Would you believe that alcoholism is the third-leading cause of lifestyle-related deaths?
If you're working hard to avoid being one of those statistics, your AA tokens will remind you of how far you've come.
Are you looking for additional addiction recovery help? How does nutrition and addiction recovery relate to one another? Are there supplements to help with alcohol cravings that you can add to your alcohol recovery diet?
Now that you're not drinking, what exactly should you be eating to keep you on the road to sobriety? Stick around to see the role nutrition plays and the alcohol recovery diet you should follow.
Nutrition and Staying Sober
Your body takes a lot of abuse from the consumption of alcohol. When you drink too much, your body loses nutrients from the subsequent vomiting and/or diarrhea.
Skipping meals and choosing unhealthy food options is common for alcoholics. Getting your body back in shape is important during recovery. This is where a nutrition plan comes in.
Alcohol Recovery Diet
There's a science to getting your body and mind back on the road to recovery. During the first year of recovery, your body has higher nutritional needs.
It is vital to feed your body what it needs to keep you on the right path.
Balanced Diet
Choose foods high in complex carbohydrates in combination with proteins. This type of balanced diet helps keep the serotonin (a hormone in your brain) levels in check which is vital to the relaxation of your brain.
Eat legumes like lentils, beans, and peas, carrots, potatoes and pasta and bread along with proteins like chicken and fish. Consume foods rich in calcium. This can be done by eating dairy products or foods like tofu or kale.
Keep the consumption of sugar to a minimum.
While using alcohol, your body converts alcohol to sugar causing your blood sugar levels to increase. While in recovery, the lower blood sugar levels cause your body to crave sugar.
Blood sugar level swings can make you feel anxious or depressed often leading to relapse. Keeping your blood sugar levels even will help to reduce cravings and in turn reduce the likelihood of relapse.
Vitamins and Minerals
A recovering alcoholic is often deficient in vitamins and minerals, particularly B and D vitamins and the mineral Thiamine.
Eating lots of fresh vegetables like avocados and green leafy varieties in addition to the before-mentioned foods will replenish the vitamins you're lacking.
In some cases, supplements may be needed to get your vitamin levels where they should be. Your physician can make some suggestions.
The Road to Recovery
Now that you've learned how to plan out your alcohol recovery diet, you have the tools you need to keep collecting your AA tokens.
Check out the many useful advice articles we have to keep you on the road to recovery. There's everything from using meditation to how to handle the holidays while staying sober.