Healthy Eating Tips to Support Recovery and Lasting Sobriety
Did you know that a healthy diet in addiction recovery can be the cornerstone to managing not just your physical health but also your mental health and substance cravings?
At Ingrained Recovery, our expert staff have found that developing a balanced diet and knowing where to focus your efforts on proper nutrition can help you find more lasting, stable success in sobriety.
During recovery from substance use, you should focus on healthy fats and fatty acids found in nuts, fish, and even olive oil.
Complex carbohydrates, amino acids, and fresh fruits and vegetables can aid your body in providing a great source of energy, balancing moods, and repairing damage caused by substance use to cells. Don’t forget to drink water instead of caffeine!
Ingrained Recovery offers holistic care for your substance use disorders, starting with a balanced healthy diet in addiction recovery. We offer individualized treatment plans with healthy foods on the menu for all our clients. Keep reading to learn more about how healthy eating habits influence your time in treatment.
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Cultivating Healthy Eating Habits in Addiction Recovery
It isn’t true for everyone, but for many of us, healthy eating was not a priority when engaging in substance abuse of some kind. In general, people who struggle with substance use disorders have likely allowed their health to fall to the wayside as they continue to use drugs and alcohol.
If this describes you, you might have stopped eating regular meals and neglected a healthy diet. But nutrition and addiction recovery go hand-in-hand.
Here are some of the healthy foods you should consider when you start to think about getting sober. By incorporating them into your diet, substance abuse might be less powerful than you think.
Healthy Fats and Fatty Acids: More Powerful than You Think
When most people think about starting a regular diet, they decide to cut fats out of the picture. Too many people think that fats are empty calories that lead to weight gain, but this isn’t necessarily true.
Eating healthy fats and fatty acids is a critical component of a complete diet.
Essential fats like oily fish, olive oil, and nuts are actually quite helpful for routine body functions. Consider some of the roles that this component of proper nutrition plays in your overall health:
- Build cell membranes and cover nerves
- Improve blood clotting
- Enhance muscle function
- Improve immune system functioning
- Reduce inflammation
In other words, healthy fats like omega-3s ultimately help heal the damage that drug and alcohol addiction wreaked on your brain health and body.
Even more importantly, fatty acids are great for your mental health. They can improve mood swings and balance your mental state, which could reduce cravings for more substances.
Carbohydrates for Balanced Meals
There is no shortage of diets on the market today that tell you that carbohydrates are bad for your health and weight gain. Much like healthy fats and fatty acids, this is another myth that you should steer clear of when trying to improve physical and mental health. You will need carbs in moderation.
The sticking point here is that you should be eating healthy carbohydrates rather than empty calories. Incorporate whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and beans into your diet to see the best results.
Why are carbohydrates so essential to your substance abuse recovery?
The first thing complex carbohydrates do is provide energy for your body and brain. This gives you the push you need to engage in healthier coping skills like exercise and even to more fully engage in your treatment plan.
However, it goes beyond that. Healthy carbs regulate your blood sugar levels, which could allow you to better manage diabetes and glucose instability. They also regulate serotonin levels in the brain. Alcohol abuse and some drugs may alter serotonin receptors, and consuming carbs can correct those imbalances.
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Amino Acids to Improve Mental Health
Poor eating habits may contribute more to your mental health than you think. During the recovery process, amino acids are a core component of a balanced diet. The good news is that this may be easier than you think. Some foods, like fatty fish, contain healthy fats and amino acids, so your diet works harder.
Other foods containing amino acids include eggs, chicken, and low-fat dairy.
Amino acids are critical nutrients in addiction recovery because they supplement your mood-boosting treatments. They regulate neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. The result could mean that you have fewer mood swings and reduced mood lability, leading to fewer cravings.
Studies show that amino acids, which are the building blocks of nutrition, reduce depression symptoms, improve motivation, and enhance cognitive functioning.
Increased Water Intake and Hydration
If you want to improve mental health issues and brain function, the answer might be easier than you thought. Simply pick up a water bottle and ensure you drink at least half your body weight in ounces each and every day. What does water do for you if it doesn’t contain essential nutrients?
Your body is primarily made up of water. Some research shows that your body could be made up of about 75 percent water. This means that hydration plays a foundational role in all of the other parts of your new balanced meals. Complex carbs, amino acids, and fatty acids can’t do their job without water.
Hydration improves brain function, removes toxins from the body, and makes for an easy transfer of nutrients from one cell to another. In other words, water paves the way for a balanced diet to do the heavy lifting and correct nutritional deficiencies.
It also improves mental well-being with a decreased risk of depression and anxiety in adults. This may lead you to want to drink alcohol less, curbing cravings.
Reduce Caffeine Intake for Healthy Sleep
While we have spent a lot of time discussing the essential nutrients you need in addiction treatment, it is equally important to consider what you should avoid: too much caffeine. Consuming coffee or even caffeinated tea can have an adverse effect on your substance use disorders and cravings.
Plus, it does not count toward your water intake goal for the day.
Think about how you feel when you have too much caffeine: irritable, jumpy, and anxious. It makes it hard for you to fall asleep and rest, even when your body is telling you to power down. Mental health services might just be putting a Band-Aid on things if your caffeine intake is triggering cravings.
According to research, caffeine could reinforce the effects of alcohol. By cutting it out of your diet, you have a greater chance of maintaining sobriety once caffeine withdrawal symptoms have subsided.
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Brain Health
Chances are that you already knew that fresh fruits and vegetables are a significant part of addiction recovery nutrition. A nutritious diet is always full of vitamins and minerals, many of which can be found at a local farmer’s market or in the produce section of the supermarket.
These can be healthy snacks, but they are also key for those who want to practice good eating habits. For example, leafy greens can contribute vitamins B6 and calcium, which are often deficient in those with an alcohol use disorder. Vegetables can replenish vitamins that are in short supply.
Other reasons to consider fruits and vegetables in your diet include improved hydration, an increase in fiber, and even supplementation of antioxidants. This last one can reduce inflammation and shield your cells from further damage, something that should be a priority in the recovery process.
Improving Health with a Supportive Diet at Ingrained Recovery
When it comes to recovery from substance use disorders, you need to make sure you step back and take a look at the whole picture of your health. Nutrient deficiencies in your diet, sugar cravings, and imbalances in vitamins and minerals impact your physical health.
This is why Ingrained Recovery is committed to helping you develop good eating patterns during your time with us.
High Quality Food Menu
Drugs or alcohol use contribute to your poor food choices in a variety of ways. Many people will reach for processed foods because they are quick and easy, but they do little to support their brain health. For example, you might reach for chips and packaged snacks instead of apples and nuts.
On the other hand, Ingrained Recovery believes in offering fresh foods that are high in minerals and vitamins you may have neglected.
Our chefs prepare fresh meals for you, ensuring that you maintain a more complete diet with B vitamins or vitamin C, dietary fat, lean protein, and more.
We offer nutritional support to help you learn how to eat right so that you can recover faster and easier from chronic alcohol and drug use. Your body will start to feel balanced, which could cut back on your cravings–and it all stems from meeting your nutritional needs.
Southern-Style Cuisine
While we want to support your physical health with a proper diet and nutrient-dense foods, we also want to create meals that you will enjoy for healthy diet in addiction recovery. Because Ingrained Recovery is located in the rolling hills of Georgia, we focus on nutritious food prepared in a southern style.
That means no bland meals and no mass-prepared dishes. Our nutritional team takes your recovery every bit as seriously as you do. We want to help you combat more severe cravings from chronic alcohol use or chronic drug use with something nourishing.
Let us expand your flavor palette and cater to you with upscale cuisine and dishes that make you look forward to meal time!
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Get Support for a Revitalized Recovery Today at Ingrained
Are you ready to see how substance cravings and emotional stability are impacted by eating a healthier and more balanced diet?
Ingrained Recovery is here to help you take the first steps on the path to more holistic health, starting with what you use to nourish and fuel your body and brain.
Our enrollment team is ready and waiting to answer any of your questions about our approach to your care. We can even help you secure a same-day placement in our program so that you get the support you need when you’re ready to move forward.
Reach out to our enrollment team today and let us verify your insurance benefits in a quick and private phone call so that you can start your recovery strong!
References
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- Umeda, K., Shindo, D., Somekawa, S., Nishitani, S., Sato, W., Toyoda, S., Karakawa, S., Kawasaki, M., Mine, T., & Suzuki, K. (2022). Effects of Five Amino Acids (Serine, Alanine, Glutamate, Aspartate, and Tyrosine) on Mental Health in Healthy Office Workers: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Exploratory Trial. Nutrients, 14(11), 2357.
- Vech, R. L., Lumeng, L., & Li, T. K. (1975). Vitamin B6 metabolism in chronic alcohol abuse The effect of ethanol oxidation on hepatic pyridoxal 5′-phosphate metabolism. The Journal of clinical investigation, 55(5), 1026–1032.
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- Haghighatdoost, F., Feizi, A., Esmaillzadeh, A., Rashidi-Pourfard, N., Keshteli, A. H., Roohafza, H., & Adibi, P. (2018). Drinking plain water is associated with decreased risk of depression and anxiety in adults: Results from a large cross-sectional study. World journal of psychiatry, 8(3), 88–96.
- Ferré, S., & O’Brien, M. C. (2011). Alcohol and Caffeine: The Perfect Storm. Journal of caffeine research, 1(3), 153–162.