Addiction Recovery Diet: Delicious Foods Help Reduce Cravings!Addiction recovery cannot be complete without in-depth bodily repair. High quality protein and healthy fats are essential for rebuilding your body and supporting vitality during addiction recovery.
Do eat healthy fats, but in small amounts. Also choose the best high quality protein foods, and eat moderate amounts. Why? Because pancreatic function may also need time to get up to speed, and pancreatin, an enzyme that is very important in protein digestion, may be in short supply. As you heal, these issues will subside. Eat as close to nature as you can. Fresh vegetables and fruits, raw nuts, naturally raised dairy, poultry, and meats, and wild-caught fish are the foods from which great bodies are made. Drug and alcohol use depletes the body of B-Vitamins, so foods rich in Vitamin B-Complex should be eaten in abundance. Rare steak is one of the best sources of B-Vitamins. Well-cooked steak has virtually none; B-Vitamins are destroyed by cooking. Raw nuts such as walnuts, pecans and almonds are another source of B-Vitamins. The brain is highly dependent on DHA, an omega 3 essential fatty acid, which helps increase serotonin. Serotonin is commonly depleted in those in addiction recovery. Maintaining high DHA levels can also help prevent depression, memory loss, and Alzheimer’s disease. Deep sea cold water fish is the best source of DHA essential for proper brain, nervous system, and visual function. Wild salmon is one of the best sources of DHA and other omega 3 fatty acids such as EPA. Make sure to buy wild-caught salmon if at all possible. Farm-raised salmon is dosed with antibiotics, the meat artificially colored orange, raised in crowded pens and fed a diet of low-grade chow that salmon were not designed to eat. Wild-caught salmon and other fish are a far better source of omega 3 essential fatty acids and high quality protein than farm-raised. Wild-caught salmon, walnuts, grassfed beef and dairy, pasture raised fowl are all great sources of omega 3 essential fatty acids. Omega 3’s are an important nutrient for maintaining cell membrane strength and integrity. Most peoples’ diets are far too weighted towards omega 6 essential fatty acids. This has been implicated in cancer and other serious conditions. Raw aged cheeses like Emmenthaler, Gruyere, and Swiss from Switzerland contain calcium, magnesium, and the vitamins A and D to help absorb the minerals. All these nutrients are of benefit in addiction recovery. Calcium and magnesium are vital to nerve transmission, and muscle contraction and relaxation. Canned salmon and sardines are also good sources of these minerals, since they contain soft, chewable bones. Dark chocolate is a great source of magnesium. When you buy chocolate, look for the kind with the least sugar (usually the darker chocolate). Protein rich foods such as steak, uncooked egg yolks (use in Caeser salad dressing), raw almonds, walnuts, cashews are excellent sources of B-vitamins, which support healthy nerve function. Egg yolks from naturally-raised (ideally, pasture raised) chickens (with no hormones and antibiotics) are one of the best sources of choline and inositol. The brain and nervous system benefits greatly from a diet rich in choline and inositol. Always remember that your addiction recovery journey can only be helped by great nutrition! The foundation of healing from substance abuse is healing your body.
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