Glutamine repairs gut and liver after alcohol damage

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Gut damage, post-addiction depression and serotonin issues related to liver and gut damage are well-known obstacles in spite of managing to quit alcohol. However these health troubles are almost unbearable for many, because now the digestive and mood balancing biochemical markers really become obvious in daily life, when not numbing out from the mental and physical discomfort on the regular with alcohol. Researchers are finding that L-Glutamine plays a critical role in healthy digestion and brain function. Glutamine has been shown in studies to protect against mucosal breakdown in the gut. There are even studies looking into how glutamine can aid in reducing side-effects of chemotherapy treatments.

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Cinnamon Essential Oil To Stabilize Bloodsugar

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One of the first things, that will always be affected prior to the relapse, will be a blood sugar fluctuation. Blood sugar is a driver for other biochemicals parameters, such as serotonin and beta-endorphins, which drive addictive behaviors. So what is the takeaway lesson here? Understanding that managing your blood sugar is a constant focus point throughout recovery. Addicts have a very low stress tolerance level, and this translates to being exceptionally sensitive to blood sugar imbalances. 

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Do you need to cut out sugar?

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Sugar, sugar, sugar. Everyone is talking about sugar these days, like a single grain hidden under the carpet will make you drop dead in plain sight. Let's sum up some research that makes for this widespread obsession with the white villain. Just one to two servings of sugary beverages per day may raise your risk of heart disease by 35 percent, diabetes by 25 percent, and stroke by 15 percent. Cutting added sugars can improve health in as little as 10 days, reducing triglycerides by 33 points, and lowering blood sugar by 53 percent. This all seems like the perfect case to drop that sugar like it's hot. Or does it?

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Natural born addicts: When mother passes on drug addiction

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A study of two opioids used to wean babies born in withdrawal from drugs their mothers have taken shows that buprenorphine is superior to methadone in reducing duration of treatment and length of hospital stay. While buprenorphine is often prescribed for pregnant women who are undergoing addiction therapy, a study in Journal of pediatrics is the first report of the drug being used to treat newborns in clinical practice.

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A hangover = an acute nutritional deficiency (+top 3 remedies to combat candida)

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Alcohol and drugs deplete the body of B-complex vitamins, zinc, magnesium and other nutrients. A hangover is mainly an acute nutritional deficiency. When we begin drinking alcohol the nutrient deficiencies worsen, and this further increases the cravings for alcohol or sugar. The body can run on alcohol although it is a poor fuel, as it wrecks our body balance over time. Often we will find ourselves going after carbs or sugar when cutting down on alcohol. Alcohol and sugar addiction is closely tied, why it is not uncommon to find food addiction issues surface after alcohol rehab. The biochemical and nutritional aspects of addiction, are still not widely understood in the medical community. Some of the major nutritional causes for alcohol addiction and cravings include nutrient deficiencies, toxic metal excess, adrenal gland exhaustion, blood sugar issues and  yeast infection in the intestines.

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My 4 Favorite Fatty Foods For Addiction Recovery

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Post addiction, chronic inflammation is the key health concern that needs to be addressed. Inflammation of both brain and body is the trigger of a wide range of health issues in recovery - including depression, cravings, hormonal imbalances, bone density issues and low fertility. And let's not forget the often notorious rapid weight gain that happens after beating an addiction due to severe metabolic dysfunction following. This can be the final straw for many, as they struggle through addiction recovery. It is a well-known fact the addicts already have a poor body image, and now weight gain happens. Metabolic dysfunction and the hormones involved in inflammation, such as thyroid, estrogen-testosterone balance, insulin and cortisol, determine how our body reacts in addiction recovery. Another low-cal diet won't matter here, as our body is so out of wack it is not able to enter the  "fatburn zone" due to chronic inflammation and hormone imbalance. So, which 4 foods help to provide the distinctly different types of fats needed in recovery to repair hormones, bones, brain and body?

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How do you know when you're eating right for your body type?

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Ask yourself: Does what you eat today make you feel good tomorrow? If not, it's time to consider getting back on track to restore your hunger and appetite switch, in order to actually FEEL good in the skin you are in, and not only look good.

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Eliminating alcohol cravings with Niacin

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Last week we went over the specific aspects of the form of B3 vitamin called niacinamide - not to confuse which Niacin. Both forms of vitamin B3 have important therapeutic functions for recovering addicts; especially concerning alcohol and serotonin-mimicking drugs. Today we will be focusing on Niacin. Many of you will know, that this is the form that causes the intense flushing sensation in the skin. While it is completely harmless, it is important to know what to expect reaction wise, as this is a quite distinct skin-tingling rush. The niacin flush helps to increase circulation, detoxification and nutrient absorption, so the flush is a welcome reaction. 

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Niacinamide reduces liver damage in alcohol addiction.

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Niacinamide is a specific form of vitamin B3 that has shown to address many of the issues addicts need to rebalance post addiction - and a key nutrient for alcohol addiction recovery. It specifically targets liver damage, blood sugar, brain health, rapid aging, aggressiveness, anxiety and sleep. So how much should you take? And how does it work at a biochemical level exactly?

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4 Factors To Reverse HPA-Dysfunction

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After en addiction it's safe to say, that we have experienced a traumatic level of stress - psychologically as well as physically. The thing is, that just because we no longer expose ourselves to the original stressors, we often get caught in the negative stress-response feedback loop which is the underlying biochemical cause of what we call "Chronic stress". When we get caught in this negative feedback loop, we continually pump cortisol into our system. So how do we break the loop?

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The 6 Key Probiotics Needed For Optimal Mental + Physical Health

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Our gut is the primary driver of optimal health. This is where nutrient breakdown and assimilation happens. We know that we are not what we eat, rather what we absorb. Eating "healthy" means nothing if our gut is damaged. Alcohol, drugs and too much sugar, coffee and chemicals incl. gmo and pesticide-laden foods will sooner or later compromise our gut health, leading to a variety of symptoms. Surface symptoms that we may not link back to our gut, as the primary driver behind the dysfunction we are dealing with.

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TO DETOX OR NOT TO DETOX AFTER ADDICTION

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After breaking the chains of addictions, we often find ourselves seeking out other ways to "cleanse" our body+soul from our destructive past. We long for the simple, perfect life. We want to start over. Whether we want to admit it or not - the pull of the quick-fix and rigid way of living in a detox, taps right into or black-white addictive thinking pattern. On the flip-side, one could argue for that it resets our body, and breaks the junkfood addiction that many of us also struggle with. So what to do?

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3 Things To Help Deep Sleep

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Lack of sleep is one of the most typical issues I get asked about. We live in a stress-filled world, where we are constantly exposed to nervous system overstimulation through our electronic devices and smart phones, wifi and EMF.  Add to that, it is well-known that addictions and eating disorders cause major damage to the sleep related neurohormones, serotonin and melatonin. Luckily once you have weaned off drugs, you can reset your sleep cycle. Read on to get my favorite 3 remedies to help the body get back into deep sleep mode in 3 months or less....

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Why weightloss and appetite suppressant drugs make you fatter.

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Because you can't stick to a 1500 calorie model-starvation diet, doesn't make you a food addict or a weak will-powered individual - it makes you human. 

Being hungry is normal - you eat and it goes away. Being hungry and not being a size 2, is not a reason to ask your doctor for speed, because you "have difficulty focusing...".  The stimulant class of medication includes widely used drugs such as Tenuate, Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine.  Stimulants work by increasing dopamine and often also endorphins in the brain. So what's the downside?

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The biochemical breakdown of food addiction

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More of us than ever struggle with eating - whether it be obsessing over the latest diet trend and turning it into a substitute religion, or it be craving food beyond or hunger. Not all of us are prone to food addiction. It depends whether we have the underlying biochemical vulnerability for this AND it gets activated. The 2 key chemicals involved in binge eating are serotonin and endorphin. 

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Are you Relaxed or Relapsed? +FREE Chemical Calorie Guide

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In recovery we reach a point, where we want to relax a bit more. We get tired of structure and the rigidness of treatment, accountability and showing up everyday without numbing out via our preferred drug of choice. Many books talk about intuitive eating and "just listening to your body". And while I agree with this concept at large, the crucial issue here is, that timing matters for this concept to work in reality. It is far to easy to go from relaxed to relapsed - especially when it concerns disordered eating behaviors. Simply because every day we make choices surrounding foods, whereas with drugs and alcohol it is cold-turkey for a recovering addict. There are especially 3 things that can make it difficult to "listen to your body"...

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Guess What Drug 2 Handfuls of Cashews Mimick?

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Prozac. That's right, 2 handfuls of cashews are the therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of Prozac. Consider that antidepressant work by by affecting serotonin. However, with time antidepressants have been found to actually DRAIN brain serotonin and deplete much needed B vitamins - why suicidal rates actually increase on antidepressant ironically. 2 handfuls of cashews provides two thousand milligrams of tryptophan. Tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin, which will work as well as prescription antidepressants and without later side effects of draining existing serotonin levels! 

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Raw vs. Cooked Food

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In response to last week's article on the energetics of food, I want to answer a question I get all the time from clients, "should I be eating raw, isn't that superior in nutrient contents to cooked foods?'. The answer is it depends - on your body's current state of health. You need to determine the vessel in which the fuel goes into, before mindlessly thinking that one-size-fits-all fuel will automatically be the best.  Energetically, raw foods are very airy, energizing and "elevating". They are NOT nurturing, grounding or calming. This means, if you are sluggish, heavy and toxic as many of us are, who have been living off to much chemical laden take-away stuff, then going raw can be a God's sent to restore energy and vibrancy. However, through an addiction lens, raw foods is not ideal for making out the majority of your meals in nutrition in recovery. The very essence of anyone struggling with an addiction or disordered eating is that the air element is out of whack. In Western science terms, the air element refers to our central nervous system. This means, you want to eat to feel more grounded, calm and connected - not eat to feel even more airy and disconnected, which is what living off a raw diet will do, if your air element is out of balance.

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