Proper Nutrition Plays Key Role in Successful Recovery
Research shows that a nutritious diet can significantly improve your chances of successful recovery. It is common sense that eating healthy helps repair damage to mind and body from substance abuse; however, conventional knowledge in the addiction
treatment field largely ignores proper nutrition as a vital component to successful recovery. Instead, addicts are told to not to worry too much about diet because eating healthy is not nearly as important as overcoming addiction. The problem with that line of thinking is that a nutritious diet helps people overcome addiction. It is high time nutrition became a major component in any addiction treatment program. Proper Nutrition is Vital to Help the Mind and Body Repair Every intoxicating substance affects the mind and body in some damaging way. Admittedly, drugs like alcohol, heroin and methamphetamine cause more damage than marijuana. Detoxing from drugs also creates additional strain on the body from a lack of adequate nutrients. For instance, common symptoms of opiate withdrawal are diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting conditions with deplete the body of important nutrients and create an electrolyte imbalance (www.medlineplus.org, “Substance Use Recovery and Diet�). A diet high in fiber, whole grains, vegetables, and mineral-rich foods can actually alleviate some of the withdrawal symptoms by bringing the body back into nutritional balance. Each drug results in unique damage to the
mind and body thus requiring a drug-specific diet for alleviation of withdrawal symptoms and repairing drug-induced damage. Obesity is a Common Problem in Recovering Addicts and Alcoholics Many inpatient treatment facilities serve a high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar diet. It is a common misconception that the recovering addict needs to put on weight and fatten up, as if being overweight was an ideal health goal. Part of the problem stems from an almost singular focus in treatment on getting people clean. Diet and nutrition just do not register with the importance of saving someone from the deadly disease of addiction. However, neglecting diet and proper nutrition sets the recovering addict up for health complications from obesity. Inpatient treatment facilities ought to implement a dietary plan that focuses on not only the period of inpatient treatment but what awaits the recovering addict when he or she returns home. Some Recovery Transfer one Addiction for Another: Food. Junk food and especially sugar are often suggested to reduce drug and alcohol cravings; however, the recovering addict’s brain soon learns to crave the sugar because
sugar and other junk foods have a similar effect on the brain’s reward center as do drugs and alcohol (“Relative ability of fat and sugar tastes to activate reward, gustatory, and somatosensory regions,” Stice, Burger, &Yokum, Am.J. ClinNutr, December, 2013). One research study even found that Oreo cookies affected the brain’s reward center in laboratory rats as much as cocaine and morphine (“Off the Drugs, Onto the Cupcakes,” Ellin, Abby, The New York Times, September 15, 2014). While any cocaine or opiate addict would disagree with the conclusions of the study as applied to human subjects, nonetheless, sugar does affect the brain’s pleasure center in a manner similar to Drug & alcohol Addiction Treatment center and poses a risk of addiction to sugary foods. Some Addiction Treatment Centers are Making Changes to the Menu Armed with the knowledge of the real risk of their patients transferring one addiction for another, some rehab facilities have created healthier diets and even hired registered dietitians (Id.). Facilities such as Blvd Treatment Centers in Southern California and Portland, Oregon consider nutrition a key component to successful recovery
(https://www.blvdcenters.org/). But there are still many rehab facilities who continue to serve a diet of high-sugar, highcarbohydrate, and high-fat foods because those foods are usually cheaper than healthier alternatives and that is what patients want. Facilities like Blvd Treatment Centers have not done away with every sugary menu item, but they offer a responsible diet that helps repair the mind and body and sets the patient up for successful recovery in the long run.