Drug abuse often leads to nutritional deficiencies, which take a toll on the body. Drug users have minimal levels of minerals, vitamins, fats, and essential amino acids. These depleted levels negatively affect not only their physical health but their psychology as well. Combining nutrition and addiction recovery is crucial as you improve your general well-being during treatment. This post will look at nutrition education and addiction treatment, highlighting the role nutrition plays in your pursuit of sobriety at Oceanfront Recovery.
Why Is Nutrition Essential?
For the body to function optimally, you need food. A perfectly balanced diet helps your body thrive. Carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins are all required to create a healthy lifestyle. Without it, your body is left weak, and illnesses are likely to occur more regularly.
How Does Addiction Affect Nutrition?
While substance abuse can have varying effects, they often tend to disrupt the body’s physiological functioning, impairing its ability to receive the needed nourishment. Drug users usually pay no importance to healthy living, opting to spend their time and resources supporting their addiction. They end up developing bad eating habits which interfere with their nutrition. Poor nutrition could be brought about by bad habits and drug use, such as:
- Neglecting to eat healthily or developing a poor diet that lacks sustenance
- Suppressing their appetite or entirely forgetting to eat
- Some drugs cause overeating, which causes several health conditions brought on by excess body fat
- Excessive consumption of alcohol, which affects the stomach’s lining, interfering with digestion and nutrient absorption, which causes undernourishment
Poor nutrition, coupled with prolonged drug abuse results in malnutrition, which manifests in ways such as:
- Muscle degeneration
- Vitamin deficiencies
- Low blood sugar
- Inconsistencies in heart rate
- Suppressed immune system
Combining Nutrition and Addiction Recovery
It’s no secret the toll the body and mind are put under as a result of long-term drug abuse. During addiction treatment, nutrition education teaches you how crucial proper nutrition is. A good diet helps the brain and body recover. As you gradually heal, you will start experiencing some benefits of maintaining a healthy diet. Some of these benefits include increased energy, improved mood, and better immune, among others.
The right nutrition will help build mental and physical health, which, when combined, goes a long way in increasing the likelihood of successful recovery—adding to the many reasons why nutrition and addiction recovery go together.
Nutritional Tips during Recovery
Understandably, your nutritional needs during the first year of your recovery are high. Therefore, ensure to eat good and healthy food daily. Your diet should balance your brain’s serotonin levels. As such, it is best to eat foods high in complex carbohydrates like potatoes, beans, peas, bread, and pasta. Combine such foods with protein.
Introduce these meals gradually. This is because your body’s digestion and nutrient absorption were affected by substance abuse and need time to recuperate. Start with small but frequent meals, following guidance received from your nutritionist.
Most times, people in recovery can use food as their new coping mechanism. Caffeine and sugar, for instance, are commonly used for this. While these can be preferable compared to relapsing, low-nutrient foods interfere with the adequate consumption of healthy foods. Also, they can affect your cravings and mood.
Addiction Recovery at Oceanfront Recovery
To achieve long-term recovery, you need a holistic approach. The key to your sobriety is finding the right balance between body and mind, and proper nutrition helps. For this reason, ensure nutrition and addiction recovery go hand in hand. While the journey to recovery can be daunting, Oceanfront Recovery is here for you every step of the way. We have a team of care providers ready and willing to work with you, helping you improve your diet, health, and maintain your sobriety. Contact Oceanfront Recovery at 877.296.7477 to inquire about our various treatment programs.
