Alcohol addiction is a disease that causes changes to the brain’s neurochemistry making it impossible to control the urge to drink. Some common symptoms that reveal you are suffering from alcohol addiction can include consuming alcohol to relieve depression, drinking at odd times like first thing in the morning, increasing consumption to higher levels than usual, and trying to hide from others while drinking. Alcohol abuse can lead to liver and heart disease and can be fatal if left untreated.

The normal rehab for substance abuse includes outpatient treatments where you attend counseling or inpatient treatments where you attend counseling and go through alcohol withdrawal in a supervised setting. Sometimes, doctors also prescribe medicines to help reduce cravings. If normal treatment fails to help with your addiction, then you may decide to try some of the more popular alternative treatments that are available.

Here are some natural treatments for alcohol addiction that have been successful:

1. Acupuncture for alcohol abuse treatment

Many people discover that regular acupuncture treatments can support their alcohol rehabilitation treatment. Acupuncture increases your endorphin levels and high endorphin levels help addicts with both addiction and cravings. Although acupuncture is considered an alternative treatment, many treatment facilities are now including it in their treatment plans because of the success of other patients.

2. Proper diet can work wonders

Some patients, who have successfully treated their addiction, suggest that eating well balanced meals work wonders for their addictions. It is also suggested that you eat several small meals per day to help stabilize your blood sugar levels. Eating high sugar foods can spike your blood sugar levels and trigger cravings for alcohol.

3. Vitamin and mineral supplements

It is common practice among alternative medicine practitioners to bolster their diet with a carefully prepared supplement schedule. It has been found that a good multivitamin can help the detoxification process and stabilize moods. Also, alcohol abuse drains your body of vital B vitamins, so you should include a solid B-complex vitamin in your line-up. L-glutamine can also be used to stabilize moods and help increase energy levels.

4. Exercise helps a lot

Excessive alcohol consumption puts a great amount of strain on the liver that works overtime to filter out toxins. This abnormal liver activity liver causes your pancreas to go into super insulin secretion mod, and it can cause the pancreas to become inflamed. Regular exercise burns up the fatty cholesterol that is stored in your liver. This helps to restore the balance between your liver and pancreas to normal operating conditions and it reduces any inflammation that may have occurred by making it easier to regulate blood sugar levels which can help your alcohol rehabilitation go smoother.

5. Meditation might be right for you

A big part of gaining control of your alcohol addiction is to control of your moods. Many heavy drinkers use alcohol as a means of self-medicating. Doing meditation to control your mood swings is a much better solution to deal with your problems than drinking your worries away. Of course, meditation won’t solve your problem by itself, but it should be used in conjunction with rehab for substance abuse and a good support system of family and friends.