They say rock bottom teaches you lesTitle: From Wine To Wired Right: Why I’m Grateful I Had The Tools To Rewire My Life
Gut health sobriety isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the foundation of how I walked away from 45 years of drinking and built something better in its place. This journey wasn’t powered by sheer willpower or some divine intervention. It was driven by science, structure, and a system that worked: gut healing, breathwork, cold water immersion, and daily mindset rewiring.
When I quit drinking, I knew I needed more than just abstinence. I needed transformation. I needed to fix what was broken—physically, emotionally, and neurologically. These tools didn’t just get me sober. They helped me rebuild my body, my brain, and my identity. They gave me real clarity, peace, and control—things I hadn’t had in decades.
This post is a breakdown of the very tools I used and still use to stay sober, stay regulated, and stay rooted. If you’re sober curious, struggling with stress-fueled drinking, or looking for a way out without rehab, these tools might just be your way forward.
What Is Gut Health Sobriety?
Gut health sobriety is based on the undeniable link between your gut and your brain. They’re not separate systems—they’re a single feedback loop constantly communicating via the vagus nerve, neurotransmitters, hormones, and inflammation signals.
Here’s what science and lived experience show us: if your gut is inflamed, your brain is inflamed. If your digestion is wrecked from alcohol and stress, so is your emotional regulation. And that’s where most people get stuck—they try to stay sober while running on a broken system.
After decades of red wine, codeine, NSAIDs, processed foods, sugar binges, and stress, my gut lining was wrecked. I had:
- Brain fog that made basic thinking hard
- Insomnia that left me wired and wrecked
- Cravings that felt uncontrollable
- Mood swings that hit like a freight train
- Skin flare-ups, weight gain, and chronic fatigue
Then I learned this:
🧠 90% of serotonin is produced in the gut
🔄 The vagus nerve sends 80% of messages from gut to brain—not the other way round
🦠 Alcohol decimates beneficial gut bacteria and creates leaky gut conditions
So I made a decision: to rebuild my gut like my life depended on it—because it did.
I started with:
- Fermented foods (sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi)
- Resistant starches (green bananas, cooked-cooled potatoes)
- Gelatinous broths from grass-fed bones
- High-fibre plants, slow-cooked and easy to digest
- Cutting seed oils, refined sugar, and ultra-processed shite
I wasn’t perfect. I still had cravings. But I felt better within weeks. And for the first time in my life, my mood didn’t feel hijacked.
Cold Water: A Reset for the Nervous System
I’ve been in cold water since I was a kid—army life, rivers, freezing showers—but I didn’t realise how powerful it was until I quit drinking. It wasn’t a stunt. It was therapy.
In early sobriety, when the anxiety kicked in, when sleep was wrecked, and I was crawling in my skin, cold water brought me back to my body. Back to the now. No distractions. No numbing. Just breath, presence, and resilience.
Why It Works:
- Activates the parasympathetic nervous system
- Reduces cortisol and systemic inflammation
- Increases dopamine by up to 250%
- Enhances emotional regulation and willpower
There were mornings I wanted to drink. Instead, I walked to the river, got in, and screamed. And I came out stronger. Clearer. Clean.
Visualisation: Rewiring the Inner Script
I didn’t just quit drinking—I had to become someone else. Someone who didn’t need it. Someone who could walk past a pub without wanting to disappear inside it.
That didn’t happen by accident. It happened through visualisation.
Each morning, I sat quietly and breathed. And I pictured who I was becoming:
- A man 3 stone lighter, with energy
- Coaching others with lived experience
- Eating real food
- Feeling emotions instead of escaping them
Your brain wires itself around what it repeatedly sees. If you don’t create a new vision, it’ll keep repeating the old one. Visualisation helped me build a future I could step into—and then live it.
Breathwork: Regulating the Storm
Without alcohol, I had no off-switch. No coping mechanism. Breathwork became my emotional regulator, my nervous system anchor, and my panic button override.
From box breathing to deep diaphragmatic exhales, every breath was a signal: you are safe. You can handle this.
It helped me:
- Reduce cravings
- Sit with anger and grief
- Process shame without collapsing
- Improve sleep
I stopped trying to escape my emotions. I learned to feel them. And feeling them didn’t kill me—it freed me.
How Gut Health Sobriety Helped Me Rebuild My Life
Most people have white-knuckle sobriety. I rewired it.
Gut health sobriety gave me:
- Emotional balance without pills
- Fewer cravings and blood sugar crashes
- More energy to move, cook, and show up
- A clearer brain that didn’t spiral
- A sense of internal safety I never had before
It helped me:
- Drop 3 stone naturally
- Sleep through the night without meds
- Stop using alcohol, codeine, and sugar as life rafts
And more importantly, it helped me feel proud of who I was becoming.
If you’re navigating this journey too, remember: sobriety isn’t the finish line. It’s the foundation. These tools helped me build a life worth staying sober for.
Internal Links for Recovery Resources
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is gut health sobriety?
Gut health sobriety is a functional approach to recovery that targets the gut-brain axis to reduce cravings, stabilise emotions, and support long-term sobriety through nutrition, breathwork, and nervous system healing.
Can gut healing really reduce alcohol cravings?
Yes. Cravings are often gut-driven—sugar, alcohol, and ultra-processed foods feed dysbiosis. Rebalancing the microbiome lowers inflammation and reduces the drive to self-soothe with substances.
What should I eat during gut health sobriety?
Focus on:
- Fermented foods: sauerkraut, kefir
- Fibre: leeks, onions, root veg
- Bone broth and gelatin
- Resistant starches: Avoid seed oils, sugar, gluten (initially), and alcohol.
Does this replace AA or therapy?
No. It complements any recovery path. But for many—like me—it became the path. If traditional routes don’t work for you, gut-brain rewiring might.
Where do I start?
👉 The 30-Day Reset is my complete toolkit—real food, habit change, and nervous system repair.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to hit rock bottom to change your life. You just need to stop digging.
Gut health sobriety gave me the clarity, strength, and stability to walk away from four decades of self-destruction—and not look back.
From drinking daily to being mentally sharp and physically well. From chaos to calm. From survival to sovereignty.
#GutHealthSobriety #SoberBeyondLimits #RewireYourMind #ColdWaterClarity #NoFluffJustFuel
