#41 - Addiction. Everything You Need To Know - with Chris Bevacqua

02/25/20 • 99 min

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

Contact him for coaching here.

Follow Chris on Instagram @good_n_healthy

Chris is very active on Twitter @chris_bevacqua

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Previous Episode

#40 Treatments for the Opioid Crisis - with Garyth Moxey

At this point, nearly everyone in North America knows someone who is addicted to (or has died from) Opioid use. The problem has reached epidemic proportions in the US and Canada. In this episode, I sit down with a man who has been treating Opiate addiction for years.

Garyth operates an Ibogane Treatment Centre called Inner Realms that detoxifies Opiates from the system in a matter of days. He helps addicts free themselves from the stranglehold of withdrawal symptoms and physical dependency, and then points them towards long term recovery.
Opiate addiction has one of the highest relapse rates and highest death rates of any drug use, so solutions that can fully detox addicts and give them a strong chance at recovery are very unique.

In this episode, we cover:

Garyth's story of alcohol and opiate addiction.
The Peace Convoy in the 80s - unemployed hippie drug culture.
How Garyth experienced a breakthrough on LSD that lead him to get clean from Alcohol.
Garyth's story going to rehab.
The two crucial steps to recovering from addiction - Getting off the drug of choice, and learning to deal with the stress of regular life without using.
The importance of community in addiction recovery. Can not be overstated.
How Garyth found Ibogane, and saw it's powerful effects.
What is Iboga and Ibogane, and where does it come from?
What are the traditional uses of Iboga.
What Ibogane clinics look like.
The dark reality of Methadone and Suboxone for Opioid addiction.
The documentary that best shows opiate addiction - DOSED.
Legal barriers to the use of Ibogane and Iboga.
What the future of Opiate treatment looks like.
The best aftercare treatment for Ibogane patients.
How the best addiction treatment works.
The proper use of psychedelics for later recovery.
The importance of diet in addiction recovery, and how diet can sabotage recovery.

You can find Garyth at his website - innerrealmscenter.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Episode

#42 - The COVID-19 Survival Guide - with Sheleana Aiyana

COVID-19 has flipped the world - and the lives of everyone on it - upside down. Many jobs have been lost, everyone's plans have been cancelled, and half the world has entered a self-quarantine lock-down state. People are in isolation either alone, with their families, or with a partner.
Relationships that may have been struggling prior to the lockdown, are now under major stress, because we're all forced in. Being forced to isolate with each other is not always easy. And, some people are isolated alone. This is especially hard for the extroverts who thrive on being in physical connection with others.

In this episode Sheleana and I discuss ways you can take care of yourself and make the best of this time. We also share some strategies for couples to keep their relationship healthy at this challenging time.

If you're alone in isolation, or cooped up with your romantic partner, this episode is for you.

On this episode we discuss:

Coping with physical isolation.
Choosing how to accept reality and make the best of it.
The witch-hunt - a way that people lash out at each other to look for control over their fear.
Addiction and substance use at this time.
Creating a routine and structure for self-care.
Digital detox. More important now than ever.
Digital dates with friends or romantic partners.
Consuming media VS interacting with real people online.
If you're struggling: we share our tips. Reach out, find the resources you need.
Somatic tools for de-stressing and calming the nervous system.
Breathwork - A powerful tool for immunity and nervous system regulation.
Fear and the link to the immune system.
The challenges Sheleana and I are facing in isolation.
What couples are facing right now in isolation.
How to deal with loss of attraction and polarity when in close quarters consistently.
How to meet each others' needs in isolation.
Negativity in dialogue, and how to deal with it.
Powerful simple exercises for connecting in quarantine.
Mirroring in dialogue.
Sharing appreciation with your partner - a very good tool.
How to honour your partner's needs and resolve disagreements about Covid precautions.
Creating safety - learning to listen with non-reactivity.
Successful couples are able to solve big problems together.
Using competition to strengthen relationship.