Nutrition

If one would drop into an addiction treatment program in any city in North America you would expect to find counselors and 12-Step meetings. Today, this is what is called 'treatment. And yet, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Research findings from basic and clinical neuroscience have shown addiction to be a complex disease of the brain and behavior from which people can recover with treatment, as is the case with most medical diseases.”
(http://www.nida.nih.gov/Funding/Budget08.html)
 
If addiction is a disease of the brain, where is the focus on brain repair? Members of the Alliance for Addiction Solutions use some of the same psycho-spiritual practices as conventional treatment programs, but in addition give the brain the nourishment it is missing. The brain uses that nourishment to create more neurotransmitters, the chemicals that ferry messages of reward and pleasure from one nerve to another. In addition, the brain begins to rebuild the receptor sites that receive the messenger molecules, increasing the transmission of positive messages and thus eliminating cravings for drugs or addictive behaviors.
 
Happily, understanding is growing that each client has a unique biochemistry that has to be assessed and corrected if recovery is to be swift and long lasting. Those new to the concept of applying nutritional science to addiction treatment are lucky that treatment pioneers in the United States and Canada have been successful at it for decades.
 
Many of those pioneers are members of this Alliance and are generously sharing their wealth of knowledge with the public in a concerted effort to bring a new level of success to the field of addiction treatment.
 
If you are a treatment provider who already uses nutrition in your program, this website offers you a chance to network with others who are equally inspired by the impact of nutrition on recidivism and retention. Perhaps you give dietary advice or use oral supplements and would like to know more about intravenous formulas and protocols. Perhaps you would like more information on safe detoxification of patients from benzodiazepenes or opiates. We hope that you will let us know if there is something you'd like to see here that we don't yet offer.
 
How do nutrition-wise providers organize treatment? First, we teach clients what to eat and how to prepare it to correct the biochemical abnormalities that both cause and are caused by addictive disorders. Clients learn to avoid white sugar, white flour, white rice, and processed foods of all kinds. They are encouraged to consume protein at each meal to rebuild neurotransmitters, and lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and beans to supply the B vitamins and other vitamins, minerals, and beneficial fats needed for a healthy nervous system.
 
Second, according to results from questionnaires, history-taking, and in some cases lab tests, we may offer the client oral supplements on a daily basis, divided into two or three doses.
 
Third, we may offer intravenous nutrients titrated according to need.
 
Clients who want to feel well, think clearly, and eliminate their cravings use food and supplementary nutrients for the fuel needed on the road to recovery.
 
You may be wondering where pharmaceuticals fit in to this scenario. Our programs embrace clients who have been on multiple drugs, sequentially and simultaneously, for many years. This is the nature of addiction treatment in today's world. Yet we know that the human body has no known deficiency of Valium or Ritalin or Prozac, but does have a deficiency of endorphins, GABA, dopamine, and serotonin. And, we know that ingesting amino acids like D-phenylalanine, GABA, L-tyrosine, and L-tryptophan rebuild the body's stores of these four missing neurotransmitters. After a matter of weeks or months, the original symptoms of neurotransmitter distress are permanently eliminated without side effects or a new addiction to dangerous pharmaceuticals.
 
In a drug treatment program based on Alliance principles, an important aspect of treatment is detoxification from pharmaceutical drugs while regenerating brain function with neuronutrition and a pro-recovery diet. People may enter our programs feeling they need prescription drugs, but our goal is to see them exit clean and sober without the need for any pharmaceuticals other than those for treating physical or mental diseases beyond addiction. Often, even those diseases are positively impacted by the improvement in nutrition and life style:
 
" I came here on five medications that I am no longer on, that I thought I would be on for the rest of my life " says M.R., a severely recidivistic alcoholic who reports that intravenous and oral nutrients helped him stop taking high blood pressure medication, two benzodiazepenes and two antidepressants.

A PRO-RECOVERY DIET:

The most important meal of the day is every meal of the day for someone in recovery. According to Julia Ross, MA, Executive Director of Recovery Systems in Mill Valley, California, a skipped meal is the number one cause of relapse.
 
Since the brain and nervous system use the amino acids that compose protein for manufacturing neurotransmitters that program our moods and appetites, high-protein foods are the most important element of those three or more meals a day. Alliance programs encourage clients to keep protein-rich snacks on them at all times, so they will never be hungry. Peanuts, tree nuts, cheese sticks or cottage cheese, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and jerky are easily available even at gas stations for a quick biochemical energy pickup and are far more nutritious than a costly energy drink that offers little more than caffeine and sugar.
 
A Pro-Recovery Diet is colorful! Eat a rainbow every day, with green, red, yellow, and purple foods. Avoid what's white (sugar, flour, rice). If you eat a potato make it a baked potato and eat the brown skin where many nutrients are hidden.
 
One of the most important nutrients in a Pro-Recovery Diet is a group of vitamins called the B complex. A deficiency of B vitamins is closely linked to the spectrum of emotional problems among addicts from irritability to psychosis. B vitamins are found in whole grains like brown rice and 100% whole grain baked goods, dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, chard, and mustard greens, brewer's yeast, nuts, seeds, and animal-based foods such as dairy, fish, meat, and poultry.
 
Another crucial addition to a Pro-Recovery Diet are the right kind of fats, called omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in deep-sea fish oil, especially salmon and sardines. Another source is flax seed, which can be ground and added to meals. The omega-3 fatty acids help relieve depression and a myriad of other negative emotions. They also build healthy brain cells and encourage the production of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that is deficient in people who crave stimulants. Apart from their use in addiction treatment, they protect us against heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

SOME OF THE KEY SUPPLEMENTS USED IN A NUTRITION-BASED TREATMENT PROGRAM:

Most addicts are significantly depleted in many nutrients and benefit from supplementation with vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids. The most crucial nutrients for early recovery, however, are amino acids.
 
Amino Acids: Fragments of protein. There are 22 amino acids in food, but, for the treatment of addictive disorders, we are most interested in supplementing five to eight of them. Each of these amino acids influences the activity of a particular neurotransmitter that directly affects cravings for a specific drug.
 
L-Tryptophan and 5-HTP (5-hydroxy tryptophan) are used to manufacture serotonin, the brain’s natural antidepressant. Serotonin deficiency symptoms: depression, self-deprecation, irritability, panic, anxiety, compulsive thoughts and behaviors, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, sleep disorders, seasonal affective disorder, cravings worse in the afternoon or evening, sensitivity to heat, minimal sense of humor.
 
Cravings: sweets and starches; uses nicotine, marijuana, and alcohol for relaxing and comfort when stressed; Prescribed SSRI drugs like Lexapro, Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac or SNRI drugs like Effexor or Cymbalta.
 
GABA is used to augment the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma amino butyric acid), the anti-stress chemical.
 
GABA deficiency symptoms: anxiety, tension—emotional and physical—and feeling overwhelmed by stress.
 
Cravings: carbohydrates, nicotine, marijuana, or alcohol to relax when stressed.
Prescribed tranquilizers like Valium, Neurontin, Xanax, and Ativan.
 
D-Phenylalanine (fee nil al a neen) extends the life of pain-relieving chemicals called endorphins. (L-phenylalanine is a form that stimulates the nervous system). D-phenylalanine is a powerful pain reliever without being a stimulant. It is available online. Most health food stores sell a mixed form called DL-Phenylalanine.

Don't take D- or DL-Phenylalanine if you have melanoma, Grave's disease, or phenylketonuria (PKU). Be cautious about taking Phenylalanine if you have migraines, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, high blood pressure, or manic depression (bipolar disorder).

Endorphin deficiency symptoms: crying easily even over commercials on television, chronic pain, emotional fragility, particularly sensitive to pain.
 
Cravings: Numbing foods like sweets and starches, uses substances like nicotine, marijuana, heroin, or alcohol to numb feelings.
Prescribed pain relievers like Vicodin.
 
L-Tyrosine (tie row seen) is used to manufacture catecholamines (cat a coal a meens) like dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine. These neurotransmitters cause us to wake up in the morning alert and refreshed with a clear mind, able to concentrate and focus on our goals.

Don't take L-tyrosine if you have had melanoma, Grave's Disease, or phenylketonuria (PKU). Be cautious about taking L-tyrosine if you have migraines, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, high blood pressure, or manic depression (bipolar disorder).
 
Catecholamine deficiency symptoms: fatigue, unfocused, lack of motivation, depression, apathy, feeling of boredom but no energy to do anything more interesting, possibly diagnosed as “attention deficit disorder” (ADD).
 
Cravings: whatever will ramp up the nervous system; sweets and starches for the quick rise in blood sugar and temporary stimulation, brain stimulants like caffeine or aspartame, and stimulating drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine; May also use tobacco, marijuana, opiates, or alcohol as stimulants; chooses risky sports and activities such as gambling or unsafe sex to raise catecholamine levels to feel more alive.
Prescribed Ritalin, Wellbutrin, or Adderall.
 
L-Glutamine is a perfect fuel for the whole brain, balancing blood sugar levels to maintain energy and clear thinking.

Be cautious about taking L-glutamine if you have manic depression (bipolar disorder). While low doses of L-glutamine may relieve bipolar depression, in approximately 50% of bipolar cases normal doses of L-glutamine can trigger mania.
 
Blood sugar deficiency symptoms: irritability, shakiness, weakness, dizziness, especially if too many hours have passed since the previous meal.
 
Cravings: whatever gives quick relief to low blood sugar, like sweets, starches, and alcohol.
 

Thanks to Julia Ross, MA, author, The Mood Cure (Penguin, 2004) and The Diet Cure (Penguin, 2000) for her contributions to this synopsis.

For specific suggestions on dosages for these and other nutrients and for information on a Pro-Recovery Diet see:

• Cass, Hyla, MD, Natural Highs. Avery, 2002.
• DesMaisons, Kathleen, PhD, Potatoes Not Prozac. Pocket Books, 2001.
• Gant, Charles, MD, End Your Addiction Now (Warner, 2002)
• Mathews-Larson, Joan, PhD, Depression-Free, Naturally. Ballantine, 1999.
• Mathews-Larson, Joan, PhD, Seven Weeks to Sobriety. Fawcett Columbine, 1997.
• Miller, Merlene and Miller, David PhD, Staying Clean and Sober: Complementary and Natural Strategies for Healing the Addicted Brain. Woodland, 2005.
• Ross, Julia, The Diet Cure. Penguin, 2000.
• Ross, Julia, The Mood Cure. Penguin, 2004

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