Things a Missouri Rehab Center Know: On Drug Addiction and Nutrition

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As of 2013, the state of Missouri has seen a decreasing trend in illicit drug use in their adult residents. Even so, many users are still seeking treatment and many adolescents are still sinking to the bottom of the dependency pit, thus spurring their loved ones to seek efficient drug rehab centers in Missouri to provide them treatment. For many reliable centers, nutrition is an often-neglected yet paramount component of drug addiction recovery. 

Nutrition and Recovery-How Healthy Eating Can help You Stay Sober

A Crumbling Diet

For those addicted to drugs, personal health isn’t exactly a priority, not only in the substances that they ingest, but also in the food they eat. For the most part, a sufferer’s diet will be composed of little more than junk food, eventually causing a body that’s already reeling from the harmful effects of narcotics to break down.

Nutrition and Recovery

Fortunately, if you manage to get your suffering loved one into a reliable center like the Midwest Institute for Addiction just in time, his body will eventually start healing itself and restoring what it has lost to drugs. While it may be impossible to reverse what has happened, proper nutrition should help give his body the boost it needs to get back on its feet.

Psychological Effects

Proper nutrition doesn’t just help the physical body recover though, as this article in The Fix, written by contributor Jenny Smiechowski tells:

Nutrition also plays an important role in mood. Research suggests that changes in your diet can alter brain structure both chemically and physiologically, and influence your behavior. Furthermore, the consumption of certain foods has been tied to increased production of key neurotransmitters like serotonin, which enhances mood.

This means recovering addicts can use food to feel better physically (as their bodies receive the nutrients they need to repair prior damage and operate on a more optimal level) and mentally (as they eat foods that enhance their mood and overall well-being). In many cases, feeling better will reduce the risk of relapse, as demonstrated conversely by the fact that recovering addicts with poor dietary habits are more likely to relapse. 

With the help of proper nutrition and the counseling and therapy services of a trusted Missouri rehab center, your drug-dependent loved one can eventually find his way back to excellent physical and mental health.

(Source: Nutrition and Recovery: How Healthy Eating Can Help You Stay Sober, The Fix)