What Foods You Should and Shouldn’t Eat During a Drug or Alcohol Detox

Diet and nutrition therapies are widely available at many alcohol detox centers to teach patients about foods that can keep them healthy and sober for the rest of their lives. Alcohol strongly affects the way your body metabolizes and uses certain nutrients. For instance, alcohol inhibits the body’s absorption of protein, healthy fats, and essential B vitamins — all of which are vital to maintaining a strong immune system and staving off illness and disease.

Best Foods to Eat When Detoxing From Alcohol

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These programs are offered at professional alcohol rehab facilities like The Recovery Village, and they help make withdrawal a safer and more comfortable process. Contact us today to learn more about detox and treatment programs that can help you overcome withdrawal and begin a healthier, alcohol-free future. Withdrawal from alcohol is different for everyone, and it can last anywhere from a few days to an entire week. The alcohol detox stage (when your body is ridding itself entirely of alcohol) can last even longer, continuing for a few weeks after withdrawal ends. Fortunately, eating a healthy, nutrient-rich diet can help you reduce many of the uncomfortable effects related to alcohol withdrawal and detox.

Other Effective Tips for Alcohol Recovery

This creates a two-fold nutritional problem because even if someone does manage to eat healthfully and get all their nutrients, alcohol prevents them from being fully absorbed. That is why alcohol detox and alcohol withdrawal treatment is administered by medical professionals. Complex carbohydrates stabilize blood sugar levels and provide vitamins, minerals and fibers. These foods take longer to digest, which means they provide energy for a long period of time. Shellfish is known for including a fair amount of zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and iron, all minerals and nutrients that aren’t adequately absorbed by the body during heavy alcohol use.

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Nutrient-Packed Liquids For Alcohol Detox

It is clear that the assumption ‘alcohol burns off completely during cooking’ is a myth. Therefore, careful consideration should be given when consuming dishes prepared with alcohol. When cooking with alcohol, it can also help dissolve fats and oils, creating a balanced and rich texture in food. This also helps release flavor from ingredients that dissolve in fat, enhancing the taste. Alcohol can also be added to a hot pan to lift up the caramelized bits left behind after sautéing aromatics.

Nutrition to Help Your Body Heal in Addiction Recovery

The greatest increase occurred during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn all about this exciting wellness service as a covered benefit of our affordable health alcohol recovery diet insurance plan. By Buddy TBuddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism.

When I’m consistently eating a lot of fat from whole food sources, my sense of well-being soars. Most Americans have been conditioned since childhood to avoid eating fat – or at the very least, to feel guilty about it. Sprouting grains drastically reduces their starch content and increases their nutrient density. I’ve also noticed that I respond well to homemade sourdough bread, which contains enzymes that pre-digest much of the starch.

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  • Having enough protein can help reduce withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, headache, and fatigue.
  • Look for supplements containing NAC if you are having trouble consuming enough whole foods containing cysteine.
  • A separate report released in 2023 from the same agency showed that 72.1 percent of adults who had a substance abuse or mental health problem said they were in recovery.
  • Sprouting grains drastically reduces their starch content and increases their nutrient density.
  • Notably, FeSA@AH-rescued mice showed a significantly decreased loss in body weight, less liver damage and re-regulated hepatic lipid metabolism (Fig. 5b,c) from intoxication.
  • It is not a substitute for food but instead provides energy in the form of calories.
  • You’ll need to be especially careful not to replace alcohol with sugar or caffeine.