Have you already started your first small steps into recovery? If so, there are bigger steps ahead for a future of lasting sobriety. Regardless of whether you enter residential treatment, intensive outpatient, or another type of rehab program, there are important decisions to make. One of these big decisions is the nutrition counseling you need for a healthier body and mind.
Why You Need Nutritional Counseling
Most people living with addiction suffer malnutrition. For example, alcohol calories have no real nutritional value. As a result, when you drink, you don’t take in healthy nutrients through wholesome foods for proper body functioning.
Likewise, people using drugs focus on drug seeking and using to the point they don’t eat. This is hard on their digestive system already taxed by diarrhea, constipation, and indigestion of drug use. It isn’t until they enter rehab that most drug users realize how poor their overall health is and that malnourishment has taken a toll.
Besides not getting the nutrients you need, your body fails to absorb the meager nutrition you do take in. Substance abuse also damages your immune system, disrupting your body’s ability to take care of itself. You are at greater risk for cancers, including liver, lung, breast and colon cancer.
Moreover, your liver is heavily affected by drinking and drug use. These substances and poor nutrition work together to lower your liver’s natural toxin-filtering capability. The liver swells, increasing your chances of liver cancer and further reducing your appetite for even lower nourishment.
Other physical effects of addiction include bloodshot eyes, skin scarring, oral cavities, weight loss, and yellowed skin. This breaks down your self-esteem and makes you feel subconscious in early recovery. Your eyes clear when nutrition improves, just as your weight increases and your skin looks healthier. However, problems like cavities and scars remain after recovery.
Nutrition Counseling in Addiction Recovery
Addiction recovery is a process of making many life changes. One of these changes is your diet. Through good nutrition, you can rebuild your body to greater strength, health and overall wellbeing.
Nutrition counseling in rehab provides you with the knowledge and insight you need for a healthier life. Specifically, a dietician or nutritionist leads these counseling sessions. You’ll gain a custom plan for eating toward physical recovery and healing. Of course, the biggest variable in nutrition success is your own participation.
Some of the guidelines you learn in nutrition counseling include:
Limit or eliminate your caffeine intake
Stay away from sugars
Eat foods rich in antioxidants
Use protein for power
Fill up with fiber
Eat wholesome snacks
Follow your healthy diet plan
Exercise regularly
For real addiction recovery, you must improve your body and mind. Nutrition helps both of these areas improve and fuels you forward for lasting recovery. Take advantage of nutrition counseling available to you in addiction treatment. After all, the better you think, feel and eat, the greater your chances of long term health and wellness.
Crest View Recovery Center Provides Nutritional Counseling
Crest View Recovery Center in Asheville, North Carolina provides nutrition counseling along with an array of addiction therapies and treatment methods. Your healthy recovery relies upon rehabilitation through a program meeting your individual needs.
You’re here for a reason, right?
Let’s talk it through.
Our COVID-19 Protocols
First and foremost, we want to maintain a safe recovery environment and encourage and/or adopt practices protecting the health of patients, employees, visitors and others. We also want to ensure the continuity of providing our addiction recovery services in the face of this global pandemic as we remain open. Note, our staff is fully vaccinated.
The world health community continues to monitor closely the emergence of COVID-19. We want everyone to understand the exact precautions we are taking to address these concerns.
Effective Until Further Notice
ALL incoming clients are pre-screened and Crest view is utilizing the COVID-19 Rapid Test for all newly admitted patients to ensure a safe treatment environment.
No non-essential visitors
ALL clients will need to have their temperature taken daily and recorded. Any client with a temperature higher than 100.4 will be taken to an Urgent Care facility.
ALL Crest View Staff are being routinely tested for COVID.
ALL BHT staff will need to have their temperature taken at the start of their assigned shift. Any BHT staff member with a temperature of 100.4 or higher will be sent home in accordance with this policy.
ALL administrative staff and essential visitors will be required to enter the building upstairs and have their temperature taken with a temple thermometer. Any staff or essential visitor with a temperature higher than 100.4 will be denied entry and be sent home in accordance with this policy.
In accordance with the North Carolina State mandate, all staff, clients and essential visitors will be asked to wear a mask when they can not attain proper social distance.
Some off-site activities may be canceled due to state mandates.
Crest View Recovery Center will provide hand sanitizers throughout the workplace and in common areas. Cleaning sprays and wipes will also be provided to clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces such as telephones and keyboards.
We have required that employees experiencing any respiratory or flu like symptoms will stay home from work. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that employees remain at home until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100.4 degrees F or 37.8 degrees C) or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.
If you have any questions regarding our COVID-19 protocols or the admissions process during this time, please give us a call directly at (866) 327-2505.