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Optimizing Our Chemistry: Nutrition in Addiction Recovery

In Health & Wellness, Healthy Eating by THRLeave a Comment

By Brent Botros Tree House Staff

Our body is a product of chemistry, and what we put into it will ultimately affect the way it operates. Learning how to utilize proper fuel for performance is essential to sustain a long healthy life of maximum potential. Eating healthy is a way of life, and is not something that comes easy. Proper nutrition takes time, dedication, consistency, and discipline. We, as humans, from the day we were born, were only given one body, and the choice to fuel this body with what it needs to operate properly. Individuals die every day from diseases directly related to their diets, lacking the proper education and regime needed to optimize their physical health. Eating healthy is essential if we as humans ever want to maximize the potential of our own bodies.

Countless individuals lack the understanding of the value of eating healthy. First, one must understand the fact that they ARE only given ONE body in life, and the fact of the matter is that this body will only take the individual so far if fueled improperly. If fueled improperly, the individual runs the risk of living a short life and having unhealthy chemistry. Food is made up of nutrients which translate to chemicals in the body. Processed foods contain nutrients that have been tampered with, and are much more unnatural than unprocessed foods. When unhealthy chemicals enter the body, they affect much more than the motor system of the body, but also affect the chemistry in the brain as well, leading to psychological and neurological issues on top of physiological issues. When learning to develop healthy eating habits begins, there is a shift in chemistry, leading to positive changes in the body and brain. The individual begins to feel good himself and about himself.

As unhealthy eating begins, a habit forms, and the individual is conditioned into continuing to follow this habit. The good news is that as the individual begins transforming his/her diet, a new habit forms, and a new connection in the brain forms. As the individual begins to feel better physically and mentally due to his/her new diet, he begins referring eating healthy to feeling good, releasing positive chemicals in his/her brain creating a new neuropathway which is wired to take the more healthy route.

So, the choice must be made first, followed by a series of repetitions. After the repetitions of healthy choices are made, the brain begins rewiring itself to follow new healthy eating patterns.

Tree House Recovery is a men’s treatment program located in Portland, Oregon. Creating sustainable recovery through sustainable change, our programs help men learn how to live sober with adventurous lives. Call us today for information: (503) 850-2474

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