Alcoholism is a disease characterized by a reward-system disorder in the brain. Most people can easily control their consumption of alcohol, stopping or moderating if it has a negative impact on their lives. Alcoholics, however, keep drinking despite mounting consequences, driven by cravings that override their common sense and survival instincts. To help understand and treat the phenomenon of alcohol craving, it's important to understand the role of neurotransmitters in the brain and the amino acids that form them.
Alcohol and Neurotransmitters
Your brain compels your mood and behavior largely through the complex interactions among its neurotransmitters. Your body builds these neurotransmitters largely through the proteins in the foods you eat -- and proteins are made up of amino acids. Alcohol disrupts the interaction of these neurotransmitters, inhibiting some of them while overstimulating others. Consume alcohol excessively over a period of time and the changes to these neurotransmitters could become permanent, leading to brain damage.
Amino Acids and Cravings
According to Kenneth Blum and his research team at the University of Texas, alcoholics' brains have neurotransmitter deficiencies. They conducted a double-blind study of alcoholics in which the daily administration of certain amino acids -- glutamine, tyrosine and phenylaline -- plus a daily multivitamin significantly reduced alcohol cravings.
Glutamate
In 2006, the University of Florida College of Pharmacy reported on the research of Dr. Joanna Peris, an associate professor of pharmacodynamics, who studied the phenomenon of alcoholic craving in rats. When the alcohol in rats that were given excessive amounts passed out of their systems, Peris found that the levels of the amino acid glutamate in their brains rose significantly. The location of this rise is the brain's pleasure center, which regulates the reward system -- the compulsion to reward oneself after work. Glutamate may be a key amino acid that stimulates an intense craving for more alcohol when the body and brain suffer withdrawal symptoms after an alcoholic binge.
Diet and Therapy
If you suffer symptoms of alcoholism, consult a health professional about possible treatment options. Alcoholics Anonymous and cognitive behavioral therapy are effective therapeutic treatments, but since alcohol abuse may be caused by -- or lead to -- vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as abnormalities in the brain's amino acids, a healthy diet and amino acid supplements may help reduce the phenomenon of alcohol craving.
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