The news earlier this year that Britons are the heaviest drinkers and the most obese in Europe is no coincidence to Dr James Braly, the author of Nutrition Revolution and Dangerous Grains. Braly, though still a lonely voice, belongs to a growing band of alternative practitioners who believe that nutrition and alcoholism are intrinsically linked. In Braly’s addiction recovery centre, Bridging the Gaps, based in Winchester, Virginia, the emphasis is placed squarely on diet rather than drugs.

“Patients are first hooked up to an IV [intravenous drip] for ten days and fed high levels of fish oils (3 and 6), vitamins B and C, calcium, magnesium and zinc because their gastrointestinal systems have been grossly compromised by their habit,” he says. “This is followed with a wholefood diet (including four to six servings of fish a day, as well as high-cholesterol foods such as eggs), exercise and therapy. The combination has meant that 85 per cent of my patients do not succumb to a relapse. Coffee is also forbidden because it raises cortisol levels, reduces dopamine and leads to cravings of carbohydrates and sugar.”

Braly’s theory is that most alcoholics are depressed, and that depression and low cholestoral are linked. Ergo, by attacking depression with high-cholesterol foods such as eggs and foods high in mood-boosting amino acids, such as fish, patients are more open to the therapy needed to beat their addiction. The severity of “abstinence symptoms” (cravings, anxiety, fuzzy thinking, restlessness) are radically reduced within the first few days of his treatment, he says, allowing patients to be receptive to counselling and exercise programmes.

The link between nutrition and alcoholism is not new. In 1974 Dr Russell Smith treated 507 alcoholics with high doses of niacin (vitamin B3) and vitamin C for a year and found that 340 did very well indeed. They remained sober and their memories improved.

“Between 40 and 80 per cent of alcoholics with liver disease appear to have a deficiency of folate, a B vitamin which in turn has been linked to a higher incidence of depression when too little is eaten,” says Amanda Ursell, the Times nutritionist. “It is possible that by boosting folate from foods such as oranges and dark-green vegetables, and supplementation of 400 micrograms a day, symptoms of depression might be improved. Some nutritionists also believe there is a link between too few omega-3 oils in our diets and depression. If alcoholics were shown to be deficient in these essential fats, supplementation of three 1g fish-oil capsules might be worthwhile.

“As a rule of thumb, about 50 per cent of alcohol misusers have a deficiency of one or more nutrients. Putting these right is bound to improve the way a person feels. Correcting iron deficiency would not only improve mood but also energy levels. Both of these factors would be obvious advantages to someone attempting to deal with an alcohol addiction.”

Compelling though such research might be, nutritional treatments should be treated as a supplement to other therapies (including drugs), rather than a substitute, says Dr Theodore Soutzos, a psychiatrist at the Priory Clinic in Roehampton, West London.

“A diet that raises serotonin levels and balances blood sugar will go a long way towards making a patient feel better, but it won’t curb the psychological need to douse anxiety. If you are drinking because you are depressed then fish oils can be very useful . . . But vitamins won’t change someone’s need to drink in the first place. People drink because they want to reduce anxiety and feel in control . . . Some people will always seek that ‘ hit’.”