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The New Life Detoxification Program – The first major barrier that one encounters when starting the rehabilitation process is the physical and mental cravings for drugs and alcohol that can overwhelm and completely distract the individual in recovery from the treatment process. Physical and mental cravings for drugs and alcohol are the most common cause for people in recovery leaving treatment before they have completed it.

There is a biophysical condition that triggers cravings that can reoccur repeatedly long after a person withdraws and dries out from drugs or alcohol. Any toxin that is ingested in the body undergoes a digestive and filtration process that will eliminate most of the toxic substance but not all of it. That portion of the toxin that remains in the system is converted into a protein based molecule called a metabolite.

Once the body has converted drugs or alcohol to these protein based molecules some of these molecules will exit the body through sweat and urine however, a portion of these metabolites will remain in the body and attach themselves to fatty cells. Fatty cells are also comprised of protein molecules and so are compatible with the drug or alcohol metabolites. This is similar to placing a large drop of oil into a bottle of water. The two elements separate, they won't mix together. If you shake that bottle of oil and water, the oil will break up into many smaller drops of oil that spread throughout the entire bottle of water. If you slowly pour ½ the contents of the bottle out you have water with small drops of oil leaving the mouth of the bottle while the smaller oil drops that remain in the water in the bottle will begin to connect together. Eventually all the remaining oil drops left in the bottle will rejoin as one element and separate from the water again. Much the same thing happens in the body during the elimination process of drugs or alcohol that a person has ingested. Some of the metabolites leave the body through sweat and urine and some of the metabolites join to the fatty cells of the body and remain physically there.

Metabolites are like finger prints in that each metabolite contains a minute amount of the original toxin that the body digested and filtered through the liver and kidneys. A cocaine metabolite has a traceable amount of cocaine in it. A heroin metabolite has a traceable amount of heroin in it, and an alcohol metabolite has a traceable amount of alcohol in it. Each is different and identifiable from the other. It is the drug metabolites that are exiting the body through the urine that are identified when a drug screen is performed that can provide a read out on what types of drugs an individual has taken.

The drug metabolites that remain in the body act as a physical level reminder of drugs or alcohol taken in the past that can also stimulate memories or feelings related to past drug or alcohol use. This is the origin and physical mechanics of drug and alcohol cravings.

The New Life Detoxification Program addresses this physical aspect of addiction. The program consists of a combination of light aerobic exercise, sweating in a dry heat sauna and a specific vitamin regimen. A full physical and medical OK to do the program by a licensed M.D. is required before a person can begin this portion of the program. The individual will undergo 20 to 30 minutes of light aerobic exercise (usually jogging or fast walk outside or on a tread mill), 15 to 20 minute intervals of time sweating in a dry heat sauna with rest breaks in between sweating periods. Concurrent with the exercise and sweating a specific regimen of vitamins are taken which include cold-press polyunsaturated natural oil, which help free the drug metabolites from the fatty cells. The New Life Detoxification program is designed to assist the addict's body in breaking down and eliminating the stored drug and alcohol metabolites. The daily program runs for about 5 hours a day and can take from between 2 to 6 weeks to complete the entire process. The program length differs from individual to individual. Body weight, extent of drug taking history and medical history influence the length of this program and will program length will vary from person to person.

Once the physical cravings for drugs or alcohol have been addressed through this process the individual is ready to proceed with the next step of the program. Drug and alcohol usage tend to make one mentally dull and impair a persons ability to read, study and comprehend information. Therefore the next step of treatment is to rehabilitate the addict’s ability to comprehend and apply information they are studying.

Elements of the Detoxification Program