If you have been
struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol, you also may have
experienced a decline in your physical health. Drug use stresses the
body, and continued use can cause harm that your body can't heal with
the nutrients it has.
As your addiction
wanes during treatment, you will need to rebuild good physical habits
that will help you continue on the path to better and lasting health.
Healthy eating can even help you stay sober after you leave
treatment. Here's what you need to know about the role nutrition
plays during addiction recovery.
When you use drugs
or alcohol, getting the nutrients you need is much more challenging.
For example, alcohol use changes the ways your body is able to
metabolize and store certain nutrients, so you don't get what you
need from healthy food, even if you do make healthy choices on a
day-to-day basis.
Opiates can upset
your gastrointestinal tract, which might give you intolerance or
aversions to foods that could provide you with the nutrition you
need. Long-term use of drugs can also lead to nutrient depletion.
It's not uncommon to see people who are underweight or undernourished
because of addiction.
During recovery, the
toll on your body is even higher. Going off any drug stresses your
body, and you often lose valuable nutrients from vomiting, loose
stools, sweat, and food intolerance. You may need IV fluids and
electrolytes during the initial period of physical detox.
Because both using
and going off addictive substances depletes your body of necessary
nutrients, you enter recovery at a deficit, and you suffer physical
side effects from those deficits. For example, your hair and skin
might look dull, or you might have trouble concentrating. Feeding
your body properly will help you recover.
To address the
deficits that you have as you work on your recovery, you benefit from
targeted, specific meal plans that provide a balance of the nutrients
you need. Many addicts need increased protein to rebuild muscle mass,
increased calcium to replace that which was lost from their bones and
teeth, and increased B vitamins to support digestive and nerve
health.
You also need a
carbohydrate-rich diet to stimulate the natural production of
serotonin in your brain. These foods include bread, potatoes, and
pasta.
Frequent drug use
also alters your body's ability to feel hunger. In the beginning,
scheduled meals help to prevent feelings of hunger, which can mimic
cravings for drugs and trigger a relapse. Filling meals with complex
carbohydrates, protein, and plenty of vegetables and fruits keep
hunger pangs at bay so you can stay sober.
Deficits in certain
vitamins and minerals can also cause emotional symptoms. For example,
low iron levels cause constant tiredness, irritability, and even
depression. As you get the iron you need, you have more energy and
it's easier to feel positive. Nutritional deficits need to be
resolved because they can also trigger a relapse if the emotional
side effects are too strong.
Your recovery
program should have meals that are planned at first by a dietician.
However, as your treatment continues, take time to learn about
nutrition and proper eating habits so that you can make your own
healthy choices after you leave in-patient treatment.
As you change the
way you eat, you will see the positive changes in your body. First,
you might gain some weight as your body relearns normal digestive
patterns. You can help this process by incorporating daily exercise
as a method of normalizing your metabolism.
Establishing a
pattern of exercise will also help you to stick to your recovery
goals because exercise provides positive hormones that promote a
sense of well-being. As you get the nutrition you need, you will also
experience reduced physical stress and better sleep at night, which
can also help you to avoid relapsing back into drug or alcohol use.
Changing your
nutritional habits is a foundational step forward in making your
recovery last. For more information, contact us at Oak
Arbor.
