It’s important for human beings to develop healthy eating habits, however, it is vital for individuals that are recovering from substance use disorders.
Recovery from substance use disorder or addiction can be a daunting prospect. Inside active addiction, your whole life revolves around using and abusing substances and so many seemingly normal routines are neglected.
One of the common things many people on substances struggle to do is take care of themselves or self-care and that self-care most fundamentally includes the body nutritional requirements. Proper nutrition nourishes your body and regular exercise will help you cope with stress and anxiety.
Substance users are likely to experience one or more of these broad symptoms with respect to their nutritional needs and are likely to exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
- Appetite suppression: Many substances reduce the user’s appetite or lead people to forget to eat.
- Poor eating habits: People who are drunk are more likely to make poor choices, such as eating fast food or following a sugary diet.
- Hypoglycemia: Low blood sugar can be caused by a lack of food or a bad diet.
- Organ damage: The majority of drugs cause direct damage to the organs responsible for nutrient breakdown and processing.
Alcohol and other substances cause chronic difficulties in the gastrointestinal system, making it harder for it to absorb nutrients from food that the body and mind need to function optimally. It is well recognized that alcohol consumption causes shortages in nutrients like Thiamine (Vitamin B1) Folic acid Vitamin B6.
The body is a remarkably resilient machine, by establishing gut health through eating the right types of food, you enable your body to produce the chemicals it needs to manage moods and restore organs to functional states. Combined with exercise and adequate natural sleep we become far more receptive and functional in day to day life and we are better able to adapt mental wellbeing through talk therapy.
Taking care of both your physical and mental wellbeing is important to your greater well being and that includes relationships with co-workers, friends and family.
Please Note: Self-analysis and any recovery treatment based on ideas and data obtained from the web and unconsidered sites can be misleading and not relevant to you. Should you suspect you might be dealing with an addiction-related disorder issue, always seek advice from a trained psychologist for personal insights pertinent to your circumstances.
