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It’s no secret that many Americans suffer from drug addiction and it’s been getting worse during the current opioid crisis. Remember: addiction is a disease and choosing the right addiction treatment facility is crucial to getting better. Somebody with a severe heroin addiction might require months-long, monitored inpatient detox while somebody else may only require outpatient therapy programs. An important step to addiction recovery is finding the optimal environment to best facilitate your detox and therapy.

When we eat a wide variety of foods, it helps to naturally ensure we are getting adequate nutrition and cultivates greater diversity in our gut bacteria which we are starting to learn has a strong connection with our health. Experiment with cooking at home more often When you cook at home it’s easier to include more fresh foods and ingredients but it doesn’t have to be perfectly “clean Sure “whole” foods have greater nutritional value over “processed” foods but that doesn’t mean processed foods should be shunned. I cover this more in depth in step 4 of my 8 steps to food freedom, food biology & emotionality, but just remember only YOU know the “right” amount and type of food for you and listening to your internal, intuitive cues like your hunger, fullness and satisfaction levels is what allows you to tune into that.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 40 to 60 percent of individuals relapse and return to opioid use as a form of self-medication—this is where medically-assisted addiction treatment can have a big impact. While some are able to overcome addiction without medication, other individuals require a different approach and medically-assisted treatment gives the best chance of a full recovery with a lower probability of relapse. ” Research has proven that medically-assisted treatment with buprenorphine (the active ingredient in Suboxone) at least triples rates of opioid-abstinence outcomes, thus decreasing the use of illegal drugs, reducing overdose mortalities, and resulting in a much higher retention rate for treatment. Coupled with supportive counseling, medically-assisted treatment allows the body to slowly adapt by reducing opioid use over time and aims at treating underlying issues and the physical addiction.

Even though states are changing their medical marijuana programs, VA physicians are still forbidden by the federal government to recommend veterans medical marijuana as an alternative treatment option. Since cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, veterans are unable to opt for medical cannabis even in US states where medical and/or recreational cannabis is legalized. An American Legion survey about veteran households reported that 82 percent wish to have marijuana as a federally legal treatment option, and also 83 percent believe that the federal government should legalize medical marijuana. He voted against the Veterans Equal Access Amendment that would allow VA-affiliated physicians to recommend medical cannabis treatment to veterans in states with a medical marijuana programs.