If you are considering quitting drinking and you want to know the process to get into this journey, this is the perfect episode for you. Erin talks with Helene Gaudard-Castillo, an acupuncture expert, as she breaks down the many benefits of acupuncture to help deal with substance addiction and dependence, and how it is often offered as a treatment option to deal with this problem.

Episode Timeline

The Effects of Alcohol on the Brain

02:25

When you drink alcohol, it stimulates the hormone of dopamine. Dopamine is the hormone that makes you relax and feel good.

02:42

If you take too much alcohol, it makes you sleepy and drowsy. When you wake the next day, the alcohol is starting to clear out from your system and the dopamine gets pretty low. It’s leaving you tired and irritable

03:13

The vicious cycle starts if you start to get addicted to dopamine.

The Great Effects of Acupuncture

03:29

Acupuncture stimulates the same effect when you are drinking alcohol. Acupuncture prompts the hormones in your body that create relaxing digest like dopamine and serotonin. Getting an acupuncture treatment will give you that same effect of relaxation, but with all the health benefits and no other side effects.

03:51

If you are someone that really wants to get off of alcohol, it is advisable to get a period of intensive treatments to help you deal with the vicious cycle of addictions and help the liver to clear out because the liver is a big filter. These treatments will help support detoxifying the liver and balancing the whole system so you can function normally.

04:31

It is also suggested to get regular acupuncture which is a method with all needles in the ears. The ears have hundreds of points that help with numerous things and are extensively explained through a unique form of acupuncture called NADA protocol.

Maintaining the Person’s Health

7:06

By looking at the person’s tongue, you can pretty much tell what's going on internally with their body.

07:25

The person's pulse is also taken because each organ has its own pulse.

07:32

After the information has been obtained, they will have a very specific and personalized treatment just for you. The treatment might change from session to session. That’s the beauty of acupuncture, it's very personalized medicine.

09:03

It's a combination of a multitude of things like changing your environment, changing the people you hang out with, changing your eating habits, incorporating exercise in your lifestyle, taking supplements, etc. It’s a whole package of different things.