Chris Bevacqua is a holistic nutritionist who works with addicts and other populations to transform their lives through diet and nutrition. He joins me for an informative discussion about the basics of addiction, dependencies, and recovery. We bust myths and shed light on how addicts find recovery. We also talk about how important nutrition and exercise are in the process of healing all mental illnesses, including addiction.

Here is what we cover on this show:

• What is addiction? What is it not?
• The myths about common addictions?
• The difference between an addiction and a dependency, and how to discover that you have one.
• Positive addictions versus negative addictions.
• Where addiction lives in the brain. What part of the brain.
• What is the cause of addiction? Pain, trauma, disconnection.
• Addiction isn't only caused by genetics.
• The impact of early childhood environment on addiction outcomes.
• The environmental risk factors that contribute to addiction later in life.
• The steps to recovery: Remove the substance/behaviour, address the underlying pain, and build a life that supports recovery.
• Can we heal an addiction?
• First stage recovery and second stage recovery.
• Second stage, deeper healing.
• Deeper healing in second stage recovery - Conscious Relationship work, psychedelics, and plant medicines.
• Addiction does not live in the substance.
• Rat Park - The experiment that proved that drugs aren't the problem. Our society is the problem.
• Ideal recovery from addiction = building a rat park in your own life.
• Lost Connections, by Johann Hari, a useful book about depression and addiction.
• How to build a successful recovery plan, and how to get rid of things that are too triggering in the early days.
• How does nutrition play in to recovering from addiction?
• Healing the damage that drugs and alcohol do to the body.
• The double standard of coffee, cigarettes, sugar, and energy drinks in recovery circles.
• The benefits of quitting all substances at once.
• The best way to beat sugar cravings.
• The power of exercise in assisting addiction recovery.
• Recovery boosters - Running, H.I.T. workouts, and Yoga.
• Passion and Purpose - The special ingredient in successful recovery.
• Spirituality - connection to deeper self, or beyond self.
• The importance of open-mindedness in finding tools that work for you.
• Nutrition: Avoid sugar, white carbs, low quality oils. Move towards whole foods, healthy oils, wild meats, fermented foods.
• The power of switching from carbs to fat, for fuel.
• Treating depression with diet and exercise.
• Dr. Georgia Ede on carnivore diets and more.

Chris operates a coaching business that helps clients deal with addiction and mental health issues with nutrition, exercise, and mindset. He helps you get your body and mind in the right place, so you can do the healing you need to do.

Contact him for coaching here.

Follow Chris on Instagram @good_n_healthy

Chris is very active on Twitter @chris_bevacqua