I know what you are thinking by just reading the title of this blog. “Oh great. It was hard enough to stop doing drugs, and now I have to eat healthy too?” “I’m just trying to stop putting a needle in my arm I could care less if sugar is bad for me.” Look, I don’t want to come off as that annoying health nut who insistently demands that everyone needs to be healthy and take care of their bodys, but healthy eating and exercise can actually make recovery from drug addiction easier and stronger. If you believe that the disease of drug addiction is a three-fold disease, then you are aware that the disease affects the mind, body, and spirit. Naturally it would be common sense to treat the disease with a holistic approach to get your mind, body, and spirit in the best condition possible. Even if you are a two-fold disease person it is still important to take care of one’s body and mind. After all we as drug addicts and alcoholics have been close to death’s door and now thats we are on the track to a life of sobriety, it’s time to start taking care of ourselves and live a healthy lifestyle.
Nutrition in sobriety doesn’t only serve the purpose of keeping you physically feeling great, but it has a positive impact on your mental health and well being, also.
Here is a list of the benefits of a nutritious diet:
- Repairs and revitalizes. Healthy foods can help the body to regenerate itself.
- Better heart health. A better diet can help with cutting down on risk of heart disease.
- Increased blood circulation which helps you feel less tired.
- Improved bone health.
- Better energy levels. Less fatigue throughout the day.
- Regularity in the bathroom
- Better sleep at night as the body is put into a different sense of ease.
- Overall sense of health and happiness from the body getting what it craves and needs.
Nutrition in sobriety is important for it’s an example of the lifestyle choice and commitment that recovery takes. Recovery isn’t just a matter of dropping the substances, but changing the people we were. Alcohol isn’t the problem as they say- it’s our alcoholic thinking in the end. Choosing to be healthy is a major decision, and those once addicted to any substances can tell you that much. When the choice of drugs or food is put on the table, would the addict even care to eat?
Good nutrition in sobriety helps the body overcome the damage that it has suffered. Healthy eating can help anyone recovering from addiction feel better because the nutrients can help strengthen them and give the addict the energy from the vitamins and minerals their body craves. The right nutrition in sobriety can even help repair organ damage including the brain. Can you imagine why the brain would even need repairing in the first place? Nutrition can also play a part in a person’s mood. Changing your diet with the right substances going in it change your brain structure physiologically and chemically. Imagine being able to improve your mood simply by eating a healthy diet. Great! Now go do it. Feeling better can affect all aspects of your life. Those who have poor eating habits have been seen as prone to relapse. Nutrition in sobriety is a basis to live by for those in recovery, but it is also a way of life for any being that cares enough about their future health. We’ve got this one long life to live, might as well take care of ourselves in the best that we can.