Food, Fitness, and Nutrition in Addiction Recovery

Addiction is a disease, which means the best and most comprehensive treatment options approach addiction just like any other disease. We believe that addiction recovery in Idaho is possible. If you were a diabetic, you'd expect to take medication, consult regularly with your doctor, and make lifestyle changes such as modifying your diet. The same strategy works well with addiction. Changing your nutritional and exercise strategies aren't sufficient in and of themselves to remedy your addiction, but lifestyle remedies can make the recovery process easier, quicker, and less painful.

Why Does Lifestyle Matter?

The human body is a lot like a machine. What you get out of your body depends on what you put into it. If you fill your body with sugary garbage, you're going to feel miserable. A well-nourished, well-tended body feels better and is better equipped to deal with the incredible challenges of getting sober.

Make no mistake: Internet gimmick sites and self-published books that claim the right lifestyle changes will singlehandedly cure all that ails you are unreliable. A healthier life can help you recover in many ways:

• Withdrawal often throws off your blood sugar, but by exercising and maintaining a healthy diet, you can maintain healthy blood glucose levels.
• Eating the right foods may help expedite the withdrawal process.
• Regular exercise clears your body of toxic drugs. It also releases powerful endorphins that can give you a replacement “high.”
• Regular aerobic exercise has been shown to combat depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses in several studies.
• A healthy lifestyle may help combat some of the most common health effects of addiction – including cardiovascular disease, muscle damage, organ failure, and blood pressure issues.

Choosing the Right Lifestyle Remedies: Holistic Addiction Treatment in Idaho

IN a world increasingly obsessed with healthy, holistic living, it can be hard to choose from the rich number of options available. Moreover, the wide number of gimmicky products promising to change your life for a low-low price are often challenging to distinguish from sound nutritional advice.

So how to tell the difference? Talk to your treatment team about what they think will work best for you, and be sure to consult your doctor before trying nay new nutrition or exercise program. Remember, the basics of good nutrition are pretty simple: Get plenty of exercise. Eat natural foods that don't come from a box. Minimize your intake of high-fat foods, cholesterol, and sodium. Drink plenty of water. You don't have to pay a guru to get this advice, and any system that promises it will summarily turn your life around is probably a gimmick.

Options to Consider for Addiction Recovery in Idaho

If you want to adopt a health, fitness, and nutrition plan that will equip you for a lifetime of sobriety, review the research on addiction and recovery. To get you started, here are some strategies that studies have already proven can help you get sober faster:

• Get at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week. Doing so expedites the withdrawal process, improves overall health, and can help combat depression and anxiety.
• Spend at least two days per week on strength training, which can help reduce the muscle aches and pains that so often co-occur with withdrawal. Strength training doesn't have to involve weights. Yoga and other forms of weight-bearing exercise can strengthen your muscles just as effectively as a barbel or weight machine.
• Confine your exercise to the daytime hours. Exercising before bed can give you a shot of energy that makes it difficult to sleep. A regular sleep schedule – including nightly dreams – is strongly correlated with faster addiction recovery.
• Eat plenty of lean proteins. Protein is like food for your brain that improves cognition and makes it easier to manage your emotions. Good sources include fish, soy, nuts, beans, and lean chicken.
• Eat foods high in omega-3s, which are correlated with better brain and mental health. Good choices include nuts, flax seed oil, and eggs fortified with omega-3 fatty acids.
• Include yoga or another form of meditation in your daily routine. Meditation, especially when combined with exercise, can reduce anxiety, help you more effectively cope with cravings, and stave off depression.
• When you get a craving, try sucking a piece of hard candy. The temporary spike in blood sugar may help you fight off the craving.
• Drink plenty of water. Not only does water help flush toxins from your body. It also helps you combat some of the unpleasant symptoms associated with withdrawal.
• Ask your doctor if any foods are known to either increase or decrease the effectiveness of the medications you take.
• Use your sobriety as an excuse to kick the habit of eating processed, boxed, and bagged foods. These foods might taste good, but they wreak havoc on your brain, your health, and your ability to get sober.

Don't be overwhelmed by the wide number of healthy living choices. What matters most right now is getting sober, so try the options that seem appealing to you, and if they work, stick with them. If they don't, move onto something else near Boise. Addiction recovery is a process of trial and error, and what works for one person doesn't always work for the next person.