Dairy products are good sources of both calcium and vitamin A, promoting strong, healthy bones and teeth as well as healthy digestion. Dairy products can be high in fat, but skim milk, yogurt, butter and some cheeses can be a good way to supplement your diet. A great source of amino acids and a necessary component to keep the body strong, protein is a must-have.
- Therefore, there is little risk of increasing blood alcohol content due to consuming food cooked in wine.
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One critical nutrition and recovery tip is to consider not only what you’re eating, but also how and when. Intermittent fasting means you’ll only eat one or two meals a day, restricting these meals to certain time periods. Autophagy is a bodily process that helps clean up damaged proteins throughout your body and replaces them with healthy amino acids. The best time to eat these is in the morning because they will help clean your system out while you sleep at night. Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of fiber that helps with digestion which can make it easier on your stomach when going through withdrawal symptoms such as nausea or vomiting. As you’ve likely heard, heavy alcohol consumption can be damaging to your brain.
Are there any specific meal plans recommended for recovering alcoholics?
Good nutrition helps your body heal, fixing the harm that too much alcohol has done. Foods that are rich in nutrients help your mental health, easing feelings like sadness and worry that often come with recovery. Eating a balanced diet helps keep your blood sugar steady, which gives you more energy and mood balance, which are important for facing the difficulties of recovery. A struggle with alcohol use impacts many aspects of a person’s life, including diet and nutrition. Drinking too much can lead to severe nutrient depletion, creating symptoms that can make alcohol detox and recovery more difficult and permanently affect your health.
This is important because hydration helps get drug metabolites out of the body during early recovery and can ease detox symptoms like feeling sick or lightheaded. Withdrawal symptoms from alcohol are different for everyone and can last anywhere from a few days to more than a week. During this period, when your body is adjusting and healing, it is important to have a healthy diet and nutrition to support you in your new alcohol-free lifestyle. Should your risk of severe or complicated alcohol withdrawal be significant at the point of your initial assessment, your first stage of inpatient alcohol treatment may include a supervised medical detox. Bananas are also a well known rich source of potassium, along with high levels of vitamins B6 and C.
The Bottom Line on Nutrition for Recovering Alcoholics
It’s imperative to correct your body’s imbalance during recovery through nutrition. Giving your body the proper nutrients, and therefore energy it needs helps with mental, physical and emotional improvements. At The Recovery Village Columbus, we care about helping you feel your best during recovery, ultimately succeeding in your recovery journey. Contact a Recovery Advocate today to learn how we can help you achieve lasting freedom from alcohol addiction. Hemoglobin helps your red blood cells carry oxygen to your body’s organs and tissues, then transports carbon dioxide from those organs and tissues back to your lungs. And just like vitamin B and zinc, alcohol affects how the body absorbs iron from food, causing an imbalance when you first stop drinking.
It’s normal for recovering alcoholics to desperately crave sugar to the point that they struggle to eat anything else. This is usually due to neurotransmitter imbalances, fluctuations in blood sugar content or just having an addictive personality. Multivitamin supplements can also help you get the required amount of vitamins and minerals you need. Look for a multivitamin (or several) that contains omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium, zinc, and of course vitamins A, B, C, D, and E. Whole grains are also rich in fiber, but also provide a slow release of sugar into a person’s system to help prevent mood swings.
Alcohol Recovery Diet: What Should I Eat to Improve my Recovery
Essential fatty acids are healthy fats that are an important part of everyone’s diet, especially people with mental health issues and people working to overcome an addiction. An easy way to get more essential fatty acids in your diet is to consume fish oil capsules, which as an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. Nutrients that promote a healthy central nervous system are also essential. For example, with alcohol withdrawal symptoms during alcohol detox, thiamine must be given to avoid a dangerous vitamin deficiency that can lead to brain damage. Not getting enough food during this time can make your withdrawal symptoms worse, so it is important for you to try to stay hydrated and eat foods that are good for you. Getting professional help and support during withdrawal can help you deal with your nutritional challenges, and improve your well-being throughout your recovery journey.
Therefore, it is a good idea to be aware of available supplements and how they might help. Residential programs that do not provide healthy meals and an initial nutrition intervention may be contributing to poor diet and weight gain for their residents. The first stage in rehabilitation, detoxification is a five- to seven-day program intended to help individuals with a substance use disorder to overcome the initial symptoms of physical withdrawal. Detox can be an extremely stressful period of time for those working to overcome addiction and is often an uncomfortable process. However, putting a focus on achieving proper nutritional intake as well as managing symptoms can provide a better foundation upon which to continue on to inpatient treatment. Healthy fats, particularly omega-3 fatty acids in foods like fatty fish, walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseeds, play an essential role in brain health.
Alcohol Recovery Diet – Best Foods For Alcohol Addiction Recovery
While several dietary changes can benefit someone recovering from alcohol, no specific, recognized nutritional guidelines or restrictions apply to someone recovering from alcoholism. The only potential restriction would be relating to the use of alcohol itself. As with any supplement regimen, it is essential to consult with a healthcare provider to ensure these are appropriate and safe for your personal health circumstances.
Antioxidants can also change the expression of genes and proteins that are involved in synaptic plasticity (the ability of connections between neurons to change their strength and efficiency) . Some of the most powerful antioxidants for the brain are vitamin C, vitamin E, flavonoids, and carotenoids. These can be found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices, and herbs. Alcohol is an empty calorie, increasing your calorie intake without actually providing nutritional value. Heavily drinking increases calorie intake significantly, making you more likely to gain weight.
Foods High in Zinc
You can replace flour products with “slow carbs” – i.e., foods higher in complex carbohydrates that digest slower, providing longer-lasting energy, curbing cravings, and reducing insulin spikes. This is because neural patterns are hard to break, especially when they involve a chemical dependency on sugar or junk food additives. Although staying hydrated in recovery is important, you should ask your doctor how much water is safe for you to drink. Certain health problems like heart disease can impact how much water you can safely drink. Sources of low-fat proteins include white-fleshed fish (cod, haddock, tilapia, or bass), greek yogurt, cottage cheese, beans, peas, lentils, poultry, and soy. Within the dairy food group, yogurt is a healthy food that promotes healthy gut bacteria.
And since your brain needs certain fatty acids to function optimally, eating enough good fats is key in a healthy diet for alcoholics. Inpatient rehab for alcohol abuse is an intensive form of substance use disorder treatment where patients reside in an addiction treatment facility as they undergo specific types of therapies. Patients in inpatient alcohol rehab eat their meals and sleep in their chosen facility, and commonly alcohol recovery diet have the option to invite loved ones to visit them during designated times of the day or week. Alcohol contains empty calories and doesn’t provide any nutrients for your body, according to the Cleveland Clinic. According to a previous study, the more alcohol you consume, the more likely you are to make poor food choices. Alcohol affects each person differently, but over time, it always leads to nutritional deficiencies.
