Join Wayne Giles as he reads and expands on the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, offering deeper understanding and practical advice for those on their recovery journey. In this Step 1 AA session, Wayne discusses the critical concept of alcoholism as an allergy of the body, a foundational idea presented in the Big Book. The authors explain that the phenomenon of craving, triggered by alcohol, is unique to chronic alcoholics and does not occur in the average temperate drinker.

“We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy. The phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker.”

Wayne highlights that for these allergic types, alcohol in any form is dangerous. Once the habit is formed, brea ...