Everyone knows that diet and exercise play a critical role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But these things also play an important role in healing the body from substance misuse. Both diet and exercise provide mental and physical benefits that can play a crucial role in restoring your body and mind from the toll that addiction has taken. However, diet and exercise are not enough on their own to truly heal the body from addiction.

It’s important that while you’re healing from addiction, you also work on mind and spiritual connections as well. This is a crucial part of healing emotionally and mentally. While this process can take time and dedication, it will be well worth it in the long run and will ensure that you enjoy full and lasting healing as you live your newly sober life. This is something that we can help you learn more about at The Kimberly Center. 

What Benefits Do Diet and Exercise Provide in Recovery?

While diet and exercise alone aren’t the sole answer to healing in recovery, there are some benefits that they both provide that can aid in this process. When you’re engaging in drug or alcohol use over an extended period of time, your body will become deficient in certain vitamins and minerals that are necessary for important bodily processes and organ function. But through eating the right nutritious foods, you can begin to replenish these important vitamins. It can help to work with a nutritionist.

The nutritionist can perform tests to identify exactly what your levels are and what you’re deficient in. They can then work with you to come up with a diet plan that best fits your individual needs.

The phrase “you are what you eat” definitely has truth to it. When you fuel your body with good, nutritious foods, you’re going to feel better mentally and physically. You’ll likely be less stressed and better able to handle challenges throughout the day. This is incredibly important, especially in early recovery.

Exercise is just as important. Exercise not only helps you to maintain a healthy weight but can lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease and many other issues.

In addition, when you exercise, you get your heart rate up, and your body releases endorphins. These are feel-good hormones that are released in the brain that can help you feel a rush of pleasure. This can also help you to destress and improve your mood. When you’re feeling your best mentally, you’ll be better equipped to handle obstacles you experience in recovery.

What, Besides Diet and Exercise, Is Needed to Heal the Body From Addiction?

Mind and spiritual connections also play an important role in the recovery journey. When you’ve been engaging in substance misuse for an extended period of time, you often experience a sense of detachment. Substance misuse can keep one from being fully present in the moment. This is why reconnection is necessary.

Part of this process is reconnecting your body and mind and centering yourself. A great way to do this is through practicing yoga. There are a lot of different ways that yoga can be practiced, but you don’t need to do anything too fancy.

Start by finding a quiet place to sit at. This can be someplace indoors or outdoors. Simply close your eyes and allow yourself to be fully present. You can focus on a particular “mantra” if you want, or you can allow yourself to just exist.

Meditation can also be a helpful tool in reconnecting your body and mind. It can help you to become more in tune with yourself mentally and physically. This is also a great way to reduce stress, identify how you’re feeling, and become more centered.

How Can Therapy Help Me Heal From Addiction?

At The Kimberly Center, we believe that long-term medications are not the best solution when it comes to healing from addiction. Instead, we prioritize effective methods like 12-Step support group meetings, individual therapy, and group therapy. These methods are not only important during the initial stages of treatment but can provide a multitude of benefits even months and years into one’s recovery.

A huge aspect of healing from addiction is understanding how and why you fell into substance misuse in the first place. This is what is referred to as the root cause of addiction. It is crucial that you identify the root cause, find a way to address it, and begin to heal from it. Without doing so, you are likely to fall back into substance misuse following treatment.

Some people can easily point to what caused them to turn to substance misuse. It could be a result of a mental health disorder, trauma, stress, or many other factors. For other people, identifying this root cause can be more difficult. This is why therapy can be truly helpful.

Both diet and exercise are crucial for our mental and physical health as well as our overall well-being. They also play an important role in recovering from addiction. However, diet and exercise alone are not enough to heal your body from addiction. Traditional treatment, including 12-Step support group meetings, individual therapy, and family therapy, can help you recover from addiction. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction to drugs or alcohol, our professional and caring team at The Kimberly Center can help. Don’t wait; give us a call at (855) 452-3683 today. A member of our team will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.