By Darlene Kvist, MS, LN, CNS

Spirituality and cravings
In Minnesota, the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) model has been the cornerstone of treatment for over fifty years. While attending a conference sponsored by the University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing last year, our ears perked up when one of the presenters emphasized that the primary focus of the AA model lies in the spiritual aspect of recovery. The spiritual concept of letting go and turning it to a higher power helps calm the mind and control cravings. He went on to say that the small percentages of those who recover are the ones who continue to practice the spiritual concepts of the twelve steps. I know this was the emphasis when my daughter went through the Hazelden program last January.

However, humans are made up of a body and a brain in addition to spirit. To emphasize only one third of whom we are as human beings limits the scope of recovery. Our spirits are housed in a body with certain structural and nutritional needs. This body is run by an operating system, our brain, which needs a precise combination of chemicals (neurotransmitters), hormones and nutrients to run smoothly. At Nutritional Weight and Wellness, we take this approach when helping our clients.

Biochemical Approach to Cravings
We have been trained to look at the biochemical aspects of recovery. As nutritionists working with clients on a daily basis, we continually see the need for a more holistic approach to recovery that includes not only the spiritual, but methods to balance brain chemistry and nourish the body as well. Often, we find that the body and brain must be balanced before any real spiritual growth can occur. Those in recovery may find it easier to control cravings when they include exercise, bodywork, good nutrition, and nutritional supplements as part of their program, in addition to ongoing spiritual work..

Twenty-eight days in treatment at a place like Hazelden is just the first step on a long road to recovery. It is enough time to flush chemicals from your system, nourish your body with wholesome foods, and discover spirituality. If you are truly blessed while there, you will also experience feeling the true meditative state we have all been genetically programmed to seek - the feeling of calm alertness our survival has depended on throughout human history. At Nutritional Weight and Wellness, we call this feeling a "sense of well-being."

After treatment you are thrust into the world again - even if you choose a halfway house as my daughter did. The serenity of Hazelden is replaced by the realities of coping with life. Now you are faced with the task of learning to deal with feelings of fatigue, depression, irritation, pressure, or any other uncomfortable feelings without resorting to the addictive substances from your past. As your body and mind are thrust back into the real world, the meditative, spiritual practices learned in recovery often get relegated to only a small portion of your day. Now is a helpful time to look at the other two thirds of who you are, so you can experience the calmness and alertness necessary to avoid relapse.

Because of our long history of using a biochemical approach to help people recover from cravings, it was eye opening to observe the behaviors of my daughter and the women she lived with at the halfway house. Most of them smoked excessively and relied on caffeine from cola or coffee to provide the altered state they had previously sought with addictive substances. Another obvious behavior among these women was their excess consumption of refined carbohydrates (cereal, bread, muffins, sugar, rice, pasta, popcorn, and candy). They had replaced their former addictive substances with different, more socially acceptable ones (caffeine, nicotine and food), in an effort to achieve their favorite altered state. Unfortunately, these substances can profoundly affect mood and are just as irritating to the brain.

Meditative State and Cravings
At the halfway house, these women were using chocolate, sugar, and caffeine for feelings of alertness when they were down or depressed and tobacco and starchy carbohydrates to calm themselves when they were anxious. They were looking for a chemical feeling of calm alertness without consciously realizing it, instead of the real feeling of well being they could achieve naturally.

Using addictive substances may bring temporary calmness and alertness to your brain, but the boost they give the brain is only temporary, and it carries a high cost. All addictive substances have a seesaw effect. They stimulate your brain, yet they do not give the brain real nourishment, so there is a dangerous slump afterward. The slump makes you feel even more in need of your addictive substance, so you reach for it and the process begins again. Addictive substances do not really give you what you need to meet stress. According to Dr. Elliot Abravanel in his book on food cravings, "What you actually crave is a state of revitalizing calm and alertness, one that comes from a part of the brain completely different from the part stimulated by chemicals." This is the same sense of well being that we talk about, the feeling you may have experience during meditation.

These cravings will interfere with your recovery program if they are ignored. A myth that people in recovery often believe is that replacing coffee, nicotine or sugar for alcohol truly does not provide that sense of well being they are seeking. In fact these chemicals are irritants to our brain chemistry, making recovery more difficult. It continually puts the recovering person into that altered state, and until that person is willing to ground themselves in the present, true recovery is virtually impossible.

Biochemical Connection to Cravings
When we work with clients to help them control their cravings, we look at many different biochemical factors. We find that when people in recovery fail to address the biochemical factors of addiction, their road to long-term recovery is difficult, if not impossible. Curing cravings requires the right diet, the right supplements, and creation of a true state of inner calmness, centeredness and awareness - so that your brain can deal with stress without needing to rely on addictive substances or other chemicals like caffeine, sugar, or nicotine.

For example, when we work with recovering people under chronic stress, we recommend a higher intake of vitamins, especially the B complex. All of the B vitamins play an important role in combating stress. We may also have clients take lots of vitamin C and other specific vitamins to nourish their adrenal glands.

Vitamin E can modulate mood swings and anxiety and can be especially important for people in recovery. Minerals also can help take the sting out of stress, especially magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, chromium, manganese and selenium. We frequently include a multi-mineral and trace mineral supplement to a recovering person's program. We may also add amino acid supplements to the regime, especially tyrosine for energy and 5HTP, a form of tryptophan, for calmness.

We have found that recovering people feel less tense and more in control when they follow a diet with a specific ratio of protein, carbohydrate and fat. Adequate protein (usually more than what we find clients are generally eating) provides the building blocks to produce the necessary neurotransmitters for good brain health. Healthy carbohydrate like fruits and vegetables are a source of energy and healthy food source of vitamins and minerals. Finally, good fats are needed for blood sugar balance and to repair cell walls to improve communication between cells and provide that feeling of calm alertness we all seek.

Each person in recovery has individual specific biochemical needs that must be met to smooth the road to recovery. In other words, not all people in recovery need the same nutrition and supplements during their program. It takes a professional qualified to help individuals re-balance biochemically along each step of the way. Continual assessment of needs, support and direction in a caring environment can often replace "just hanging on" with that wonderful state of serenity we as humans are continually seeking.