Are Alcoholics Usually Malnourished?

"Alcoholics use the alcohol as a source of sugar and they don't eat," says Dr. Ally Bloom, a medical director and owner of Pasadena Recovery Center. He is psychiatrist with four years experience in treating alcoholism. "Alcoholics are some of the few people who truly have vitamin deficiency. The amount of vitamins needed for an average person is supplied through common foods; an alcoholic does nothing but drink and live off sugar from alcohol."

According to Health Check Systems.com, alcohol is rich in energy, but like sugar or fat, the calories consumed do not have any nutrients. The more calories an alcoholic consumes in alcohol, the less likely that person will obtain enough food or adequate nutrients. Chronic alcohol abuse leads to lack of nutrients, which leads to damage of the liver, digestive system, and near destruction to every body organ. Malnutrition can both suppress and stimulate aspects of the immune system.

"Alcoholics get vitamin depleted and have deficiencies in B complex vitamins," says Bloom. "They can develop something of a psychosis in which they have various problems. They begin to lie, get delusional or they can have an end-stage illness called alcoholic hallucinosis in which they see things and hear things that aren't there."

When drinking alcohol excessively for long durations, cirrhosis of the liver is highly likely. Inflammation of the pancreas and damage to the brain and heart are very likely as well. High levels of alcohol intake raise the risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, cancer, automobile accidents, violence, birth defects and many other complications. Heavy drinkers are also at risk of malnutrition because alcohol contains many calories and gives an alcoholic a sense of fullness. Alcohol is filling, so it displaces more nourishing foods in the diet, which causes malnutrition.

Protein energy malnutrition is a deficiency in proteins that results from an inadequate diet. When a person is suffering from malnutrition, infections occur as well as immune dysfunction. The frequency and severity of malnutrition has been shown to increase with the development of alcoholic liver disease.

"Alcohol destroys the liver and brain gradually, but profoundly. This damage increases the need for nutrients to repair these organs at a time when the drinker is eating fewer and fewer good foods," states Yourself.com, a website dedicated to providing information on alcohol abuse. "Therefore, vitamin and other food supplements are essential for the heavy drinker."

Vitamins that are needed for alcoholics are vitamin C, B-complex, Chromium, L-Glutamine, and Lecithin. The liver of an alcoholic has a decreased ability to convert and release nutrients and make them available throughout the body. Without adequate nutrients and vitamins, the cells are weakened by excessive exposure to alcohol and are not able to create bone tissue, blood, or energy.