Teen Addiction Treatment Center Utilizes Cutting Edge Nutrition
Teen addiction treatment center, Newport Academy.
By: Chris Smith, Executive Chef, Newport Academy
At Newport Academy, our teen residents inevitably come through with particular dietary needs, culinary aversions and insatiable cravings for certain foods. Most notably and especially true in the fledgling days of recovery, addicts and alcoholics have a particular craving for carbohydrates. In a different setting they would be filling their coffers with junk and other processed food items that are full of preservatives, stabilizers, and even synthetic carbohydrates that send blood glucose levels all over the charts. In other words they tend to binge on junk food until their craving is satisfied then, after the effect wears off, they self-deprecate. I believe this is especially detrimental to teens who are trying to learn new coping methods; allowing them to have unrestricted access to such items is unhealthy and detrimental to their recovery program as it perpetuates addictive behavior. That said, as our noted Eating Disorder Specialist, Evelyn Tribole stated, “We don’t want to demonize food or the eating process for an already vulnerable population,” Thus at Newport Academy, we strive to have the most healthy and wholesome diet of any Treatment Center while not restricting patients from their favorite foods.
I attempt to make all manner of items “in-house”, including but not limited to bread, pastas, pastries, pies and cakes, and cookies using only the most wholesome and organic when available ingredients that we can find. In moderation both our Nutritional Specialist, Dr. Jeff Fortuna and Eating Disorder Specialist, Evelyn Tribole both agree that treats like these are not only ok to eat but even have minor health benefits especially in the mental arena. Spices such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and others are all scientifically proven to have high levels beneficial nutrients and natural chocolate has extremely high levels of antioxidants. Not only that, making food from scratch eliminates many ancillary ingredients from a recipe, keeping out unwanted toxins and byproducts from the body as it detoxes ; why add toxins to an already compromised renal and hepatic system if it I easily avoidable?
Another aspect of our food program that directly relates to the previous statement is regarding wholesome cooking and its health benefits, as well as cooking and how it relates to family dynamic. As a Chef, I feel truly blessed to be able to go pick fresh herbs from outside my kitchen or grab a couple of tomatoes from the plants that grow just inside the front gate. Teaching adolescents where food comes from and that it is not just the package of potato chips or the Big Mac that we are used to is a life goal of mine and a lost cultural aspect of the American family. We are so used to expedited, super sized meals that we have lost the family dynamic that many addicted adolescents crave and need. We offer cooking classes, weekly gardening demonstrations, and family style sit down meals in order to plant the seed of family. We offer weekly demonstrations on cooking and gardening and encourage all residents to participate in order to perpetuate a “farm-to-table” from of mind; eat healthy are eat sustainable are words to live by.
Teaching the residents that healthy carbohydrate consumption is both physically and mentally beneficial is paramount to the Newport Academy food program and as Executive Chef I feel it is my responsibility to act as a liaison between you the reader, and the goings on of our culinary exploits here at Newport Academy. I will now be writing a weekly food and nutrition blog in concert with Dr. Jeff Fortuna aptly dubbed, Edible Recovery, in which we will attempt to keep you up to date with the latest on addiction recovery, allow access to healthy recipes and cooking tips, and write dynamic and informative articles regarding recovery and the addictive brain and how nutrition is a direct influence on both of these aspects. Down the line we hope to have input from such specialists as Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. David Smith, Evelyn Tribole and others who are mastheads in their respective fields thus bringing a sense of confluence and understanding to the emerging and exciting field of addiction recovery.
To read more from Dr. Amen about a healthy brain, click here: www.amenclinics.com
To read more about teen addiction treatment, click here: www.newport-academy.com
Tags: teen addiction, teen nutrition, Teen Rehab
thanks for that