vitamin" elements in this program are Glutamine and Melatonin. Larson fails to prioritize the importance to each supplement to the overall program, thus giving the impression that each of the 11 elements are equally important. The ad-hoc nature of her recipe, and the fact that it is neither age nor body-weight specific, detracts from the book. If her program were "74% successful", AA would be finished, the various treatment centers would switch to this approach and most alcohol abuse would go away. Given all that, the bottom line is: If you have problems with alcohol, buy this book. It won't hurt, and for you it may be the critical factor in reducing or eliminating alcohol from your life.
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