Did you know that each sex has specific nutritional needs? Of course, everyone is taught about concepts such as the food pyramid to get proper nutrition. However, little is talked about the nutritional deficiency women can face due to a lack of nutritional education. Being properly nourished makes a major difference in how women recover from addiction and its co-occurring mental health disorders.
That’s why at addiction treatment facilities, such as Painted Desert Recovery, care is taken to teach clients how to meet their nutritional needs. This is done through nutritional therapy, a therapy designed to help clients learn how to nourish their bodies. After completing addiction treatment, clients can take the skills they learn to make healthy choices in their new sober lives.
To further understand why nutritional therapy is so effective, we must first look at the nutritional needs of an average adult woman. It may surprise you just how many essential vitamins and nutrients are lacking in our daily lives.
What Nutritional Needs Do We Have as Women?
As mentioned before, each sex requires different nutritional needs to be met to remain healthy. Women require specific nutrients and vitamins for optimal physical and mental health. This is due to the unique system women have that can allow them to potentially carry children. Of course, not all women can carry children, but the body will still assume it can and leech the appropriate nutrients during the menstrual cycle.
Women will also require different levels of nutrients when pregnant, nursing, or in menopause. Those who are pregnant, for example, are encouraged to eat foods rich in folic acid to prevent neural tube defects in their child. It’s important to check in with a medical professional often to be sure that your nutritional needs are being met.
A few examples of important nutrients women need are:
- Vitamin B-12: Found in dairy and animal protein, this vitamin is important for red blood cell formation and nervous system development and function.
- Omega-3s: These fatty acids found in fish, seeds, and nuts are important for brain and nerve cell health. They also reduce the risk of heart disease.
- Vitamin D: This vitamin is important for mood regulation. It also allows the bones to absorb calcium, promoting bone health. Some foods are now fortified with vitamin D, but it mostly comes from our skin cells synthesizing it from direct sunlight.
- Calcium: Important for bone health, women can get calcium from dark leafy greens and dairy products. Older women especially need calcium as they are prone to developing osteoporosis.
- Iron: This nutrient is essential for red cell production and the transfer of oxygen through the body. It’s primarily found in meat (especially red meat) and legumes. Iron deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency among girls and women.
The Role of Nutrition in Mental Health
Our mental health can worsen and improve based on how well our nutritional needs are met. For example, depression and other mood regulation disorders are commonly present in women. How well said person can recover from their depression may depend on how much vitamin D they have in their system. Women who don’t get enough iron can frequently experience brain fog, a condition that can cause forgetfulness and problems focusing. This can prevent someone from getting the most out of their treatment, prolonging the recovery process.
Nutrition also matters for overall brain health. If we cannot meet our nutritional needs, the brain cannot function correctly. This can lead to a decline in physical and mental health. Not feeling well can distract someone from treatment or even lead them to self-medicating behaviors. It’s especially common for those who are experiencing a lack of energy to abuse stimulants to be active. Despite how normalized it is, requiring increasing amounts of a substance (such as caffeine) to function or feel normal is an addiction.
Understanding your nutritional needs doesn’t just help you recover. It also allows one to stay in recovery by fortifying your mind and body against stress and other addiction triggers.
How Therapy Can Help You Meet Your Nutritional Needs
Nutrition can be complicated, especially for those who never learned what healthy nutrition looks like. In an age of crash diets and body shaming, trying to meet your nutritional needs can come with a lot of judgment and stress. Thankfully, nutritional therapy is a judgment-free zone. It’s not a place where clients are told to stop eating what they enjoy. Instead, it’s a place of education and encouragement to make healthy choices.
For example, clients in nutritional therapy learn about different foods and how they are prepared. It’s common for one to shy away from nutritionally dense foods because they were prepared incorrectly in the past, souring opinions in the present. Experiencing meals that can meet their nutritional needs while being delicious can bridge a healthy relationship with food. Learning how to make such meals yourself builds confidence and gives you the means to control and influence your health.
At Painted Desert Recovery, part of treatment is putting what you have learned into practice. Clients are often shocked at how much better they feel once they begin to change their diet. Addiction treatment takes a lot of energy and focus to be effective. Being able to be properly energized and receptive to professional help is how many clients achieve recovery. It’s understood that some clients may have trauma around food. Nutritional therapy easily pairs with trauma-based therapy to allow clients to heal from their trauma and find joy once more.
It’s okay to need help, especially when it comes to something as important as our nutritional needs. By being open to professional help, clients gain the tools they need for a healthier – and tastier – future.
Receiving the right nutrition and nourishment is vital to having a healthy mind and body. Understanding what you need to stay healthy can be confusing, especially if you are currently in addiction treatment or recovery. Thankfully, there is a therapy designed to help women understand their nutritional needs. Here at Painted Desert Recovery in New Harmony, Utah, clients have access to nutritional therapy. By utilizing this therapy, clients learn how to make healthy food choices and meet their particular nutritional needs. Clients at Painted Desert Recovery can expect comprehensive and quality addiction treatment provided by compassionate staff. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, don’t wait to get help. Call (844) 540-0353 today.