Nutritional Counseling
Substance abuse takes a toll on your mental and physical health. While the effects of addiction vary from person to person, most people will experience poor nutritional habits while in the throes of addiction, leading to further problems with normal body functions.
Proper nutrition and recovery go hand in hand. When you abuse alcohol and drugs, it often leads to a lack of essential vitamins and minerals, which can have long-term effects on your health. Addiction also can cause you to ignore basic human needs and hygiene. Some of the ways that substance abuse interferes with diet and nutrition include:
- Failure to eat regularly because of lack of appetite or forgetfulness
- Making drugs and alcohol a priority over eating and staying hydrated
- Sustained damage to internal organs that absorb and break down food for nutrients (stomach lining, liver)
- Issues with the gastrointestinal system like irritable bowel syndrome or leaky gut syndrome that prevent you from digesting food properly
- With alcohol use disorder, deficiencies when it comes to vitamin B6, thiamine, and folic acid, leading to cognitive issues and anemia
- With opioid abuse, symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea, leading to dehydration
Serenity Light Recovery has a chef and a Registered Dietician on staff to help you regain healthy eating habits during your stay with us. They will design an individualized nutrition plan that includes serotonin-boosting foods, such as complex carbohydrates, as well as high proteins and good fats. Your body will have more complicated nutritional needs during the first year of recovery, and our expert staff is here to help. Nutritional counseling, along with our other holistic recovery programs, will ensure that you get back on track to living your best — and healthiest — life.
We offer a dining experience like one would find at a restaurant outside the walls of Serenity Light Recovery. Our white linen tablecloths, various array of thoughtfully prepared menu options and al la carte items along with our friendly waitstaff, delivers a comfortable feeling of normalcy while in treatment.
