The only thing that fellow could really do for himself was buy some coconut oil. The brains of alcoholics become insulin-resistant and switch to running on acetate, one of the breakdown products of ethanol. The medium-chain-triglycerides in coconut oil provide brain cells with an alternate source of fuel. (I understand that Coconut fatty acids are short enough to be burned without having to go through another step that longer saturated fats [butter, etc] require; I don't remember exactly what that step is.)

I don't think that guy was able to get the coconut oil while at the recovery center. I think giving a more helpful context for viewing his history of addiction was much more helpful than the recommendation for coconut oil.

Another heavy drinker I know does fine while on "vacation", but "stress" in his every day life leads to excess drinking. I have no influence with this one, but I'd try to get him to eat more sweets when in stressful situations - juices/etc. I've heard an old treatment for alcohol withdrawal is to feed them lots of sugar. Here's a random NY Times article that says sugar helps reduce cortisol levels: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/sugar-as-a-stress-...

IMHO, sugar in juices and other foods is basically fine; starch is 100% glucose and is a greater contributor to excess weight. Lots of caveats with regards to the sugar issue...

I was a heroin addict for 6 years, and have been clean for 5. The sweets thing was very true for most addicts I knew as well as myself: in withdrawals I’d crave sugar something fierce. Gummy bears would temporarily make me feel better. It was interesting.