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Five Benefits of Clean Eating

By: Lakeview Health Staff

Published: June 28, 2018

Any type of substance use disorder — including alcohol addiction — routinely leads to nutritional deficiencies that can result in adverse health outcomes. In fact, as individuals become more addicted and the substance takes over more of their life, their nutrition is often one of the first things to fall by the wayside. This is one of the many reasons that at Lakeview Health, we provide nutritional counseling for our patients battling addiction. Although this type of support is necessarily highly specialized — the nutritional issues associated with individual drugs and alcohol vary widely — there are several general approaches that our addiction specialists can provide. Primary among these is counseling patients on the importance of clean eating.

There is little question that there is a direct correlation between good nutrition and addiction recovery. Not only does eating right improve overall mental well-being — a central component of recovery — but it also helps with specific barriers to successful recovery like anxiety and depression and improves an individual’s physical health as well. Sadly, few people realize how important this aspect of rehab can be both early in a patient’s recovery journey and later in the process.

If you or someone you care about is battling addiction and needs support, Lakeview Recovery is here to help. Reach out to our nutrition and addiction specialists online or call us at [Direct] to learn more today.

What Is Clean Eating?

The addiction specialists at Lakeview Health understand that our nutritional services are among the most important components of a long-term recovery plan. Sometimes the hardest part of trying to eat healthily is not knowing how to get started, but did you know there’s a difference between healthy eating and clean eating? Clean eating is making the mindful decision to eat foods that are beneficial to your body. There are many ways to approach eating healthily. But to begin the process of mindful consumption, it is important to understand the benefits of clean eating in particular.

Five Clean Eating Practices and Their Benefits

Eat small frequent meals 5 – 6 times per day. This will help maintain appropriate blood-sugar levels and prevent hunger.
Include lean protein, vegetables, complex carbs, and healthy fats in each meal. All of these play vital roles in the well-being and proper functioning of your body.
Avoid most processed and refined foods such as sugar, candy, soda, and baked goods. Only eat these once in a while… that doesn’t mean once a day! Doing so will allow your body to heal as you continue your recovery journey.
Avoid products with trans fats like doughnuts, breakfast sandwiches, or things containing a lot of butter. Trans fats raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol, which is one of the leading causes of heart disease — a real risk to individuals battling addiction.
Drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Hydration is the most important thing you can do to allow your body to work correctly. Don’t substitute other beverages like sports drinks for water.

One great way to eat clean is by planning your meals, so you spend less energy focusing on your hunger. Click here for meal prep tips and a list of foods you should eat to keep you on track and reach out to Lakeview Health to learn more about how we can help today.