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A healthy diet is an indispensable part of maintaining a healthy life. Take it away, and all our exercise efforts will have little to no impact. That brings up an interesting question of how to maintain a healthy diet.
While so much depends on making healthy food choices, another component has to do with other substances we put in our bodies. One example of this is prescription stimulant drugs. Here’s how they negatively affect a healthy diet.
Not Just Cocaine –
Stimulant drugs are notoriously known for the extreme examples of cocaine, ecstasy, and methamphetamine. However, while these are stimulant drugs, they are not the only examples. We can also find a broad category of stimulant drugs, not on the streets, but in your local pharmacy with a valid prescription.
These include notable drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin, prescribed to treat symptoms including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. While different from their street drug counterparts, the impact of prescription stimulant drugs can still be harmful, especially to the ability to maintain a healthy diet.
Unlike depressant drugs such as alcohol, these drugs work in the body by increasing activity (stimulation) in the central nervous system. Recreational users take these drugs to increase their alertness and productivity.
Many of us have heard of the so-called “study drugs” label that these stimulant drugs have been given. College students and career professionals will use stimulants to work long hours and meet fast-approaching deadlines with little to no sleep.
While this might seem like drastic measures that could make sense in some circumstances, many people, unfortunately, become addicted to these drugs and use them as a daily part of their alternative lifestyle. For example, many people use these as part of their workout routine, taking the medication before hitting the gym.
Dying Diets –
This is important because one of the symptoms of stimulant drugs is a decrease in appetite. Unfortunately, while this highlights the effectiveness of this drug in treating medical conditions such as obesity, it does not serve as a beneficial side effect for people who do not struggle with weight problems. These drugs can have a wide range of effects on our diet when taken routinely.
On the front end, these stimulants decrease our appetite, leading to inconsistent eating patterns. So we cannot eat meals and maintain a regular intake of needed calories, and we might also develop a habit of skipping meals regularly.
Also, this is not because our bodies no longer need food while on this medication, but it’s because the medication blocks our normal impulse to be hungry.
However, things get more complicated. When users crash in the aftermath of heavy stimulant drug use, the drug’s crash cycle can cause strong food cravings.
Also, as the medication wears off, our appetites can return with a vengeance. Therefore, this not only results in eating large quantities of food but can also result in eating many foods with no nutritional value. It proves to be a recipe for disaster, especially when this becomes a pattern.
The Last Word on How Prescription Stimulants Impact a Healthy Diet
Statistics show that a healthy diet can add an average of 20 years to our lifespans, which makes this discussion too essential to ignore. This discussion reminds us that a healthy diet involves some parts we are tempted to dismiss. Some of us might learn about the value of quality food and supplements, while others discover a groundbreaking workout routine.
These are all valuable, but you should consider them as pieces of a larger puzzle to manage our well-being. With that in mind, let’s take the time to consider how issues like prescription stimulant drug use can affect our health. Then, when we have the entire puzzle in mind, we can deal with each piece carefully.
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