Brains explicit roles in fighting addiction
Dr. Dalal Akoury, MD
Advanced Integrative Medicine Authority ?Author ?Media Contributor ?Global Speaker?Healthcare Educator ?HealthPreneur
Brains explicit roles in fighting addiction: To fight addiction, feed your brains
The brain being the nerve center and engine of human life, its importance cannot be overlooked. Nothing will happen in the body without it being registered in or from the brain. The brain plays an integral function in effective communication to various parts of the body. Because of this, we have certain brains explicit roles including those that support the fight against substance abuse. Having said that, the next question is how possible is it and what do we know about the brain, addiction and effects of addiction to the brain? To help us get the answers, we sought the professional opinion of experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury (MD) and founder of the same. Doctor Akoury shares with us her personal experience with her clients over the years as follows.
Brains explicit roles in fighting addiction: Denial and denying the brain the essential fats
Denial is the biggest problem we face when dealing with addiction. This is evident in most patients who visit our facility and at one point I was attending to a client who for purposes of confidentiality I will refer to as Miss Agnes. Ideally if you met her, you might presume she had everything to live for. And just to share briefly, in her early thirties she was doing well as a junior executive who was married with two young children. Yet when Agnes opened up as she sat on my couch during a session, she narrated how her troubles at home and work had brought her, more than once, to put a killer knife at her wrist and imagine ending her emotional pain forever.
For over a decade Miss Agnes disorderly drank bottles of wine every night and regularly smoked marijuana alongside taking pain killers. Even though she knew her actions she denied it first to herself, her family and to me (her doctor) that substance abuse was a part of her problem. “I’m not an alcoholic,” she said with a lot of confidence. Because she was such a long way from even addressing her addictions, I inquired about what else she was ingesting and so I ask “What did you eat for breakfast?” That question revealed to me that she wasn’t just intoxicating her brain but she was also starving it of the essential nutrients. It was almost a routine for her skipping breakfast most days and when she took it will be only a cup of coffee or glass of juice once in a while. According to her, she put soy milk in her coffee because she thought that all dairy and meat products were unhealthy. She also avoided fat in all her foods because she believed fat would make her fat. What she didn’t know is, the brains rely on healthy fats for their functioning and for that reason two fats, EPA and DHA, are known for their mood-boosting qualities. By avoiding any fats she was literally avoiding foods that would provide her brain with these natural essentials and therapeutic molecules.
Doctor Akoury continues that realizing all these she asked her to go to a local lab for some blood test. We talked about her making some dietary changes, especially the merits of nutrient-rich brain foods, such as eggs and fish. She admitted in a guilty whisper, “I’ve been craving a hamburger” and you will agree with me that wasn’t really surprising. Like a good number of other women of reproductive age, there was great deficiency of iron in her blood further explaining what was lucking in her body to function well. With this deficiency she actually felt listless; she lacked the energy to cope with her demanding job and a family as well. Many are following the steps of Agnes and even as we continue with Agnes’s story, if you are in the same position, you can talk to doctor Akoury for professional advice today.