Eat the right foods when you drink!

Drinking alcohol interferes with vitamin B absorption, especially thiamin. In heavy drinkers, this can lead to a deficiency called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome characterized by impaired memory, confusion, staggered walking and rapid eye movement. It is confusing to recognize as these symptoms are already common in drinkers.

Encourage any drinkers you know to be careful with their diets and take a B-1 supplement. Wernicke-Korsakoff is a severe problem that may be avoided by consuming the following rich sources of thiamin:

• Pork chops
• Brazil nuts
• Sunflower seeds
• Wheat germ
• Oatmeal
• Fortified breakfast cereals

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Hands, Elizabeth; Nutrients in Food. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000.

Insel, Paul, Turner, R. Elaine, Ross, Don; Discovering Nutrition. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2003