Nutrition in Active Addiction
The need for healthy, balanced nutrition is vital for any human being to have a normal, healthy brain and body functioning. Fuelling your body with essential nutrients and vitamins supported through proper nutrition for addiction recovery ensures that your body receives enough glucose, which is then released into the bloodstream and used for energy later. Essential nutrition provides healthy brain functioning by improving neurotransmitter levels and supporting regulated emotional functioning.
When a person is engaged in active drug or alcohol addiction, nutrition often falls by the wayside along with other personal hygiene and self-care routines. As your drug or alcohol addiction progresses, your attention and focus shift to fuelling your addiction rather than maintaining positive personal health routines. Including proper diet and exercise, sleep hygiene, and maintaining healthy emotional regulation. Depending on your specific drug of choice, it may impact your ability to get adequate sleep as stimulants such as meth will often keep users awake for prolonged periods. During this time, many will not feel hungry as their adrenaline and energy levels are high from stimulants, often causing individuals to go for days without eating at a time. This creates significant malnutrition within long-term users resulting in physical health challenges due to the lack of nutrition and sustenance being provided to your body. As a person begins to come down from their stimulant use, many will engage in binge eating episodes due to a lack of eating and often engaging in unhealthy food options that lack the essential vitamins and nutrients your body needs for essential brain and body functioning. Additionally, while you are in active addiction, most of your money will often fund your drug or alcohol addiction, leaving little money left to buy healthy grocery and food options. Due to limited funds remaining for individuals, it is easy to turn to fast food or junk food that is cheap and accessible to sustain yourself.
Individuals engaging in alcohol or drug addiction and unhealthy eating habits will experience negative physical functioning and side effects due to a lack of nutrients or vitamins. As you experience malnutrition from your substance abuse, individuals may begin to exhibit some of the following side effects:
- Electrolyte imbalances
- Depression
- Muscle degeneration
- Heart rate abnormalities
- Weakened or suppressed immune system
- Significantly low body temperature
- Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
- Impairment with cognitive functioning
Certain substances will impact your ability to retain certain nutrients and absorb the sustenance needed to function healthily.
- Alcohol: Impacts the liver’s ability to produce digestive enzymes, which prevents your body from being able to absorb fats, proteins, and vitamins.
- Meth: Creates an inability to some vitamins, including B12, which can create feelings of loss of energy, impaired memory, or onset of mental health disorders.
- Cocaine: This drug depletes the body of crucial vitamins, including vitamin C, which can lead to organ damage and depletion of glutamate, which supports you in being able to focus on tasks.
- Opioids: When someone begins experiencing opioid addiction, it is common to develop disordered eating, which often leads to a lack of nutrients being given to the body. This can create extreme constipation, appetite suppression due to constipation, and abdominal pain after eating. An individual will need to incorporate healthy levels of fiber into their diet to help mitigate these concerns.
How Good Nutrition Benefits Addiction Recovery
Addiction treatment often incorporates a healthy balanced diet that includes a well-balanced meal plan rich in vitamins, nutrients, and sustenance to sufficiently support and fuel your body to overcome the powerful hold that drug or alcohol addiction can have on you. When good nutrition is paired with other effective addiction treatment methods, it provides a stable, balanced addiction recovery plan that supports patients in healing from addiction physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Nutrition provides the following benefits for individuals in addiction recovery:
- Support in improving your overall mood
- Increase your energy levels
- Strengthen your immune system that may have been impacted and weakened from your drug and alcohol abuse
- Repair damages caused to organs and tissues through sufficient nutrient supplementation
- Support patients in developing healthy lifestyle routines and patterns for live-in addiction recovery
- Reduce the severity of alcohol or drug cravings
- Increase your memory and cognitive functioning
- Significantly reduce the chance of developing diseases related to alcohol or drug addiction
- Awareness of how to listen to your body and what it needs from you
Discover which foods are helpful with withdrawal from opiates:
https://musetreatment.com/blog/10-foods-that-help-with-opiate-withdrawal/
Creating a Healthy Diet Plan During Recovery
Changing your diet plan to support a natural replenishment of essential vitamins and nutrients within an addiction treatment program is highly recommended. While you go through the various addiction therapy methods of behavioral therapy, dual diagnosis treatment, and medication-assisted treatment, your addiction recovery program will complement supplemental and nutritional therapy. Addiction treatment centers make a significant effort to provide patients with opportunities to have a healthy, balanced diet offered to support positive physical and emotional growth while also teaching patients the essential life skills for sober living.
For individuals going through drug or alcohol withdrawal, your body needs to receive enough vitamin C, B vitamins, and magnesium which support healing from the damage of addiction and overcoming any painful withdrawal symptoms.
Throughout your addiction recovery program, it is essential to incorporate the following foods into your diet plan to ensure you are getting the proper nutrients and vitamins in your daily intake:
- Foods rich in vitamin B include dark green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, green peppers, and romaine lettuce.
- Vitamin C-rich foods such as citrus fruits, strawberries, cantaloupe, Brussel sports, and cauliflower are excellent sources of vitamin C.
- Foods rich in calcium, like dairy products, are well known for their high calcium level, but you may also try to eat foods such as fortified orange juice, spinach, kale, fortified cereals, and enriched bread.
- Foods high in magnesium such as wild salmon or tuna, nuts, seeds, avocado, bananas, and dark leafy greens
- Foods rich in amino acids including poultry, lean red meats, seafood, eggs, quinoa, tofu, beans, and seeds
As you go through drug or alcohol withdrawal, you must absorb and retain sufficient vitamins and nutrients. While changing your diet to include foods rich in vitamins and minerals will bring up your deficiency levels, individuals often need additional supplementation by taking vitamin and mineral supplements to ensure that their body receives the sustenance it needs.
5 Los Angeles Nutritionists
Bamboo Nutrition Therapy, Inc
Bamboo Nutrition Therapy offers support for Los Angeles residents to address their mental health concerns, substance abuse, eating disorders, and physical health management.
619 S Olive St Ste 403, Los Angeles, CA 90014
My LA Therapy
Receive one-on-one nutrition counseling at My LA therapy and functional and holistic therapy that will support you in healing from your addiction and mental health concerns within your body, mind, and soul.
12100 Wilshire Blvd 8th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Lauren Cornell Nutritionists
Work with Lauren Cornell Nutritionists to provide you with individualized care and treatment plans centered around your specific needs for healing and stabilization.
2001 S Barrington Ave Suite 103, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Rad Nutrition
Rad Nutrition offers a comprehensive approach to nutrition counseling and treatment that provides one-on-one support, education about effective grocery shopping techniques that promote healthy eating, and nutritional therapy sessions.
1512 11th St Suite 201, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Alyson Roux Nutrition, Inc.
Alyson Roux has worked with many celebrities and stars on healthy, nourishing nutrition plans that promote health and wellness. You will have the support in creating a new healthy routine of proper diet, exercise, and holistic practices that will support you in reaching your goals of living a balanced, stable life.
3171 Los Feliz Blvd Ste 209, Los Angeles, CA 90039
Whole Person Addiction Treatment at Muse in Los Angeles
Muse Treatment Center offers residents of Los Angeles an addiction treatment program that focuses on promoting positive nutrition in recovery. Through various addiction treatment methods and nutrition education and treatment, patients will be able to restore the damage created by drugs and alcohol while developing positive daily habits and routines that will continue to foster life in sobriety and optimal health. Los Angeles residents can reside within our treatment center to have consistent access to on-site counselors, nutritionists, and medical professionals to provide the whole-person integrated approach to healing that promotes personal growth and healing within your body, mind, and soul.
Contact Muse Treatment Center at (800) 426-1818 today to hear more about how our team incorporates healthy nutrition plans into our addiction recovery programs and supports patients in healing from addiction from the inside out.
