Addiction depletes the body. Alcohol affects the liver, B-vitamins, and blood sugar. Opioids slow gut motility. Stimulants suppress appetite for months. By the time a client arrives in treatment, malnutrition is the rule, not the exception — and rebuilding nutrition is part of the clinical work.
What food support looks like at RECO Intensive
Every client at RECO Intensive eats well — that's not optional. Our residential meals are designed by a recovery nutritionist around protein adequacy, omega-3 intake, B-complex restoration, magnesium, gut health, and blood-sugar stability. For clients whose financial situation makes outside-program eating a barrier to attendance, our food assistance program covers meals during PHP and IOP attendance.
Clients with specific medical needs — diabetes, hepatic dysfunction, gastric bypass history, eating-disorder recovery — get individualized plans coordinated between our nutritionist and our medical team.
What food assistance covers
- Daily meals during residential care and PHP attendance
- Meal prep guidance for IOP clients living off-site
- Grocery support for sober-living residents in financial hardship
- Specialized plans for diabetic, hepatic, and eating-disorder cases
- Recovery-nutrition group programming (see Balanced Nutrition Group)
Who benefits most
Anyone in early recovery. Long-term stimulant users with stubborn appetite suppression. Alcohol-use-disorder clients with nutritional deficiencies that masquerade as mood symptoms. Clients with complex medical pictures where nutrition is part of stabilization, not a side note.
How nutrition integrates with the rest of treatment
Food is part of the treatment plan, not a logistics problem to solve. Mood, sleep, cravings, energy, and even therapy engagement improve when nutrition is corrected — and our team treats it that way. Nutrition findings from intake feed the same treatment plan as your therapy track and medication regimen.
Why the RECO approach is different
Many programs treat meals as catering. We treat them as clinical intervention. The body that walks into treatment is not the body that finishes — and getting it the materials to rebuild itself is a non-negotiable part of how RECO Intensive does recovery.