{"id":18497,"date":"2023-01-31T11:33:21","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T04:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kembalirehab.com\/?p=18497"},"modified":"2025-03-21T12:59:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T12:59:09","slug":"the-importance-of-good-nutrition-in-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amatesting.uk\/kembali\/the-importance-of-good-nutrition-in-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Good Nutrition in Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Elizabeth Rosselle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First things first\u2014if you\u2019ve struggled with substance abuse issues and you\u2019re newly in recovery, you deserve a major pat on the back for getting to where you\u2019re at now. It takes a lot of courage to get sober, and in the early days of recovery, just focus on the most important win of them all: you\u2019re sober. That\u2019s unbelievably freaking awesome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nevertheless, as you start putting some recovery time together, you\u2019ll most likely start to pay attention to some other areas in your life where you can make adjustments. And, when it comes to living your best life sober, having a solid nutrition plan in place is a great way to help ensure you maintain your sobriety. Moreover, depending on how much damage you\u2019ve done to your body in active addiction, a good diet can be crucial to how well your body bounces back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For those in active addiction, good nutrition and general health typically take a back seat to drugs and alcohol\u2014the best and easiest way to \u201cfeel good fast\u201d was to ingest substances. Furthermore, because of the disrupted and chaotic lifestyle that\u2019s generally led to active addiction, money more often gets spent on drugs or alcohol rather than food. Plus, even if you did consume a healthy-ish diet back in your hard-partying days, your body probably wasn\u2019t absorbing the nutrients properly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Here are just a handful of the ways that the body and mind can suffer as a result of drug and alcohol abuse<\/em>:<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Organ damage<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Substance abuse\u2014this includes both drugs and alcohol\u2014can damage the liver, stomach lining, pancreas, and intestines, all of which contribute to proper absorption, digestion, and storage of nutrients. The pancreas produces enzymes and pro-enzymes<\/a> that aid in the digestion of nutrients needed to balance blood sugar, while the liver metabolizes toxins. The stomach lining and liver are important for general gastrointestinal (GI) function. Damage to any of these can lead to a host of problems, including imbalances in electrolytes, protein, calories, and fluid. Drug and alcohol abuse can also cause chronic GI tract inflammation, IBS, leaky gut, fungal intestinal infections, and acid reflux. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Hypoglycemia<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hypoglycemia is low blood sugar that\u2019s generally caused by poor nutrition and a bad diet. It\u2019s extremely common in people who abuse alcohol due to the high sugar content in booze, and it\u2019s also quite common in those who abuse drugs for a variety of reasons. Primarily, the cause boils down to poor nutrition, as mentioned. Those who abuse drugs or alcohol are at a higher risk for the simple fact that they don\u2019t take very good care of themselves. Non-diabetic hypoglycemia often goes away on its own with a balanced diet, but, left untreated, it can lead to diabetes, loss of consciousness, seizures, and even death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Malnutrition<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

People who abuse stimulants typically experience increased energy and a decrease in appetite. This can lead to severe weight loss and malnutrition which includes the wasting away of muscle tissue, a suppressed immune system, wounds not healing properly, and low levels of other vital nutrients like magnesium and potassium. Marijuana users, on the other hand, tend to have cravings for junk food. This causes a different kind of malnutrition, leading to things like heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, diabetes, reproductive problems, and even cancer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Mood disorders<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mood disorders and addiction are often connected. Whether an addict is self-medicating to treat a pre-existing mood disorder or the mood disorder occured as a result of substance abuse is unclear and can vary from person to person. Nevertheless, abusing drugs and alcohol invariably has an effect on our dopamine and serotonin levels. Dopamine and serotonin are neurotransmitters in the brain that are responsible for many things, but, in a nutshell, they\u2019re the chemicals responsible for making us feel good. Once we start using drugs and alcohol excessively to chemically alter our dopamine and serotonin levels, our body eventually forgets how to regulate them on its own. As a result, we can experience severe mood swings.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Here\u2019s how you can start taking small steps toward getting healthy in recovery while repairing the damage that may have been done to your body and mind in active addiction: <\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n