At Paracelsus Recovery, Nutritional Therapy plays a central role in our holistic treatment approach. The aim of our nutritional therapy treatment is to help individuals make dietary changes in order to address any nutritional deficiencies and improve their physical, mental and emotional health.
What is nutritional therapy?
Nutritional therapy is the use of nutrition as a tool to treat medical conditions and optimise health. Nutritional therapy is based on the idea that health issues, whether they are mental, emotional or physical, stem from imbalances caused by poor nutrition. By taking a bio-individual and holistic approach to nutrition, nutritional therapy aims to address any underlying nutritional deficiencies and promote a healthy diet. It values the importance of nutrition in maintaining health in body, mind and spirit. This approach acknowledges the power of the mind-body connection; what we eat has a direct impact on our physical, mental and emotional health. Therefore, a balanced diet is integral to returning your health to an optimal state and remaining in good health for years to come.
Nutritional therapists employ a variety of tools to identify the most appropriate nutritional support for their clients. As part of this they carry out an in-depth assessment of their current diet and lifestyle and define specific health goals. Their tailored recommendations will help you meet these goals. This includes evidence-based dietary interventions such as dietary protocols, fasting, detoxes and supplements in addition to counselling and support implementing dietary modifications. While the focus of nutritional therapy is diet and food, nutritional therapists also take lifestyle and environmental factors into account when working with a client.
What is nutritional therapy helpful for?
There are numerous benefits of nutritional therapy. It can help you:
Improve your relationship with food.
Educate you about the link between food and how you feel.
Reduce inflammation in the body.
Stabilise blood sugar levels.
Improve gut health and digestion.
Lose, gain or stabilise weight.
Boost or stabilise mood.
Improve mental health.
Balance hormones.
Learn to eat in a way that suits your dietary needs.
As a result, nutritional therapy can be used to help treat a wide range of mental health and substance abuse issues as well as eating disorders and chronic conditions. These include but are not limited to cancer, heart disease, obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. For example, anyone with an eating disorder will lack essential nutrients, which leads to increased cravings, fatigue and a weakened immune system. Nutritional therapy can help to address these issues and restore your health. And for those living with chronic conditions such as cancer, nutritional therapy can help ease both symptoms and side-effects of treatment.
Nutritional therapy plays a key role in addiction recovery by strengthening the immune system, rebuilding a proper chemical balance and restoring energy and mental alertness. Proper nutrition can also minimise cravings, promote a better attitude and improve overall well-being. It is also a way to start replacing negative behaviours with positive ones. Nutritional therapy is an essential component of any comprehensive mental health treatment programme. This is due to the strong link between gut health and mental health; an unhealthy gut can contribute to a variety of mental health problems. Therefore uncovering any underlying nutritional issues and improving nutrition can have a significant impact on mental health.
How is nutritional therapy included in my programme?
At Paracelsus Recovery,nutritional therapy is a key component of our mental health and addiction treatment programmes. We combine nutritional therapy with other evidence-based therapies, such as medication and various psychotherapeutic interventions, to help restore health and well-being.
Our dedicated team of nutritional experts provide individual nutritional counselling while also ensuring that we meet all of your dietary needs and preferences. By analysing the results of extensive testing, they curate your personalised nutritional treatment plan that supports your treatment goals. This nutrient-dense plan will replenish any lab-identified inflammatory or immune system issues. Your plan may include an intestinal detox and pre/probiotics therapy to restore your gut health. If there are any nutrients missing from your dietary plan, we will provide this via nutritional supplements.
Throughout your stay with us, our nutritional therapists work in collaboration with the rest of your team of doctors, therapists and specialists to create the most effective programme possible. This includes your own private chef who works very closely with the nutrition team. Our dedicated chef will always consider dietary preferences, wishes and lifestyle choices. We ensure that each meal reflects your dietary choices and all specialised dietary requirements are met.
