|
 |
|
ISBN: 978-0-7570-0313-4
Length: 336 Pages
Size: 6 X
9-inch
Format: Quality Paperback
Category: Health/Addiction
Price: $16.95 US
Availability: In Print
Click below for:
Synopsis • Contents
Introduction • Reviews |
Synopsis
Whether it is to alcohol, drugs, smoking, sex, or food, addiction is an overwhelming and destructive force that negatively impacts the lives of those in its grip. While there are programs galore that promise an end to these dependencies, the truth is, far too many "reformed" addicts fall right back into their old habits. Why? Because powerful biochemical factors override the psychological will to quit. End Your Addiction Now is a unique book that not only explores the real cause of this recurring problem, but also offers a proven biochemical approach that can break addiction once and for all.
Written in easy-to-understand language, End Your Addiction Now is based upon the extensive research and medical practice of Dr. Charles Gant and other pioneers in the field of orthomolecular medicine. It both guides readers to physicians and facilities that support a biochemical approach to the treatment of substance-use disorders, and provides step-by-step directions for those who want to quit their addictions on their own.
At the heart of Dr. Gant’s approach is a unique "Quick-Start" program of nutritional supplements. After completing a questionnaire to determine which key brain chemical disruptions are causing their substance cravings, moods, and behaviors, readers are given a targeted list of nutritional supplements designed to jump-start their recovery--supplements that help reduce cravings within twenty-four to seventy-two hours. The book then walks readers through a natural process of detoxification and additional biochemical testing to establish a complete biochemical profile. Finally, it addresses the specific nutritional deficiencies that must be addressed for a full psychological and spiritual recovery.
Dr. Charles Gant earned his MD from the University of Virginia with postgraduate residencies in Family Practice and Psychiatry. For over fifteen years, he has pioneered the practice of orthomolecular medicine in treating patients afflicted with a wide variety of addictions. For five years, he served as medical director of Tully Hill Hospital, a rehabilitation facility in Syracuse, New York. While there, he achieved a remarkable 83-percent success rate in helping patients break their addictions to alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes. Dr. Gant is a highly sought after lecturer on the topic of nutritional therapy and addiction. Currently, his medical practice is located in Washington, DC.
Dr. Greg Lewis earned his PhD in English from Kent State University. He has been a faculty member of Kent State and St. Bonaventure University, and has worked as a professional freelance writer for over twenty years.
Contents
A Note on Gender
Introduction
PART ONE: Introducing the Power Recovery Program
1. A Revolution in the Treatment of Substance Use Problems
2. How Has Substance Use Been Treated Historically?
3. Our Billion-Year-Old Biochemistry
4. Why Do Some People Develop Substance Problems?
PART TWO: The Power Recovery Program
5. Stage One: Quick-Start
6. Stage Two: Detoxification
7. Maintaining Your Newfound Health
PART THREE: Long-Term Biochemical Rebalancing
8. Biochemical Testing: A Key to Long-Term Biochemical Rebalancing
9. Overcoming an Addiction to Sugar and Refined Carbohydrates
10. Overcoming the Consequences of Smoking
11. Overcoming the Consequences of Alcohol Abuse
12. Overcoming the Consequences of Cocaine and Amphetamine Abuse
13. Overcoming the Consequences of Abusing Opiates and Painkillers
14. Stopping the Use of Marijuana
PART FOUR: America’s “Other” Drug Problem and the Problem of Environmental Toxicity--Dealing With Societal Issues Related to Substance Abuse
15. When Bad Prescription Drugs Happen to Good People
16. Readin’, Writin’, and Ritalin: Getting Kids Off of Prescription Drugs
17. High Toxic Load: Dealing With a Common Condition Associated With Substance Abuse
Conclusion
Appendix A: Nutritional Supplement Checklists
Appendix B: Resources for Purchasing Nutritional Supplements
and Supporting Recovery
About the Author
Index
Introduction
It’s been only about a quarter of a century since we discovered that, contrary to what we’d thought for decades prior to that, the brain actually sends signals from one neuron to another by means of chemical molecules, called neurotransmitters. That discovery has enabled us to put together the pieces of the puzzle of addiction in a way that we simply hadn’t been able to do before we knew about these amazing chemical messengers.
Once we’d begun to understand how neurotransmitters work, we also began to understand how they control our moods, memory, thinking, and behavior. Each of our brain cells is a tiny but very powerful manufacturing plant that assembles these chemical molecules out of nutrients and passes them along to other neurons. When our brains have enough of the nutrients necessary to manufacture all of the neurotransmitters we need, we’re able to feel relaxed and alert, focused and free of fear, happy and pain-free. In short, when our brains have the nutrients they need to create neurotransmitters in the necessary quantities, we’re most fully alive, engaged, and productive.
When we’re unable to produce neurotransmitters in the necessary quantities, our moods, intellectual capability, and behavior tend to deteriorate. We’re often unable to focus, we tend to worry about things that we probably shouldn’t be concerned with, we’re not “up” and alert and happy, and we have difficulty coping with pain, whether it’s physical or emotional. If neurotransmitter deficiencies persist over time, we’re often led to use prescription drugs, alcohol, so-called “street drugs,” and other substances, including nicotine, to substitute for our neurotransmitter shortages. They’re capable of temporarily alleviating the symptoms of neurotransmitter deficiencies, but continued use of these substances can, often quite quickly, result in addiction, a situation where our brains adapt and begin to rely on these neurotransmitter substitutes to keep us going.
The problem is, of course, that drugs and alcohol are enormously harmful to us in so many ways. Rather than enabling us to function, they actually reduce our ability to function without them. They alter our behavior and reduce our ability to experience the normal emotions of life. They ultimately cause depletions or diminished effects of the very neurotransmitters which they are meant to mimic or bolster.
Although the disciplines of medicine and psychiatry have understood neurotransmitters and how they work for quite some time, the primary use they’ve made of this information is to find ways to use prescription drugs to do the job that, prior to the biochemical revolution, could only be found through illicit drugs and legal substances such as alcohol and tobacco. They’ve given us Ritalin to control our kids’ Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and Ritalin works in the brain in exactly the same way as cocaine. They’ve given us antidepressants such as Paxil and Prozac, which work in the brain to eventually shut down one of our most important neurotransmitters, a natural brain chemical that keeps us happy and relaxed. In short, they’ve pioneered “drug interventions.” They’ve found ways to prescribe dozens, if not hundreds, of additional substances to which we can become very rapidly addicted. Indeed, the prescription drug problem in the United States is now much more severe and deadly than that of illicit drugs, and one of the main differences is that drug companies can now advertise their addictive drugs, while drug dealers can’t. Young people now need to go only so far as their parents’ medicine cabinets to procure drugs that are often equally as powerful and addictive as those they can buy on the street.
Part One of this book introduces you to my Power Recovery Program, providing some important information to help you understand your brain’s biochemistry and how disruptions in its natural biochemical processes can lead to substance abuse. You’ll also learn about the three stages of the Power Recovery Program and how it can lead you back to addiction-free biochemical health.
Part Two of the book takes you through the first two stages of the Power Recovery Program, Quick-Start and Detoxification. These stages are designed to quickly reduce or eliminate your substance cravings and to enable you to get rid of the toxins that are most likely at the root of the biochemical imbalances that cause your substance cravings. Part Two also offers suggestions for maintaining the “healthier you” by making intelligent diet and nutrition decisions.
Part Three deals with what I call Long-TermBiochemical Rebalancing. It’s designed to help you consolidate the positive changes you’ve brought about in the first two stages. It will also help those who’ve been using drugs and alcohol for long periods of time to diagnose and correct secondary conditions that may have resulted from the substance use.
Part Four will enable you to recognize many of the pitfalls of modern medical treatment, particularly the overuse of potentially addictive drugs in the treatment of psychological disorders and conditions such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It will provide you with the knowledge you need to resist the tendency of so many physicians to overmedicate their patients, especially children and young adults. Finally, Part Four will discuss what to do about toxic overload-how to treat it in safe and effective ways.
This book will help you understand how your brain works naturally and what you can do to restore its normal function and rid yourself or someone you love of the terrible burden of addiction. By following the step-by-step principles and practices outlined in this book, you can solve the puzzle of addiction and once again become a healthy, happy, drug-free person.
Reviews
to come
BACK
TO TOP OF PAGE
|
