Healthful Eating + Building a Balanced Diet

The truth is that removing alcohol from our lives is only the first step. If we desire to remain alcohol-free, then we must follow this action with a holistic approach to all of the other pieces of our life; a mind-body-spirit approach to staying alcohol-free and building a life we no longer need to escape from.

An important piece to this is diet. A healthful diet can aid our bodies in recovering from the lingering effects of alcohol, fuel us for all of the practices we’re building into our lives, and support a strong body and mind. All of these components are incredibly important in alcohol-free living; it truthfully isn’t enough long term to just “not drink.” Food is medicine in so many ways, and when we eat a balanced diet rich in nutrients, we set ourselves up for success in all areas of our life.

Diet also impacts cravings for alcohol: when our blood sugar is low, we’re more at risk for facing an urge to drink as our bodies know that doing so yields a quick state change and short-term blood sugar increase. Additionally, long term heavy alcohol use puts us at higher risk for frequent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), meaning we may already have blood sugar issues when we remove alcohol. This makes it even more imperative that we pay close attention to diet.

So what does a healthful diet look like? Of course, a trained nutritionist or doctor can help you tailor a diet specific to your needs, based on your history, weight, blood work, etc. But we can also start with some basics.