Why Students With Substance Abuse Addiction Should Familiarize Themselves With The NAMED Program
By: Davida Brenda
For: California Baptist University’s, The Banner
From an early age we’ve been taught that a balanced and healthy diet are essential to good health. However, what students may not know, is that healthy and nutritious eating can actually prevent students from substance abuse and relapses.
According to Dr. Keith Kantor, leading nutritionist and founder of the NAMED program, there is a direct correlation between unhealthy eating habits and substance abuse. Dr. Kantor stated that, “you are more prone to substance abuse if you have an unhealthy diet.”
Dr. Kantor’s NAMED program works to bring awareness to the correlation between unhealthy diets and substance abuse relapse. Furthermore, it strives to aid those recovering from addiction by introducing them to healthy meal plans that counter their former cravings.
NAMED highlights that a common problem in addiction recovery is that the substance a user was formerly addicted to gets replaced by unhealthy food cravings, such as sugar and gluten. This can then lead to other health problems such as obesity and heart disease.
According to the namedprogram.com, “the surges and drops in blood sugars as a result of a poor diet resemble the highs and lows of the actual substance that was once used.”
When asked what set the NAMED program apart from other rehabilitation programs, Dr. Kantor explained that through their meal plans, “we concentrate on not stimulating the opiate receptors.” This therefore, “cuts the cravings for the abused substance, which ultimately leads to a lower relapse rate and more overall success.”
(The namedprogram.com explains that, opiate receptor’s are proteins in our body. Drugs, alcohol, and foods such as sugars and gluten can stimulate our opiate receptors, increasing our cravings for these substances and foods.)
Dr. Kantor said that, “if somebody is eating healthy, then they’re not stimulating their opiate receptors, and they really care about their body… those type of people tend to not mess around with unhealthy stuff.” With the stresses of college and work, it’s easy for college students to not care about their eating habits, and therefore become content and reliant on the cheapest and quickest forms of food available to them.
However, students must be aware that this can lead them down a path of unhealthy lifestyle choices that can negatively affect their future.
Dr. Kantor explained to me the advice he would give college students for maintaining a healthy diet. He advises students to, “drink half their body weight in ounces of water a day,” and to, “stay away from packaged products”, as well as to “have half a plate of fruit and vegetables with a 3:1 ratio of vegetables to fruit each day.”
Diet choices become a habit; so make them healthy habits.
For more information and one week free of nutrition plans and menu’s, visit www.namedprogram.com, or www.drkeithkantor.com for additional information.