Nutrition for Substance Use Disorder Recovery: The Gut-Brain Axis

With substance use disorder rates rising, there is an urgent need for new and effective treatment modalities. The utilization of nutrition services in addiction treatment has not been standardized, but there is a growing trend towards incorporating registered dietitian nutritionists into the treatment team. This comprehensive overview explores the impact of alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, and opioids on nutritional status. This presentation places particular emphasis on gut health, microbiome, and associated neural interactions. Homeostatic and hedonic mechanisms of eating behavior are discussed in the context of eating disorders and food addiction. Given the current crisis of addictive disorders, consideration should be given to prioritizing efforts to improve eating habits and overall health in recovery programs. Guidelines for nutrition interventions will be proposed, and a summary of where more information is needed will point towards future directions

Food addiction and psychosocial adversity: Biological embedding, contextual factors, and public health implications

The role of stress, trauma, and adversity particularly early in life has been identified as a contributing factor in both drug and food addictions. While links between traumatic stress and substance use disorders are well documented, the pathways to food addiction and obesity are less established. This review focuses on psychosocial and neurobiological factors that may increase risk for addiction-like behaviors and ultimately increase BMI over the lifespan. Early childhood and adolescent adversity can induce long-lasting alterations in the glucocorticoid and dopamine systems that lead to increased addiction vulnerability later in life. Allostatic load, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and emerging data on epigenetics in the context of biological embedding are highlighted. A conceptual model for food addiction is proposed, which integrates data on the biological embedding of adversity as well as upstream psychological, social, and environmental factors. Dietary restraint as a feature of disordered eating is discussed as an important contextual factor related to food addiction. Discussion of various public health and policy considerations are based on the concept that improved knowledge of biopsychosocial mechanisms contributing to food addiction may decrease stigma associated with obesity and disordered eating behavior

Sugar Addiction: From Evolution to Revolution

The obesity epidemic has been widely publicized in the media worldwide. Investigators at all levels have been looking for factors that have contributed to the development of this epidemic. Two major theories have been proposed: (1) sedentary lifestyle and (2) variety and ease of inexpensive palatable foods. In the present review, we analyze how nutrients like sugar that are often used to make foods more appealing could also lead to habituation and even in some cases addiction thereby uniquely contributing to the obesity epidemic. We review the evolutionary aspects of feeding and how they have shaped the human brain to function in “survival mode” signaling to “eat as much as you can while you can.” This leads to our present understanding of how the dopaminergic system is involved in reward and its functions in hedonistic rewards, like eating of highly palatable foods, and drug addiction. We also review how other neurotransmitters, like acetylcholine, interact in the satiation processes to counteract the dopamine system. Lastly, we analyze the important question of whether there is sufficient empirical evidence of sugar addiction, discussed within the broader context of food addiction

Nutrition and substance abuse

Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-76)Drug addiction and alcoholism represent a major health problem in the US. Veterans in particular have high rates of substance abuse and the VA healthcare system incurs a large portion of the expense. Chemical dependency is associated with malnutrition, and there is increasing evidence to suggest that nutrition can play an important role in recovery. The present study measured attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors towards nutrition, health, and self-care in a population of US veterans enrolled in the MOVE! Weight Management Program. Using anonymous surveys, individuals with a self-reported history of substance abuse were compared to individuals without a history of abuse. The study found that depression leads to overeating for individuals recovering from substance abuse (p = 0.052). Other findings that approached significance suggest that persistence of bad habits in this population is not due to an absence of desire for a better life, but more likely due to the impact of addiction on the brain. Disordered and dysfunctional eating behaviors persist after abstinence has been achieved. The study confirms that self-efficacy is a useful predictor of positive change beliefs. The evidence provided supports the need for greater levels of nutrition care among individuals with a history of drug addiction and/or alcoholism. The impact of nutrition interventions by trained dietitians in substance abuse treatment settings warrants further investigation

An Empirical Study of Task Support in 3D Information Visualizations

There is still little knowledge about what factors are important for the usability of a 3D user interface. We have performed a comparative study of three 3D information visualizations as a step towards a better understanding of this. The study involved 25 volunteer subjects, performing three di#erent tasks with the Information Landscape, Cam Tree, and Information Cube. The results of the study indicate that the subjects were signi#cantly faster with the Information Landscape when compared with both other visualizations. The Cam Tree was signi#cantly faster than the Information Cube. Our observations during the study indicate that local and global overview are extremely important factors. We also observed that custom navigation is crucial in 3D user interfaces. Finally, the study raises the question: "For what types of tasks is a 3D user interfacebest suited?&quot

Food insecurity partially mediates the association between drug use and depressive symptoms among men who have sex with men in Los Angeles, California

ObjectiveTo understand the relationship between drug use, food insecurity (FI) and mental health among men who have sex with men (MSM).DesignCohort study (2014-2019) with at least one follow-up.SettingVisits at 6-month intervals included self-assessment for FI and depressive symptoms. Urine testing results confirmed drug use. Factors associated with FI were assessed using multiple logistic regression with random effects for repeated measures. General structural equation modelling tested whether FI mediates the relationship between drug use and depressive symptoms.ParticipantsData were from HIV-positive and high-risk HIV-negative MSM in Los Angeles, CA (n 431; 1192 visits).ResultsAt baseline, FI was reported by 50·8 % of participants, depressive symptoms in 36·7 % and 52·7 % of urine screening tests were positive for drugs (i.e. marijuana, opioids, methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy). A positive drug test was associated with a 96 % increase in the odds of being food insecure (95 % CI 1·26, 3·07). Compared to those with high food security, individuals with very low food security have a nearly sevenfold increase in the odds of reporting depressive symptoms (95 % CI 3·71, 11·92). Findings showed 14·9 % of the association between drug use (exposure) and depressive symptoms (outcome) can be explained by FI (mediator).ConclusionThe prevalence of FI among this cohort of HIV-positive and high-risk HIV-negative MSM was high; the association between drug use and depressive symptoms was partially mediated by FI. Findings suggest that enhancing access to food and nutrition may improve mood in the context of drug use, especially among MSM at risk for HIV transmission

Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Los Angeles.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with poor mental health outcomes in adulthood. Childhood maltreatment is related to both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Our objective was to investigate these associations among low-income, mostly Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM), as these may be a particularly vulnerable population group. Data come from a longitudinal study of MSM with varied substance use behaviors (n = 321) collected between August 2014 and April 2022. Cumulative, childhood maltreatment ACEs, and the single ACE of childhood sexual abuse were investigated as potential predictors of self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms in mixed-effects logistic and ordinal regression models. There was no evidence of a dose-response relationship between the number of ACEs and the predicted probability of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Compared to MSM reporting fewer than five ACEs, those with five or more ACEs had approximately double the odds ratio of reporting depressive (OR = 1.93; 95% CI: 1.04-3.60) and anxiety symptoms (OR = 2.21; 95% CI: 1.05-4.68). The dimension of childhood maltreatment had a more robust prediction of depressive symptoms than the dimension of household dysfunction across all models. The association between childhood sexual abuse history and depressive symptoms remained after adjustment for the other nine ACEs (OR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.11-4.68). The ordinal logistic model suggested that cumulative ACEs more than triple the odds of being in a higher anxiety category (OR = 3.12; 95% CI: 1.58-6.14), with associations reported for childhood maltreatment ACEs (OR = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.06-1.66) and childhood sexual abuse (OR = 1.93; 95% CI: 0.89-4.21). Childhood maltreatment ACEs, particularly childhood sexual abuse, are salient predictors of depressive and anxiety symptoms among adult urban MSM. Mitigating the impact of childhood maltreatment requires understanding the additional burden of social distress often faced by MSM throughout the life course