Title:A Complex Interplay between Nutrition and Alcohol use Disorder:
Implications for Breaking the Vicious Cycle
Volume: 30
Issue: 23
Author(s): Brooke White and Sunil Sirohi*
Affiliation:
- Laboratory of Endocrine and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Division of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Xavier
University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA 70125, USA
Keywords:
Alcohol use disorder, nutrition, malnutrition, palatable diet, alcohol drinking, dopamine, ghrelin, GLP-1.
Abstract: Approximately 16.5% of the United States population met the diagnostic criteria for substance use
disorder (SUD) in 2021, including 29.5 million individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Individuals with
AUD are at increased risk for malnutrition, and impairments in nutritional status in chronic alcohol users can
be detrimental to physical and emotional well-being. Furthermore, these nutritional deficiencies could contribute
to the never-ending cycle of alcoholism and related pathologies, thereby jeopardizing the prospects of
recovery and treatment outcomes. Improving nutritional status in AUD patients may not only compensate for
general malnutrition but could also reduce adverse symptoms during recovery, thereby promoting abstinence
and successful treatment of AUD. In this review, we briefly summarize alterations in the nutritional status of
people with addictive disorders, in addition to the underlying neurobiological mechanisms and clinical implications
regarding the role of nutritional intervention in recovery from alcohol use disorder.