A Low Glycemic Diet in Recovery

Why is a low glycemic diet in recovery help to stay on track? Maybe the following sounds familiar… So you’ve detoxed off of heroin or have abstained from alcohol and are working a healing recovery program of some sort. Yet, there are some days that are better than others as far as your mood goes, despite having done everything you were asked to do, correctly. Early recovery can feel a lot like early childhood again. We need guidance in order to make healthy changes and responsible decisions, yet we also have impulses and a wide range of emotions that change frequently while our brains and our bodies are still healing. We might have initially thought that detoxing off of whatever substances we were on would be enough to lead to happier lives. Over time, we began to understand that there were many layers and factors that contributed to our lives becoming as unmanageable as they had become. Even a simple task like grocery shopping could lead us to a drunken night without any thought or prior intentions to drink that night. The problem is that while we were drinking or using, most of us weren’t paying attention to the foods we were eating. One of the more interesting topics in regards to recovery is diet. When we eat high carb foods or foods that are high in sugar, our blood sugar spikes.

Why a Low Glycemic Diet is Important in Recovery

A Low Glycemic Diet takes into account the way certain foods break down sugar and impact the brain and body during the process. After our bodies have broken down the sugar with insulin, our blood sugar drops to a normal range. When we consistently eat these foods, our blood sugar spikes and drops frequently, which can cause a change in mood, as well as physical symptoms like feeling shaky or lightheaded. Sometimes poor eating habits can turn into more troubling diseases such as diabetes or hypoglycemia. By cutting out foods that are heavy in carbohydrates and sugar, we start to take control of some of the external factors that may be contributing to rapid mood swings and instability in our emotional lives. Sugar stimulates the pleasure center of our brain by releasing dopamine after we consume it. Blood sugar and dopamine are the reasons why even the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous suggests to carry a piece of candy with us while we are early in sobriety. Consuming too much alcohol – which breaks down into sugar in the bloodstream – can lead to the same issues that over-consumption of sugar and carbohydrates can lead to. When we decide to eat a low carb diet with low sugar, our glucose levels reach a normal, stable level. It’s important to speak with a nutritionist, as well as a doctor, before deciding to make any drastic dietary changes on your own. Lifestyle changes like diet and exercise can help us to gain self-control, become physically and emotionally healthier, and have more stable thinking patterns and mood. While these two things should never replace medications or therapy without clinical guidance, they can only serve to enhance our lives and to make treatment and recovery more successful. The fact remains that you are what you eat. Changing your diet could be the next right thing to change to assure long term sobriety and long lasting happiness. Following a Low Glycemic Diet is one of the best ways to control sugar and carbohydrate intake to properly regulate insulin levels and improve mood. Iris Healing® is a holistic rehab center where empathy and spirituality lead to recovery through the healing of mind, body and spirit. Give us a call at (844)663-4747 to know more about what can we do for you or your beloved one to find the right path to recovery.