Diet and exercise! Largely plant based diet helps you feel better. Spending more time outdoors. I have taken protandim for some time and it helps. Curry spices and milk thistle are thought to protect the internal organs and help them recover from damage.

AA helped me in almost every way. That said, once I was sober, I had time and the attention to take better care of myself. I eat clean, I work out every day, I try to get 8 hours of sleep, I don't eat processed food (except when I do which is rare..lol) and I take supplements.
So yes diet, exercise, sleep, prayer, meditation, meetings, working with others....rinse repeat.

Hello JAYUS,

When I was drinking I would have tried just about anything but what I was doing was trying to fix a problem without understanding the nature of that problem. Once I understood the problem, the solution became simple.

I learned that part of the problem was in the body and part in the mind. The physical part was an abnormal reaction to alcohol that produced a craving for more when I took a drink. The magic cure is that if I dont take the first drink, the craving for more cannot and will not develop.

The mental part was an obsession for alcohol that left me defenceless against the THINKING that led up to taking the first drink. There was no magic cure for that but it was suggested that there was a path that I could follow and it would lead to recovery. I didnt really believe a lot of what I was told but there was no other show in town so I went along with it anyway. One day it dawned on me that I no longer had an obsession for alcohol and since that day I have never seriously considered taking a drink. That has been my natural remedy.

Okay I don't necessarily want a "magic cure" but I am interested in if people have found any diet plans or supplements that help out with cravings / addiction / withdrawal symptoms. Nothing magical, nothing that promises you will be cured and can drink again, just safe and natural aids that may help us work through this.

I couldn't be happier that most of you have found successful sobriety with the aid of AA, but I'm just trying to learn as much as possible about this disease and was hoping to get some other, non-support group ideas bouncing around that maybe we could all learn about and benefit from.

And I am by no means saying that support groups aren't the best way to deal with alcoholism, but every single discussion post on here talks about AA and support groups. Just trying to branch out and have a discussion about something new.

Thanks Trojanthunder I will have to look into protandim; never heard of it.

I did read something about milk thistle helping stimulate regeneration of liver cells......which I'm sure we have all damaged a few of.

I'm not interested in groups either. I like the op would like to talk about other things we can do to make ourselves feel better about all aspects of life.

Right now I am working on cutting back the time I start, and taking a closer look at my triggers. I am calling my day a success if I start later and quit earlier. Also working on at least one drink less per day every day.

I would like to share coping strategies.

Yesterday evening instead of starting my usual time I want out on my balcony with my kitten, a glass of water, and I called my BFF and we talked about our favorite tv shows and stuff for like 2 hours.

It was very pleasant and gave me sort of a buzzy feeling without the booze.

This evenings strategy is to get dressed, go shopping and bring home some nice ingredients to cook a vegan meal with my hubby

Garbage in; garbage out... Avoid sugar, carbs, refined/processed foods

Eat healthy, and you crave healthy.

Drink water.

B vitamins, calcium and magnesium, St. John's Wort and valerian.root.

Trojanthunder - I try to keep busy so I don't have time to waste drinking. When I am out doing things and I get home and it's already time to go to sleep, it's usually pretty easy for me to not drink. It's the days when I'm doing mindless chores around the house that I end up drinking a ton, especially If I'm home alone.

I think talking to friends is a great thing to do to keep our minds off the booze and lift our moods. I always feel some accomplishment the days I drink less also... might be because I don't feel like shit the next day when I only have 2 drinks as opposed to 8. Plus 2 drinks isn't nearly as taxing on your body.

I am always trying to eat more of a plant based diet, mainly because I love animals, but I've been reading a lot about the health effects of eating animal products and agree that plant-based is the way to go. Funny I try to eat so healthy and then get drunk and flush all those positive health effects right down the drain!

Exercise releases those endorphins to make us feel better and I definitely feel awesome after a good workout. I found the best way for me to keep up with actually working out is to mix it up. I started taking a bunch of different classes like zumba and pilates and now I actually want to work out instead of forcing myself to do it. Running on the hamster wheel can get old. I even try some classes that I think I might not like and sometimes am very surprised at how fun they are. You never know exactly what it's like to do something unless you've actually done it.

2 days ago I made a snowman and my fianc and I threw snowballs at each other....made me feel like a kid again and I though about how nice it was to feel like that and be sober. I think maybe I will try doing new things, getting more involved in charities, maybe pickup a new hobby, etc.

Sometimes I think drinking covers some self-esteem/image issues I have. I gained some weight over the years and I'm still about 15 lbs bigger than I'd like. It really bothers me and I never feel as confident as I used to when I was skinnier. I think I really need to get down to business trying to lose weight to see if that would help out...maybe I wouldn't feel the need to drink?

For cravings, I eat chocolate. Alcohol has alot of sugar, if you suddenly stop the sugar intake, your body will crave it. If alcohol is it's usual source for sugar, what do you think your brain will want...? Alcohol. So...you have an obsession for alcohol in the first place, then you suddenly stop, you have another craving for sugar going on that is often overlooked. Choclate helps me alot when I am craving. Sly

The most effective natural remedy:
Don't drink and deal with what comes up :)

Anything you can find to make that easier is probably a good thing!

P

I improved my eating habits and that helped a lot. When I was drinking, I was eating very poorly (ramen, spaghettio's, ugh...)

I drink tons of water and also indulge in chocolate to combat urges.

Keeping busy is HUGE!

I try to help others and compliment others each day. The more I get out of myself the better I feel!

1-2

As long as you don't start eating instead of drinking, the weight should come off from not drinking all those calories.

I recently rediscovered yoga and breathing. Love it! : )

Exercise! Feels great, healthy way to cope with cravings, get a bit of dopamine in, and encourages drinking water. Also helps with your self-esteem.