What Is The Role Of Diet And Nutrition In Addiction Recovery?
Some experts believe that advances in the treatment of addictions during this century will involve physiologic healing via the restoration of neurochemical balance in the brain. Diet and nutrition may play key roles in that process. The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has officially recognized that, “Many debilitating nutritional consequences result from drug and alcohol abuse. Chronic nutrition impairment causes serious damage to the liver and brain, which reinforces the craving for more drugs and alcohol and perpetuates the psychological aspect of addiction.” Furthermore, the ADA suggests, “Nutrition makes a difference in the rate and quality of physical recovery, which prepares individuals to function at a higher level in treatment – cognitively, mentally, and socially.” Many persons simply do not eat enough food or the right foods when they are preoccupied with drug-taking. When they do eat, drugs of abuse and alcohol keep the body from properly absorbing and breaking down nutr
The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has officially recognized that, “Many debilitating nutritional consequences result from drug and alcohol abuse. Chronic nutrition impairment causes serious damage to the liver and brain, which reinforces the craving for more drugs and alcohol and perpetuates the psychological aspect of addiction.” Many people simply do not eat enough food or the right foods when they are preoccupied with seeking and taking drugs. Furthermore, the ADA suggests, “Nutrition makes a difference in the rate and quality of physical recovery, which prepares individuals to function at a higher level in treatment – cognitively, mentally, and socially.” Scientists seem to agree that substances of abuse may cause nutritional deficiencies; however, a direct link between nutritional deficiencies and addiction has not been fully accepted. Also, the notion that special diets or nutritional supplements or both may help treat addiction requires further research. But there are some
