On Apr 6, 6:59*am, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article , "Steve B" wrote:

Many medical studies have shown that some people do not process the
sugars in alcohol in the same way as others. The sugars actually cause
a craving for more alcohol instead of triggering the mechanisms where
the body tells the brain "I've had enough".

Most people call that "self-control."

And others call it complete and utter nonsense: there are no "sugars" in
alcohol.

I won't claim to know much about carbohydrates and simple sugars, but
I am able to find many references that say things like this...

"Each type of alcohol has different amounts of carbohydrates. The
carbohydrates in alcohol are derived from simple sugars and are
therefore, high in calories. The simple sugars in alcohol are
typically higher in some kinds of alcohol than others ..."

However, the chemical makeup of an alcoholic drink wasn't the point of
my comments, so let's not get hung up on that.

Perhaps I worded my earlier post incorrectly, but you can find
numerous articles on many medical websites that discuss the
connections between alcoholism and sugar cravings, hypoglycemia, etc.

My only point is that "alcoholism is a disease" and "alcoholism is a
lack of self-control" can coexist in the same discussion.

Sugars and carbs not withstanding, the "disease" causes alcoholics to
process (and therefore crave) alcohol differently than others. Enter
the "self control" portion: It takes a huge amount of self control for
the alcoholic to mentally overcome the craving for the first drink
that sets up the subsequent diseased based cravings.

I'm not arguing against the relationship between self-control or will-
power and alcoholism - in fact I agree 100% that no one can stop
drinking without it. One has to *choose* not to take that first drink
each day, just like the heart disease patient has to *choose* to
change their life style and just like the cancer patient has to
*choose* to go to chemo sessions. Making the choice to fight the
disease every day takes will-power and self control.

My simple claim is that "alcoholism is a disease" and "alcoholism is a
lack of self-control" are not mutually exclusive. They are both
correct.