Hypothesis: Safe High Doses of Four Nutrients Can Significantly Improve the Efforts of Abusers of Cocaine, Heroin, Alcohol or Methamphetamine To Stay Sober.

1. Omega-3 Fats (Fish Oil) - Dosage: 3,000 mg net EPA and DHA per day, splitting the dose, taken twice per day.
High dose supplemental omega-3 fats have been shown to reduce anxiety and feelings of anger better than 60 percent in a substance abuser population over a three month period of time. The substance abusers used cocaine, heroin or alcohol.

Thus, high dose supplemental omega-3 fats reduced two powerful triggers for relapse by reducing the influence of anxiety and anger.

This might reduce the power of manic-compulsive activity to influence decisions, yielding more sane, logical decisions, such as choosing not to abuse drugs or alcohol. Numerous studies show that omega-3 fats have significant anti-depressive effects, also. Depression, too, can trigger relapse.

Important note: To determine how many fish oil capsules it takes to get 3,000 mg of EPA and DHA, read the ingredients panel and count the milligrams. For instance, most 1,000 mg fish oil capsules contains 300 - 400 mg of the net total milligrams of EPA and DHA. Some fish oil products contain 600 and even 900 mg of EPA and DHA per capsule. The more they contain, the less capsules one has to take.

2. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) - Dosage: 5,000 IU or more once per day.
Adding high dose supplemental vitamin D3 might improve this effect, especially for users of drugs that have a great effect on the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, such as methamphetamine and cocaine, by reducing acute fluctuations in dopamine and serotonin that can contribute to manic-compulsive and addictive behavior. Evidence shows a decrease in the normal drop in dopamine and serotonin after administration of methamphetamine, which elicits a question that vitamin D3 might also reduce the acute increase in dopamine and serotonin after administration. This could predict that the drug high would be less attractive, also, if the high were indeed attenuated. Additionally, numerous studies show that vitamin D3 also has significant anti-depressive effects, probably via it being necessary for healthy dopamine metabolism. (Dopamine is the "I-feel-good" neurotransmitter.)

3. N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) - Dosage: 2,400 or 3,600 mg per day, in divided doses.
Three studies give us reason to consider using NAC to reduce cravings for drugs and alcohol.

4. Strong multivitamin - nutrient deficiencies can reduce the effectiveness of any nutritional program. Therefore, it is wise to take a strong complete multivitamin with this protocol.

The unifying hypothesis is that adding the effects of omega-3 fats to vitamin D3, NAC and a strong multivitamin would improve the efforts of substance abusers to avoid relapse and stay sober. However, I have seen friends quit drinking or using drugs with fish oil alone. With added vitamin D they do even better. All four supplements would likely yield the strongest response.

I have also seen people who abused drugs and alcohol who quit using all illegal drugs and were happy to drink a only little socially without over-drinking after taking these nutrients for a few weeks. Apparently, the logical part of brain, the frontal cortex became more powerful than the reward-pleasure center, the limbic system, so drinking too much becomes distasteful and illicit drug use is not attractive.

Worth Mentioning
One other nutrient produced a significant decrease in craving and relapse for alcoholics in a randomized controlled trial. However, the dose in the study requires taking eighteen 500 mg capsules a day for a total dose of 9,000 mg a day. It's acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) - best taken in three divided doses a day, as 3,000 mg three times a day. This requires a lot of capsules, so one might choose not to use ALC. However, it's beneficial effect was so strong I feel it should be mentioned.

Dosages
Based on doses in the studies linked above and other studies that have shown optimal effects with other conditions or pathologies, dosing would hypothetically be: 
1. Omega-3 fats (as fish oil) - 3,000 mg net of the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA (from fish oil) combined per day;
2. Vitamin D3 dosed to produce OH-vitamin D blood levels of between 50 and 70 ng/mL. This can require 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 or more per day, which is determined by a doctor prescribing an "OH-vitamin D" blood test to find out if the dose taken yields an optimum blood level. For simplicity, 5,000 IU can be a starting point. Blood level measurements to confirm OH-vitamin D blood levels should be performed after two months of taking a specific dose, as it can take this long for the dose you're taking to create a stable blood level.
3. NAC - 2,400 or 3,600 mg taken as 600 mg several times per day to total these amounts. I like Jarrow-brand NAC-Sustain, as it is sustain-released to stay in the blood stream longer.
4. A strong multivitamin - take the full potency, whether you take a one-daily formula or a multi-tablet formula. SuperNutrition Simply One Men or Simply One Men 50+ or Simply One Women or Simply One Women 50+ are the most potent one-daily multivitamins on the market. My favorite full-potency formula is SuperNutrition Easy-Swallow Opti-Packs, the most potent multivitamin in the world.

The consideration with dosing is to split the nutrient doses and take half the nutrients twice per day to keep blood levels consistent so that the effect is maintained all day and all night. To be clear, potency is the most important consideration in getting the full beneficial effect, so be sure to take the full potency.

Michael Mooney
http://www.michaelmooney.net