How Vitamins Can Help Support You Through the Drug or Alcohol Addiction Recovery Process and Rehab
We have all been introduced to the topic of vitamins before. Our physicians, dentists, grandparents, and parents have all told us from an early age, “don’t forget to take your vitamins.” So, while we were still young, we begrudgingly took our Flintstone gummies as quickly as possible and ran about to continue with our lives. But how many of us kept up with taking our vitamins when we got older, and Flintstone vitamins no longer provided us with all the extra nutrition we needed? And also forget the importance of vitamins for recovering drug addicts.
Typically, young adults stop taking their vitamins in their teenage years. But as the years begin passing and more physical health issues manifest, individuals of all ages and genders start to pay closer attention to vitamins and the benefits they provide. There are distinct types of vitamins and various issues these supplements can help counteract. Vitamins can help people sleep better, boost immune systems, strengthen bones, and aid individuals who suffer from natural vitamin deficiencies to live more balanced lives. Vitamins are a crucial part of our biology and everyday lives.
What are Vitamins? The Definition of Supplements and Their General Benefits
The word “vitamin” refers to more than multi-colored pills. Vitamins are essential substances and minerals within our bodies that help us grow, develop, function, and live our lives normally. There are several types of vitamins, the most well-known of which include:
- Vitamins A
- Vitamins C
- Vitamins E
- Vitamins D
- Vitamins K
- Vitamins B
These supplement categories can break down further, involving a few other vitamins, such as Vitamins B1 or D3. Our bodies consist of different minerals and substances, which results in several vitamins associated with health. Vitamins and minerals are essential for maintaining good health, which means it is vital to keep our bodies well stocked with the nutrients and supplements we need to live healthy lives.
Typically, people of all ages can obtain the vitamins their bodies need by eating a healthy and balanced diet. Yet people can suffer from a vitamin deficiency, even with maintaining a healthy diet and physical exercise.
Men, women, and children can obtain all the essential vitamins they need by maintaining a nutrient-rich, balanced diet. Yet, many individuals find it hard to meet their nutrition goals due to fussy eating habits, allergies, outlying health conditions, or suffering from natural vitamin deficiencies.
Foods allow people to absorb different vitamins. Various outdoor elements, like plenty of sunshine, can also help boost natural mineral levels in individuals. Individuals who do not eat well, do not consume enough food, do not get outside very often, abuse eating or substances like drugs and alcohol typically find it harder to maintain proper supplement levels in their bodies. Some of the most common vitamin deficiencies include:
- Iron deficiencies:
– Results in Anemia
= Can onset weakness, weakened immune system, excessive tiredness, impaired brain function, etc. - Iodine deficiencies:
– Impacts normal thyroid function
– Can cause developmental abnormalities, impacting brain development, bone maintenance, metabolic regulation, growth, etc. - Vitamin D deficiencies:
– Can onset several types of cancers
– Reduces immune function, impairs growth, causes bone loss, muscle weakness, etc.
Today individuals take supplements to support their overall health. Obtaining too few vitamins or absorbing too many vitamins can have serious health consequences. Adults and children of all ages take vitamins in the U.S. today to help counteract various health conditions, replenish their bodily systems, build their immune systems, and get or stay as healthy as possible. Individuals who suffer from drug or alcohol abuse disorders are more at risk of developing nutritional impairments and suffering from vitamin deficiencies.
Vitamins and Addiction, How Addiction Affects an Individual’s Vitamins and Minerals
Drug and alcohol addictions are chronic diseases characterized by relapsing, impulsive substance seeking, and abuse patterns. Individuals of all ages, genders, and backgrounds can suffer from various addictions. Some individuals suffer for only short amounts of time, receiving vital help in rehab programs early on to aid them in working past their condition. Other individuals may suffer from substance use disorders and addiction for extended amounts of time due to more severe symptoms and long-term use before enrolling in rehab.
Anyone can suffer from alcohol and drug addiction at any point in their life. Addiction functions similarly to other types of diseases, causing internal and external damage to both the mind and body. Long-term alcohol and drug abuse breed more severe symptoms and related conditions, while short-term misuse has less serious side effects.
Regardless of whether an individual has misused drugs or alcohol for an extended amount of time, substance abuse wreaks havoc on the mind, body, symptoms, and functions. Typically addiction manifests various types of nutritional issues and malnutrition, including several different types of vitamin deficiencies.
Addiction has severe side effects. Malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies are common symptoms of both short- and long-term substance abuse. Long-term vitamin deficiency may onset other health conditions in addition to the effects of addiction, making it harder for rehab clients to recover holistically. Luckily, many drug and alcohol rehab centers recognize the importance of nutrition and overall health in the recovery process.
Rehabilitation facilities across the country offer nutritional therapy and counseling in their inpatient and outpatient treatment programs. Nutritional therapy helps drug and alcohol rehab clients learn more about their condition, their bodies, and how to better care for themselves in the future and begin restoring their physical and mental health in the present.
What are the Best Vitamins for Recovering Drug Addicts to Take?
Addiction and rehab are hard. Addiction recovery can be stressful for clients, but the results and end goal are well-worth encountering the difficulties that come with it.
Leaving drug or alcohol addiction untreated could be devastating, resulting in potentially life-threatening consequences. The good news is that addiction and substance use disorders are treatable. There are many different types of drug and alcohol treatment methods, programs include:
- Medical detox
- Partial hospitalization programs
- Inpatient programs
- Intensive outpatient programs
- Outpatient programs
- Support/peer groups
- Aftercare programs
- Medication-assisted programs
- Behavioral therapy programs
Nutrition therapy is a type of treatment method utilized in both inpatient and outpatient service programs. Nutrition counseling sessions help clients learn more about their bodies, the nutrients they need, and how to build healthier eating habits.
Many drug and alcohol rehab clients suffer from different types of malnutrition and mental illness. Some clients may suffer from more severe cases than others, but incorporating vitamins to help balance or add needed supplements to their battered bodies can increase the individual’s chances of remaining sober long-term. So of the most commonly utilized vitamins and minerals in drug and alcohol recovery treatment programs include:
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Magnesium
- B Vitamins
- Folate/Folic Acid
- Thiamine
- B12
- Glutamine
- Zinc
- Theanine
- Citicoline
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids
- Krill Oil
- Iron
- Calcium
Eating a balanced diet and including the use of supplements in regular dietary consumption can help alleviate the side effects of withdrawal in clients undergoing drug and alcohol rehab and help individuals rebuild their natural mineral supplies and functions over time.
Good nutrition is essential to addiction recovery, it can help clients think, feel more energized, boost immune systems, alleviate the withdrawal symptoms, counteract some long-term nutritional defects, and aid in elevating a client’s overall mood and motivation.
Every substance use disorder and addiction affects everyone in varying ways. Alcohol use disorders tend to cause the most frequent vitamin deficiencies, decreasing folic acid levels, and damaging vitamin B1 and B6 stores in an individual’s body, causing nervous system irregularities and issues.
Other substance use disorders can affect other parts of the human body, resulting in multiple types of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Addiction is a hard disease that onsets many other adverse health conditions, but with proper nutrition, the aid of vitamins, minerals, supplements, exercise, and behavioral/mental therapy and counseling, substance use disorders and abuse can be beaten. Recovery takes time, but with great care, diligence, and dedication, anyone can overcome drug and alcohol addiction.
SJRP Nutrition Therapy and Counseling For Mental Health
At St. John’s Recovery Place (SJRP) our mission is to help our clients recover in a safe, holistic manner. Our vision aligns with empowering our clients, providing them with the care they need while also teaching them more about themselves and the condition they suffer from.
Here at SJRP, we treat each case as an individual entity, ensuring our clients have the most well-rounded, quality care possible, with a program designed to fit their specific needs as they grow and change through the recovery process.
One of the best ways we provide for our clients is through our healthy eating options and nutritional therapies. We recognize the importance of healthy eating, and the effects of addiction and substance use disorders have on clients and their diet before attending rehab.
As a result, all the food options we provide on our campus are hand-selected to be the most delicious and nutritionally sound. But we do not just pick out our client’s food for them, we teach them about the effects addiction has had on their bodies, on malnutrition, and how a proper diet can help them regain optimal functionality within their physical systems again.
Addiction is a difficult disease to suffer from, and recovery can be a challenge to work through, but we are here to support you, and your loved ones, every step of the way. Do not wait for one more second to begin your recovery journey. Start today by calling us at 1-833-397-3422 to learn about your recovery options and first steps. You do not have to be a slave to addiction any longer!
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