Seven Weeks to Sobriety

Rating:
Summary: Old and New Knowledge to Win Against Alcoholism!
Review: "Seven Weeks to Sobriety," by Joan Mathews Larson. "The Proven Program to Fight Alcoholism Through Nutrition," as claimed on the front cover's subtitle. Proven by whom is not asserted; it is assumed to be of "Health Recovery Center" for which Dr. Larson is the director. I have few negative comments about any attempt at promoting recovery from alcoholism. Dr. Larson with Keith W. Sehnert, M.D. want to catch the coattails of AA's success and ubiquitous big book. Covering 12 chapters and three appendices over 335 pages, it offers their advice for breaking the habit of alcohol addiction through a specially modified diet.

I found nothing harmful in "Seven Weeks," except one exaggeration that claimed one naturally occurring supplement (GLA?) could "reverse aging" (I tried to find it again, but it's in there). There are also some practical mentionings of "research indicates that..." many times throughout the pages, although to which research they are referring is not indicated. Most of the time, Dr. Larson does cite her sources, and that makes all the difference. On page 44 there is a nice and simple comparison chart of a Swedish Study vs. HRC results; but in this chart, the HRC study is claiming a 100% recovery rate from alcoholic symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, tremors, dizziness and three others. Can they really do that? Is anything 100% effective? Most of the information in "Seven Weeks..." is sound, although at times a little eccentric. On page 108-109, for example, we read "Since most alcoholics suffer blackouts, it makes sense to assume that insufficient tryptophan is to blame and that it also underlies any depression and sleeplessness they are experiencing." In any kind of scientific work, it NEVER makes sense to assume anything. It is either conclusive or it isn't. On page 144, they also state, "Insulin is the fat-storing hormone." Insulin metabolizes sugar, it doesn't store fat (or, that it is an indirect action of insulin). On pages 94-113, everything mentioned about the role of vitamins, minerals and aminos is believable, verifiable and duplicable.

I believe this book can be helpful for recovering alcoholics, in spite of that the carbohydrate-restricted diets might be difficult to follow. To cut out colas, coffee, bakery products, fried foods, margarine, taco shells, or anything made with hydrogenated oils from the diet--even diet sodas and nicotine--all at once may seem too much at once for someone in recovery. (We've got to have something left!) The proposed diet is rigid, taking a strong will to accomplish, but the price of sobriety is incomparable (did I give away my anonymity?) Details of the HRC diet and "Week Three: Correcting Chemistry" are at Chapter 7, page 115. I was particularly interested in the section "The Role of Adrenals," in which the authors discuss the effects of placing to many demands for adrenaline on the system, leading many alcoholics to suffer additional stress and emotional instability, even for a time after early sobriety. In this case, I can personally verify that, and it makes perfect sense. At Chapter 8, "Week Four: Tailoring Repair," many suggestions and formulas are given for certain vitamin, mineral and amino acid combination which assure the reader they will help to reverse the undesirable effects of alcohol abuse. Given the few overstatements and yet unproven FDA claims for certain minerals (e.g., chromium), and a few borrowings from the big book, I found nothing malignant in "Seven Weeks." I won't dog anything meant to help people get off of alcohol. It is not meant for the general public; it is meant to be used in conjunction with a doctor's help to break the addiction to alcohol. AA's big book was the first of its kind to offer a self-help plan with other alcoholics in attaining this admirable and monumental goal. This book is another next step, advancing this and new knowledge for the benefit of the common good.

Rating:
Summary: 19 months sober
Review: "Seven Weeks to Sobriety," by Joan Mathews Larson. "The Proven Program to Fight Alcoholism Through Nutrition," as claimed on the front cover's subtitle. Proven by whom is not asserted; it is assumed to be of "Health Recovery Center" for which Dr. Larson is the director. I have few negative comments about any attempt at promoting recovery from alcoholism. Dr. Larson with Keith W. Sehnert, M.D. want to catch the coattails of AA's success and ubiquitous big book. Covering 12 chapters and three appendices over 335 pages, it offers their advice for breaking the habit of alcohol addiction through a specially modified diet.

I found nothing harmful in "Seven Weeks," except one exaggeration that claimed one naturally occurring supplement (GLA?) could "reverse aging" (I tried to find it again, but it's in there). There are also some practical mentionings of "research indicates that..." many times throughout the pages, although to which research they are referring is not indicated. Most of the time, Dr. Larson does cite her sources, and that makes all the difference. On page 44 there is a nice and simple comparison chart of a Swedish Study vs. HRC results; but in this chart, the HRC study is claiming a 100% recovery rate from alcoholic symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, tremors, dizziness and three others. Can they really do that? Is anything 100% effective? Most of the information in "Seven Weeks..." is sound, although at times a little eccentric. On page 108-109, for example, we read "Since most alcoholics suffer blackouts, it makes sense to assume that insufficient tryptophan is to blame and that it also underlies any depression and sleeplessness they are experiencing." In any kind of scientific work, it NEVER makes sense to assume anything. It is either conclusive or it isn't. On page 144, they also state, "Insulin is the fat-storing hormone." Insulin metabolizes sugar, it doesn't store fat (or, that it is an indirect action of insulin). On pages 94-113, everything mentioned about the role of vitamins, minerals and aminos is believable, verifiable and duplicable.

I believe this book can be helpful for recovering alcoholics, in spite of that the carbohydrate-restricted diets might be difficult to follow. To cut out colas, coffee, bakery products, fried foods, margarine, taco shells, or anything made with hydrogenated oils from the diet--even diet sodas and nicotine--all at once may seem too much at once for someone in recovery. (We've got to have something left!) The proposed diet is rigid, taking a strong will to accomplish, but the price of sobriety is incomparable (did I give away my anonymity?) Details of the HRC diet and "Week Three: Correcting Chemistry" are at Chapter 7, page 115. I was particularly interested in the section "The Role of Adrenals," in which the authors discuss the effects of placing to many demands for adrenaline on the system, leading many alcoholics to suffer additional stress and emotional instability, even for a time after early sobriety. In this case, I can personally verify that, and it makes perfect sense. At Chapter 8, "Week Four: Tailoring Repair," many suggestions and formulas are given for certain vitamin, mineral and amino acid combination which assure the reader they will help to reverse the undesirable effects of alcohol abuse. Given the few overstatements and yet unproven FDA claims for certain minerals (e.g., chromium), and a few borrowings from the big book, I found nothing malignant in "Seven Weeks." I won't dog anything meant to help people get off of alcohol. It is not meant for the general public; it is meant to be used in conjunction with a doctor's help to break the addiction to alcohol. AA's big book was the first of its kind to offer a self-help plan with other alcoholics in attaining this admirable and monumental goal. This book is another next step, advancing this and new knowledge for the benefit of the common good.

Rating:
Summary: Worked for us
Review: As someone who has tried various "miracle" dietary suppliments and diets in the past, I was quite skeptical of this approach. However, both my wife and I had ongoing problems with alcohol abuse that spanned much of our lives and that were worsening despite various traditional approaches of AA and other newer self-help groups, so we decided to risk the money for the suppliments and try it. We are now approaching the maintanance phase of the program and are, frankly, astounded at how well it has worked for us. Not only have our cravings for alcohol gone from severe to none, but various other distrubances have abated as well (my wife's insomnia, my depression). The book contains a self-evaluation test before and after for mental and physical health, and the differences we feel are astounding and are far greater than would have been achieved only by abstinance. Last night my wife commented to me that it was hard to even imagine that drinking like that would be appealing or some sort of way to live. I could only agree. We feel like new people.

I would suggest that if purchasing the supplemnts from the author seems too expensive, you can save a lot of money with savy internet shopping and the products we purchased from Putitan's Pride seemed to be quite effective. If you think that is still too much, think of what you spend on booze. Then do it.

Regarding the dietary restrictions. We were not angels on the diet part of the plan and it still worked great for us. I think those changes are something we will continue to work on over time. Will do a follow up report in a year as to how well the maintenance program works.

In short, this program is not another gimmick. It worked for us better than I could have imagined. It may very well have saved our marriage and our lives. It gave us a huge leg up from where we were before. The newest research I've seen on the internet shows the wisdom of the various nutritional suppements, each one seems to serve a valuable purpose. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A valuable book despite the dubious science
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: 19 months sober
Review: Having been a "social" drinker since age 20, my dependency on alcohol crept up on me; not until I realized my relationships were going downhill(friends as well as spouse) did I try to cut back drinking---not very successful so I decided to research my condition. This book was full of inforrmation I needed; I didn't change my diet that drastically but relied on the nutitional supplements which I still take altho not all of them or as many anymore. Not sure I could have done it alone.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely helpful
Review: I have found Dr. Larson's books to be extremely useful on the subjects of alcoholism and hypoglycemia. I don't drink personally but I am acquainted with a number who do. My significant other is on the program administered by me and after his second week is feeling the effects of the nutrients. The yeast, cravings for cigarettes, sugar and alcohol are all slowly ceasing. I cannot stop singing the praises of these books as I am helping myself as well.

Rating:
Summary: All about how to treat alcoholism with supplements
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A marriage saver!
Review: I learned about this book when I attended my first Alanon meeting. My husband had just come off another binge and I was at my end. He agreed to stop drinking to save our marriage and began attending AA meetings, but it wasn't enough. He'd stopped drinking before and always returned to it eventually. He needed a different solution. So, I purchased this book and we both sat down and read it. I didn't order the vitamins through their treatment center, but found everything we needed through Puritan's Pride There are A LOT of vitamins to swallow, but it's worth it. We learned that there are different types of alcoholism and that there is a chemical imbalance that causes the cravings and mood swings. By replacing what your body is missing, you can eliminate all of these things. If you are skeptical, try it and you'll be convinced. My husband was skeptical and now he's been sober, HAPPY, free from depression and mood swings, and has NO DESIRE TO DRINK for 6 months now. These changes began happening overnight. As soon as he introduced the right chemicals (through the vitamins) into his system, he began to feel "normal". I more than recommend this book, I insist on its importance to the health and well-being of anyone that wants/needs to quit drinking. So often it's the emotional side-effects of quitting drinking that drives the drinker back to their old ways - depression, anxiety, mood swings, anger, frustration, etc. Quitting drinking is not enough to save a marriage, as we found. You have to fix the emotional side as well. By fixing the WHOLE PROBLEM, we've saved our marriage and our family. Thank you to the developers of this system and the authors of this book. I will forever be grateful for what this book has done for our lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Rating:
Summary: Vital information for anyone struggling with alcoholism
Review: Larson's book should be read by every director of every treatment center around the country, should be required reading for all doctors, and should be given to anyone who is trying to quit drinking but has had it up to here with the 12-steps. Though I personally am unsure of the efficacy of the nutritional supplements for myself (and I can think of several reasons why they didn't work for me when I tried them), I know they have worked for other people.

The reason I think Larson's book is so important is that it brings together in one place a large body of research into the physical nature of alcoholism, dispelling the common myth (perpetuated by AA) that alcoholics just drink a lot because they are depressed and/or weak and just need to get their lives together. This book provides a summary of experiments, studies, and investigations that have been going on around the world for decades into the physiological nature of alcoholism and how alcoholics are different from non-alcoholics. (The reasons that this research is not more widely known could be the subject of another entire book!) Larson's compilation of all these facts and data should serve as a starting point for further research into alcoholism to treat it as a physical/physiological illness and bring relief to the thousands of people suffering from it.

This book should also anger anyone who has been in a rehab center where they were put on "the hot seat" and forced to listen to people insult them in an insanely misguided and cruel effort to purge their desire to drink, anyone who has cringed sitting in AA meetings listening to people say, "Well too bad for him, I guess he's still in denial and hasn't faced his problem yet. It's his choice to stop or not to stop," anyone who has wondered why the best thing that the most prestigious rehab centers around the world can offer alcoholics whose bodies have been ravaged by alcohol is AA, and anyone who has lost a loved one to this horrendous illness.

Rating:
Summary: All about how to treat alcoholism with supplements
Review: Mrs. Larson's book has some interesting research in it. The results are stimulating to think about. That statement presumes that her research is correct in it's conclusions, and I do believe her research is correct.

Summarizing what I believe to be her modus operandi, it's to: (1) gather information about what can help an alcoholic recover from their addiction without withdrawal or craving symptoms,
(2) provide services and products that help alcoholics recover from their addictions to alcohol without withdrawal .

Mrs. Larson's story (as she tells it in her book) is congruent with that description of her approach. Her own son killed himself in her home after attending a 6 week drug treatment program. Since then she has studied alcohol treatment, and has researched valuable approaches toward treating alcohol-dependency. Mrs. Larson writes with integrity. Mrs. Larson describes her story in her book.

I believe the book is a good information source and is trustworthy in it's claims. I'm also a believer in supplements from their effects on me, so you could say I'm biased toward Joan Larsen's treatment program.

I have been taking supplements for a long time. I know from my own research that supplement efficiacy depends on a number of factors, from supplement raw material production by their chemical company to supplement preparation by their manufacturer to supplement packaging by their wholesaler to supplement shipment by their transport company, and finally to supplement shelf storage by a supplement resellers. Then there's the issue of how supplements are used by their consumers, in what amounts, at what times of day, with what contents of what meals, and with what other supplements or medications.

"Seven Weeks To Sobriety" does sell a supplement line distributed through Mrs. Larson's company. Mrs. Larsen uses the supplements she sells by mail order at her facility in Minnesota, and that means to me that her mail-order supplements are definitely high-quality.

I recommend the book if you want to read through it to find out how supplements can help you lose your biochemical addiction to alcohol. Out-patient treatment at her clinic is covered by private insurance (I checked), so maybe the cost of her supplement program is as well, or maybe it will be in the future. If so, then what her book suggests is a treatment for alcoholism that alcohol-dependent people can easily afford.

Some severe alcohol problems apparently require time at her clinic to effectively solve, but others can be helped with just the right supplement program. No one should believe that a solution will work in all cases, but hers will if any will!