If you are someone who has an addiction, then you are not alone. Addiction is one of the most common problems in America today: some 21 million Americans suffer from a substance abuse disorder. It can be easy to feel like you are alone in your fight against addiction, that you need to deal with this particular demon all on your own. That, though, could not be further from the truth. There are many professional groups, such as ours, that can help you to overcome your addiction once and for all.
To defeat an addiction, though, we need to be able to find ways to cope with the problems that we face. We need to be able to understand what causes us to be addicted and also what stops us from simply saying no. For many people, the biggest problem they face is the quality of life that they lead. When your life feels unfulfilling and unhealthy, it is easy to continue with damaging, negative behaviors regularly.
Does your nutrition play a role in this? It is believed that nutrition has a huge impact on your addiction recovery. Being able to retain a more nutritious, healthy lifestyle can make it much easier to avoid falling down the trap of addiction once again. Many of us turn to addiction to escape problems in our personal and professional lives. This can also lead to self-damaging behaviors such as not eating correctly.
When you live this kind of unhealthy life, it is more likely your body will not get the nutrition it needs. Without proper nutrition, sustaining a positive physical and mental balance becomes very difficult.
Why Does Nutrition Matter In Addiction Recovery?
When trying to overcome any illness or condition, we have to take proper care of our bodies. If you are sick with a cold, you need to be able to find nutritious meals that can give your body the nutrition it needs to fight off that illness. You need to retain a strong immune system to give your body a chance to recover fully. Well, addiction is an illness in itself – it is something we need to defeat.
However, when you are addicted to a substance, it is easy to put everything else on the back burner until you get that satisfaction. This eventually means that you begin to put off things like eating nutritious foods instead of relying on quick-hit meals – or not eating at all – so that you can make the time and money available for your addiction. Naturally, this eats away at us from the inside, leaving us with feelings of guilt.
We know what we are doing is wrong, but breaking the cycle is difficult. With a nutritious diet, though, we make it much easier to fight off those feelings by simply cutting loose and giving in to our addiction. The physical and mental toll of overcoming addiction is pretty extensive: your body needs to have access to the right levels and quality of nutrition to help make your recovery not only possible but probable.
Without the right nutritional intake, it is easier for your body to enter into a ‘crisis mode’ where you feel so low that you must return to your addiction to feel better. Over time, that lack of nutrition will lead to health problems as well as create an imbalanced mind that leaves you prone to mood swings and depression.
The Concept Behind Nutrition During Addiction Recovery
If you are someone who is trying to overcome an addiction, then you need to give your body every helping hand that it could need. For example, eating a balanced and nutritious meal schedule gives your day balance and structure. Addiction is at its most dangerous when we live a scattered, unfocused life. Simply by ensuring that your day revolves around eating nutritious meals, though, you have a focus that takes you away from relying on addiction.
Your mood becomes more stable as you eat nutritious food, too, as your body’s blood sugar levels do not spike and drop. This makes us more likely to make the right decision – saying no and staying on the long path to sobriety – as opposed to simply giving in and returning to our addiction.
Nutrition is not easy to find when you have an addiction, though. Changing your lifestyle to prioritize your diet is not easy. To help you on this journey, though, try and make the following a key component of your day:
- Add more dietary fiber to your diet. This comes from fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts. These are wholesome foods that provide you with a healthier intake of fiber
- Try to eat more foods with probiotics involved. This can include foods such as bananas and onions; starting the day with a banana and eating onions with dinner can help
- While you might find it hard to make space for large meals at first, try to snack more. Having four or five smaller meals during the day can be easier to prepare than three large meals
- Smaller meals also provide you with that energy kick and that blood sugar maintenance that can stop your body from falling into those negative, damaging mindsets and decisions
- Do not skip meals – again, making time for smaller snacks should become a priority in your day. Keeping your stomach full and your body nutritious is key to your long-term recovery
- Improve your water intake, too. Water is vital for making sure that you can maintain healthy blood pressure levels and make the detoxification process less difficult to overcome
Get Help With Your Diet During Recovery – And More
At Akasha Recovery, we regularly assist people with substance use disorder who want to commit to recovery and see a genuine difference in their lives. We give them all the tools they need to understand their situation, appreciate the severity of the scenario they now face, and have the confidence that they can overcome these issues. It is our specialization to give you all of the knowledge and confidence you need to overcome this.
You should not feel alone during any phase of your recovery. We are here to be by your side, to give you advice, and to help guide you through each of the phases involved in working towards genuine, meaningful recovery.
With that in mind, contact us today if you want to work with our team to improve your recovery process and receive support regarding improving nutritional intake before, during, and after recovery.