Food and Nutrition

When struggling with an eating disorder, the choice to recover is courageous. It may even seem like your brain is begging you to stay dedicated to this dangerously unhealthy mindset. When undergoing treatment for an eating disorder, especially anorexia, you and your counselor may discover a link to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Learn how untreated OCD can be directly linked to eating disorders and how treating one illness may help you recover from the other.

Contrary to popular belief, a person does not develop an eating disorder because they are weak or have no self-control. Instead, an eating disorder is a mental health condition that factors such as genetics or trauma can cause. An individual's quality of life can significantly deteriorate as they experience ongoing stress and even life-threatening complications from an eating disorder. This article will focus on binge eating, the most common eating disorder in the United States, and how treatment can help.

With the new year beginning, diet culture is running more rampant than during any other time of year. Diet culture is the sneaky way health and wellness culture disguises restrictive and obsessive diet and fitness trends that, more often than not, lead to eating disorders, disordered eating, and negative body image. According to the National Eating Disorders Association's (NEDA) "Collegiate Survey Project," 35% of "normal" dieters will progress to pathological dieting, and 20-25% of those within that group will develop some type of eating disorder shortly after. Instead of a rigid set of rules that encourages disordered eating, it is important to cultivate a healthy relationship with food, yourself, and your body.

One of the worst feelings is not being able to sleep at night. You start tossing and turning, you can’t get your mind to “shut off”, you awaken easily, or you’re just too tense with too many things to do to actually get to sleep. For many Americans today, this sleeping problem is quite common. We become stressed out, or overly worked, or simply have health issues that translate into difficulty relaxing and staying asleep.  At the beginning, it may even feel like a few minor changes will fix it - we try going to bed earlier, taking some Tylenol, or even talking to a close friend or family member about our stressors to try and ease some of the discomfort. When these minor solutions don’t work in the long-run, however, it becomes easier to rely on what we feel must work - in many cases, sleeping pills. Even adults who reach out to their family doctor may find that they’re being prescribed sleeping pills as a way to relax - and, if taken exactly as recommended, along with trying holistic practices alongside it, can work well - but if medication is abused, the potential for addiction becomes very apparent.

Color psychology may sound a bit silly, but it’s not - as research has shown just how much of an impact colors can have on our mood and mentality. The colors we wear, the colors that we incorporate in our daily living environments and the foods we eat can have an impact on our perceptions and, in some cases, how we feel. Very Well Mind, a website that publishes information related to cognitive psychology, behavioral therapy, developmental psychology and personality psychology explained that when used in therapeutic settings, colors can have significant therapeutic influences:

If you do some research on addiction recovery treatment options, you’ll likely come across two main categories: traditional treatment and holistic treatment. Traditional treatment options tend to fall along the lines of medication, psychotherapy (also known as “talk therapy”) and similar options. Previous research has shown that these methods are incredibly effective - but as with any treatment approach, there are some gaps that another route, such as holistic treatment, can fill.

When our everyday lives become flooded with worries, responsibilities, and a host of other experiences, it becomes easier than ever to put our health on the back-burner. Why wouldn’t it be? After all, everything else seems to feel more important, to take greater precedence than our own mental/physical/spiritual health. What often happens in these moments, however, is we begin doing things that, rather than contributing positively to our wellbeing, detract from it - and before we know it, we’re engulfed in a lot of unhealthy patterns of behavior. Addiction is just one of many factors that can worsen our health all around - but even if you’ve had trouble making the time for yourself before, you can still change your routines to get back on track. First and foremost, you have to remember that the excuses you make can severely damage your abilities to take care of yourself in ways that are needed; the following are the most common excuses we make to neglect ourselves of healthy food, proper sleep and exercise, positive relationships and more:

Nutrition and exercise are two of the most commonly neglected aspects of health when substance abuse is involved. A few simple drinks after work hours can translate into daily binge drinking, and occasional drug use with friends can eventually turn into nightly intoxication sessions. It feels harmless at the time, but these behaviors form into a dangerous habit that becomes an addiction – and along with addiction comes with crucial areas of our lives that tend to be pushed to the side. If you’re in recovery for addiction, you can probably admit that it’s been more difficult for you to get proper exercise and to eat healthy when substance abuse required so much time and effort. It’s harder to go shopping for healthy, nutritious foods and to schedule in time each week to exercise when our brain has become altered to crave substances constantly. If you feel like you’ve got a long way to go, don’t be disheartened – treatment is just as much about getting your physical health back on track as it is treating the addiction itself.

The American Holistic Health Association (AHHA) explains that holistic health is an approach to life. It emphasizes the connection of the mind, body and spirit – and with this approach, we’re all responsible for maintaining our own levels of wellbeing. Holistic practices in addiction recovery are used to help restore the balance of a person, and they’ve become increasingly popular as Western societies have begun realizing just how much of an impact these practices can have on a person’s wellness. Susan Walter, MBA and current president of AHHA, explained that holistic health is based on several truths:

Have you ever heard of the phrase, “You are what you eat?” There’s a lot of truth to this because the nutrients (or lack thereof) that we get from various foods causes our body to react in different ways. Foods that are good for us – which means they’re high in vital nutrients and minerals – are going to help us function at our best. Naturally, foods that are stripped of quality nutrients are going to make us feel bad both mentally and physically. If you think of your body as a machine – let’s say a car, for example – it’s much like the analogy of putting in the lowest quality of gas versus premium for a car that really needs it. When active addiction is taking up all of our energy, there’s little room for food control – and that’s why recovery is the best time to get back on track. A 2017 review published in the Journal of Traditional Medicine & Clinical Naturopathy explains that food deprivation, unhealthy food choices and excessive weight gain are common outcomes of addiction. Substances like alcohol, however, make it more difficult for what nutrients we are getting to break down, which leads us to nutrient deficiencies. Gastrointestinal issues suppressed appetite and more clearly paint a less-than-healthy picture at the beginning of recovery, but we can turn that around by placing emphasis on our food choices now. Here’s what you should be eating (and avoiding) if you want to get your health in “tip-top” shape:

There are a lot of emotional battles that we have to face in recovery, because sobriety forces us to come face to face with thoughts, feelings and events of our lives that we’ve suppressed for so long. Sometimes sobriety can bring about feelings of depression and anxiety, especially once we’ve started coming to grips with our past actions and how they’ve affected those we love. Whether you’re in the first month or the first year of recovery, self-love is going to be critical – so that you can accept what you can’t change and courageously move forward. Kate Malley, a young woman who has overcome addiction, stated on A Lust for Life, a website that publishes personal stories and articles about mental health, physical health and the soul, explained that once she dove into the hard work of self-care, she became stronger. She stated, “I can tell you that as exhausted as self-care can be – it works – but it takes work, a lot of it…but the payoff is definitely worth it…Your emotions become more stabilized, which was a change I definitely appreciated after so long of a rollercoaster of highs and lows.” The following are some vital components of self-care – and self-love – that can truly transform the way you walk through your journey to recovery.

Even if we’ve been taught the healthiest ways to handle distressing situations, all the lessons we’ve learned can go out in an instant the minute we’re having a bad day. Our blood temperature rises, our face gets hot, we become more irritable or sad, and before we know it, we’re doing something we’ll later come to regret. This happens to all of us at one point or another – but addiction recovery is a vulnerable process and the wrong coping mechanism could lead us into relapse. If you’re ready to take hold of your mental health, it will help to identify what you may be doing that’s not helping you before you can learn what will.