According to a recent study, it has been seen that almost 88% of people are struggling with a chronic substance abuse disorder. Because of this disorder, they have poor diet control and eating habits. What’s worse, they even sometimes forget to eat all day long.
A person who has been abusing drugs and alcohol for a long period of time becomes malnourished due to the lack of adequate nutrients in the diet.
Furthermore, many mind-altering substances change the ways your body absorbs nutrients. That means, even if the person is eating a healthy diet, they might not be getting the complete nutrients out of it.
Addiction is an enemy to your existence. It not only makes you addicted but also brings changes in how your body operates. This is why it becomes difficult to leave the addiction.
As the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from the food decreases, the body is essentially robbed of the nutrients that it needs to function properly.
The moment you realize your addiction, seek professional help starting with medical detox. This will help you treat your addiction effectively. To know more about the detox treatment program, visit https://www.gallusdetox.com/locations/texas/dallas-detox-center/.
The Role Of Nutrition During Addiction Recovery
If you are a recovering addict, it is possible that you are suffering from several vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In that case, you need a balanced diet with complete nutrients.
There are many roles nutrients play in your addiction recovery. For instance –
- Enhances Focus & Awareness: While you recover from addiction, your main objective is to focus and achieve sober living. This is where healthy eating can help you. While you’re eating healthy, your brain gets all the right nutrients. You can then focus on the things that are important and maintain awareness of where your vulnerabilities lie.
- Revamp Your Mood & Fill You With Confidence: A positive outlook and mindset are what you need to be successful at something. If you doubt your capabilities, you will never be able to achieve the things you dream of. Healthy eating helps you maintain a positive mood and boost your confidence while facing adversaries.
- Drive Motivation: While you are recovering from addiction, consistent drive and motivation are needed, especially when you are going through withdrawal symptoms. Healthy eating keeps that drive alive and fills you with the energy you need to find the addiction.
- Suppress Your Cravings: Cravings are a part of the recovery process. No matter what you do, you will experience at one. However, there is a way to suppress it. Healthy eating ensures that you feel full and never partake in an activity that might trigger relapses.
How Does Addiction Disrupt Nutrition?
Each addiction substance has a specific effect on your health. But, there is one area where all the addictive effects are the same: health and nutrition.
Those who fall victim to addiction show one or more of these broad symptoms.
- Poor Eating Choices: People under the influence of addiction make poor eating choices. As the substance of addiction completely influences their body, their taste buds become numb. So, they each try to reach food with taste to its extreme, such as extreme spicy or extreme sour.
- Loss Of Appetite: Although medical experts call it loss of appetite, the truth is that patients suffering from addiction forget to eat. The only thing they remember is to feed their addiction.
- Gastrointestinal Disorder: Alcohol and Drug addiction contribute to chronic issues related to the gastrointestinal tract. Because of this problem, your body cannot extract the nutrients from the foods completely.
- Organ Damage: Most elements that form addiction affect the organs that are directly responsible for managing nutrients inside your body. Due to the damaged organs, the body’s normal function is disrupted.
Nutrients Deficiency In Recovery Addicts
Research shows that almost 88% of people suffering from addiction need guidance in making good nutritional choices. It is important to understand that eating the right nutrition is important for the body.
When you recover from addiction, your body goes through the withdrawal phase. This phase can really put the patients under a lot of physical and mental pressure. Eating the right nutrients helps the patients build their bodies to sustain withdrawal symptoms.
Understanding the nutrient deficiency an addict suffers will help you prepare the right nutritional food for them.
- Vitamin D: Vitamin D deficiency is quite common for people suffering from addiction. Vitamin D and addiction are connected with depression, suicidal tendencies, and psychotic symptoms. Research shows that people who lack Vitamin D fall victim to depression and anxiety. To cope with these experiences, people seek help from alcohol and drug addiction.
- B-Group Vitamin: It has been seen that people suffering from addiction lose their ability to absorb B-group Vitamins successfully. So, it is common to see people with addiction suffering from B-Group Vitamin Deficiency. The symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency can be easily seen in the form of anemia, no reason fatigue, and insomnia.
- Calcium: Drug and Alcohol abuse reduce the capability of the body to absorb calcium from the food. This increases the risk of calcium deficiency in the recovery people. The symptom of calcium deficiency is easily noticeable in the form of muscle pain, irritability, and weak and brittle bones.
- Omega 3: Omega 3 fatty acids are important for the body. Omega 3 plays an important role in maintaining your behavior and managing your anxiety and depression.
Nutritional Planning After Leaving Rehab
Nutrition as a part of an addiction recovery program is still quite challenging for people to grasp the concept. This is similar to the initial addiction recovery phase, where people are reluctant to change their behavior.
Nutritional foods are important, no matter what the reason is. In the case of addiction recovery, you need to have a healthy body to fight addiction and cope with withdrawal symptoms.
The same thing can be said truly even after addiction recovery treatment is completed. Once you are out of the addiction rehab center, you must invest a little time in planning proper meals for your body to stay healthy.