You’ve heard the saying, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” If you’ve been drinking for a while, you probably understand that better than most. Alcohol addiction depletes your body of essential nutrients and changes the way your brain works, leaving you a shell of your former self.

When you quit drinking, it can be difficult for your body to detoxify and adjust. You’ll need a constant supply of fresh, whole foods to repair the damage and improve symptoms. Intense hunger and sugar cravings may rear their heads once you cut off the steady stream of alcohol, and it can be too easy to replace one addiction with another.

That’s why it’s so important to replace your cravings with healthy habits that nourish your body and help you move forward. Here you’ll find the best foods to eat in recovery to replenish your body and get you started on the right foot.

1.   Smoothies and Soups

Heavy drinking wreaks havoc on your digestive system, weakening your body’s ability to process the nutrients in your food, which are essential for healing. As your body adjusts for the first several weeks, you may want to stick to liquid meals like smoothies and soups. Purchase or make ones with whole foods, avoiding highly processed ingredients that will only make your withdrawal symptoms worse.

Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea are incredibly common symptoms of quitting alcohol and can lead to severe dehydration. Consuming smoothies and soups can help replenish some of the liquids you’re losing in your recovery process. They’re an especially effective option if you find you can’t handle the taste of plain water yet.

2.   Fruit and Vegetables

Your body converts alcohol to sugar, which raises your blood sugar levels. As you withdraw, you no longer have those spikes, so you’ll crave sugary foods as a replacement. On top of that, alcohol and sugar both increase the feel-good chemicals serotonin and dopamine. However tempting, you must resist the urge to replace alcohol with a sugar addiction. It can be a very slippery slope and is just as unhealthy.

When your sweet tooth strikes, satisfy it with fruit. They’re full of fibre, antioxidants and vitamins your body needs to recover, and they should naturally appease your sugar cravings. While not as sweet, vegetables are also rich in nutrients, and their fibre will help keep you full for longer, so sugar cravings won’t hit you as hard.

3.   Complex Carbs

Carbohydrates give our bodies energy and help speed the process of recovery from the effects of alcohol. While withdrawing, keeping your blood sugar at a stable level is extremely important to control cravings and other withdrawal symptoms.

Complex carbs can give you the energy you need and stabilize your blood sugar. They’re even an excellent source of fibre and vitamin B. Once you can tolerate them, oats, whole grain bread, beans, brown rice, quinoa or sweet potatoes are some of the greatest foods to eat in recovery.

4.   Calcium-Rich Options

Calcium deficiency is a common occurrence for people who drink heavily and frequently. Alcohol sets off a dangerous domino effect of negative consequences to your body. Heavy consumption impairs your liver function, preventing it from converting vitamin D to its active form. The active form of vitamin D helps you absorb calcium, so without it, your bone health will deteriorate, leading to significant health issues down the road.

Some bone damage is reversible if you stop drinking and start supplementing with calcium-rich foods. Kale, for example, is full of this nutrient. Combine it with a bowl of other brightly colored vegetables and fruits for a delicious and healing salad.

Avoid Hunger to Prevent Relapse

Ultimately, the most important thing is to find foods from this list you get excited to eat and make you feel good. If you do choose to quit alcohol, remember that your options are limitless and you’re not alone. Your body may not be ready for everything, which is okay. Take it slow.

However, you need to eat enough to keep from getting hungry. Hunger is one of the leading causes of a setback for people quitting alcohol. So keep plenty of these best foods to eat for alcohol detox on hand for when those cravings strike. For those moments of hunger between meals, have some easy, already made snacks like the antioxidant and vitamin-rich pumpkin seeds — add seasoning and bake for the perfect mid-morning pick-me-up.

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Beth, the Managing Editor and content manager at Body+Mind, is well-respected in the mental health, nutrition and fitness spaces. In her spare time, Beth enjoys cooking and going for runs with her dog.