This article reviews how drug abuse/addiction causes nutritional deficiencies and leads to poor dietary behaviors that negatively affects chances of sobriety.
Nutritional Impact and its Consequences During Drug Addiction
Drug addiction has a devastating effect on a person’s body. Various drugs and behaviors associated with using these drugs causes’ symptoms of malnutrition. These symptoms include but are not limited to; fatigue, mood swings, depression, cravings, anxiety, heartburn, diarrhea, insomnia, tooth decay and loss of appetite. It is not good enough to simply treat the symptoms with an anecdote such as a sleeping pill or antacid. These symptoms should be viewed as ‘red alerts’ warning the individual of more significant problems that are occurring due to the starvation and poison that cells and organs are enduring due to ones drug use. To fully recovery from these symptoms it is important to work on the body from the inside out starting with fully understanding what factors went into creating this situation beyond simply absorbing the drug.
First, one must understand how the drugs that are being consumed affect the hunger mechanisms of a person’s brain. Marijuana stimulates the desire for food causing what we have often referred to as the ‘munchies’ while stimulants such as cocaine and speed suppress the brains appetite control center. This is why they have been dangerously added into diet pills and other weight loss approaches. Individuals addicted to stimulants can often skip meals and even go days without consuming food. This literally places a person’s body into a mode of starvation. When the body is in this mode it slows down the metabolism and trains the body to hoard calories for survival. This causes weight gain as well as the increase in fat composition on the body. Most importantly, the body remains in this mode even after an individual decides to stop using drugs. A person must begin to eat small, frequent and nutritious meals to help break the cycle of starvation, stimulate their metabolism and regulate their energy.
Second, it is important to understand that the liver metabolizes what we put into our body. It sorts out, what our body needs, what it should throw away and attempts to minimize the damaging impact of less healthy substances. This includes drugs and alcohol. As we ingest drugs and/or alcohol the liver attempts to break down the components. However, it does not take a large amount for the liver to become ‘stressed out’ and no long capable of performing its job. As a result the body no longer benefits from the liver’s needed services. It can no longer protect the body as well as absorb and utilize needed nutrients.
Damage to the liver during substance abuse can be irreversible, however there are steps that can be taken during recovery that can minimize the side effects and stop further damage from occurring. Suggested steps and further information of nutrition in recovery has been reviewed in further articles.
This post is part of the series: The Role of Nutrition in Substance Abuse, Addiction and Alcoholism
This article series addresses how dietary behaviors expressed during drug and alcohol abuse/addiction causes significant problems that lead to relapse. The series discusses these specific problems as well as offers dietary tips that have proven to improve the chances of long term sobriety.
