Addiction Nutrition: The Healing Power of Food By Victoria Abel ’93, M.A., M.N.T.
s soon as I graduated from Prescott College in 1993, I went right into the counseling field, becoming a therapist at a world renowned treatment center at the age of 23. I got my training on my feet and wouldn’t have had it any other way. From there, I specialized in working in eating disorders and dual diagnosis (clients with both a chemical addiction and another diagnosis such as an anxiety disorder or PTSD). In 2003, my daughter became critically sick with respiratory illnesses. Rejecting the chemical cocktails with terrifying side effects the hospitals wanted her on, we turned to nutrition and naturopathic medicine. At our first appointment, the new doctor took her off all gluten and dairy products. Almost overnight, she was breathing better and could even run a little. I was hooked on the healing power of food. I decided to get second master’s degree, this time in Nutrition Therapy. It seemed natural to combine my two areas of interest, so I created The Center for Addiction Nutrition in Prescott, Ariz. Addiction nutrition is the science of diet and health directly related to helping those with chemical and process addictions. Though relatively new to the addiction treatment field, addiction nutrition is a fast-growing and dynamic addition to present treatment modalities. Recognizing the role of the body in recovery through nutrition, exercise, wilderness experiences, yoga, and acupuncture solidifies and validates the changes clients are making psychologically. As an instructor at Prescott College in the Human Development department, I can share the knowledge I have in both fields, psychology and human health. In the classes I teach, such as Addiction and Recovery, I can integrate holistic health components such as supplementation and whole foods healing. My students are able to come to the treatment centers where I work as an Addiction Nutritionist and tour facilities, meet with staff, and even get in on the cooking class that I teach. They get cutting-edge information on how clients can be helped through nutritional therapy, which results in: faster drug and alcohol
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detoxification; increased healing time of the brain and GI damage from drugs and alcohol; and decrease in relapse rates. They learn techniques for treating depression and anxiety with food and gather general nutrition information everyone should know in order to stay healthier, longer. Substance abuse and poor nutrition often go hand in hand, with one issue exacerbating the other. These nutrient imbalances can often make cravings for alcohol and drugs intensify, and can worsen depression and anxiety. In the five years that I have been a Nutrition Therapist, I have seen the incredible power of food almost daily. One 19-year-old client, Andrew, came to me emaciated from his five years of IV heroin and prescription opiate use. He was severely depressed and was having trouble staying awake. He didn’t eat regularly, and when he did, it was mostly candy, fast food, and soda. His bowels were working on average two times a week. His blood work came back with severe anemia and very high blood sugar. Andrew was leery of “the food lady,” but he gave me a chance—and he was able to change his life. We first shifted him from $1 pizzas and soda to eating protein (eggs, beans, chicken, fish) three times a day, drinking three-quarters of a gallon of water slowly, and introducing vegetables five times a day as well as whole grains such as quinoa. I put him on four different supplements. The most important supplement for Andrew was vitamin C. The prescription opiates that he was taking caused internal damage from gastrointestinal lesions. He was bleeding internally, and we had to give him a high daily dose of liquid vitamin C to counteract this injury. He also took Omega 3 fatty acids, L-glutamine, and a B-complex. The first thing that Andrew noticed was his energy. Instead of falling asleep in his counseling groups, he could stay awake and alert. He also started to gain weight and could go to the gym. His bowels came back to daily functioning in about six days, and he rated his anxiety as a two out of 10 (10 being most severe), which was a first for Andrew in six years. His blood sugar came down to almost a normal range by the next month, and he is 18 months sober as I write this. Many of my clients can find strength in their new and long term recovery by using their “daily medicine” of food intake. In fact, three of my former clients have even gone on to get their master’s degree in Nutrition Therapy, and two have come to work with me as interns. In the addiction treatment field, even the most widely accepted methods of treatment can result in a relapse rate of over 85 per-