nutrition Tag

Maximizing the patient’s ability to recover more quickly and more permanently, will be well accepted in the continually changing substance abuse landscape. Substance abusers have long been looking for “better care” not just “more care.”

– Diamond Tree

Because chronic addiction can be so difficult to overcome and the causes so complicated, there really is no singular solution for recovery. But an ingestible, plant-based treatment that can help expedite recovery, regardless of a patient’s underlying disorders, may provide a pathway to that end and is undoubtedly one treatment modality for clinicians in either inpatient or outpatient arena to consider.

It is true that people do choose behaviors that have undesirable results. An essential component of any credible addiction recovery treatment program will include elements of personal responsibility and behavioral change. But add to that program Accelerated Healing as a treatment modality and watch real change begin. Specifically designed to be applied after initial treatment to improve the effectiveness of the initial treatment and to help suppress the possibility of relapse, Accelerated Healing treatment provides vital nutrients that are critical to cell repair and function throughout the body and the brain. It may also increase the effectiveness of other modalities in patients previously unresponsive to addiction treatment.

Many recovery patients are likely (and unknowingly) living with nutritional deficiencies that frustrate treatment protocols from ensuring successful healing. Nearly two-thirds of patients being treated for substance abuse may not reach complete closure, even with long-term care. It should come as no surprise to anyone that cellular regeneration can be achieved by ensuring patients receive nutrients that are critical and essential to cellular functionality and restoration.

If you want to see improvements in your long-term outcome, try this new treatment modality at Diamond Tree Recovery. You will receive organic plant-based nutrient-dense meals, clean water, specialized supplementation protocols and oxygenation of the tissues through fitness. These are some of the crucial keys to Accelerated Healing on your path to recovery.

Have you ever noticed how behavior in children changes dramatically when they are hungry? This is even more true of addicts, who, over time, have starved their brains of vital nutrients critical for optimal brain function, thereby exacerbating their behavioral disorders and inhibiting effective recovery.

Alcohol is not the only abused chemical, but perhaps the most and yet surprisingly unacknowledged worldwide cause of brain damage, cognitive impairment, and dementia. Many substances abused over years cause mental impairment. And let’s just state the obvious, when your brain isn’t working, you will struggle with mental illness.

Interviewing many of our patients, they tell us their addiction was about just needing something to get through the day, then fall asleep at night. Sometimes that was alcohol, cigarettes, or cannabis, other times it was harder substances like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines. Still, others were on prescription medications, like antidepressants or benzodiazepines, and had no idea how they could possibly live without them

Upon entering the program at Diamond Tree Recovery, nutritionist Amanda Kotter, MH, CN, author of “Mother Nature’s Medicine”, provides nutrient-rich meals to patients, most of whom would rather have a hamburger and fries. Very soon, however, they begin to feel differently. Their attitudes shift as they feel their health returning. Often times they assist in the food preparation and planning. By the end of their stay, they are asking for her cookbook.

In his book “End Your Addiction Now”, Dr. Charles Grant, physician and psychiatric consultant, says, “Unless the biochemical imbalances which are the true causes of substance problems are corrected, the benefits of psychological counseling will be marginal for most people.” (1)(2)

Recent studies reveal that drugs physically change the structure and function of the brain, which can lead to cravings. (A full list of studies is available for download at the end of this article.)

Several studies show a relationship between vitamin and mineral deficiencies and metabolic imbalances that tend to create addictive cravings. One such study by Dr. Roger Williams, the biochemist who discovered pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), showed that rats deficient in certain vitamins consumed more alcohol than those not vitamin deficient. But when those vitamin deficiencies were supplemented, alcohol consumption decreased.

1. abnormal neuronal development
2. disruptions in regulatory processes, such as the sleep-wake cycle
3. sub-optimal performance in global measurements of cognition, motor skills, and social-emotional behavior
4. cognitive deficits associated with reductions in learning capacity and productivity.(3)

Ultimately, these nutritional deficiencies can cause fatigue, depression, and irritability, all triggers that can block recovery and lead to a relapse.

The good news is those high-quality bioavailable nutrients that are so important to combating and correcting all of this are readily available to us in good foods and supplements.  Contact Diamond Tree Recovery today for more information!

1. Grant, Charles, M.D., Ph.D. and Greg Lewis, Ph.D. End Your Addiction Now. (NY, NY: Warner Books, Inc.), 2002

2. Nutrition in Addiction Recovery – Many Hands Organic Farm http://www.mhof.net/sites/default/files/Addiction%20and%20Recovery%20Report.pdf

3. NIH Public Access Neurodevelopment and Childhood Behaviors http://www.talkingaboutthescience.com/studies/Hibbeln2014.pdf