Why your brain, body, and nervous system need nourishment to heal—especially after trauma, addiction, and depression.
You can have all the insight in the world.
You can cry, purge, shake, and breathe your way through a dozen ceremonies. But if your brain doesn’t have the raw materials it needs to repair, healing will always feel just out of reach.
Psychedelic integration isn’t just about therapy, journaling, or resting in nature.
It’s also about biology—and biology runs on nutrients.Integration Is Physical After a psychedelic journey, your nervous system is open. Your emotions are shifting.
Your thoughts are flexible.
Your neuroplasticity is activated.
But none of that matters if your brain doesn’t have the nutritional building blocks to form new pathways, balance neurotransmitters, and stabilize your mood.
Trauma is physical.
Addiction is physical.
Depression and anxiety are physical.
Healing must be physical, too.
The Real Problem: You’re Malnourished in a Way No One Talks About
Most people walking into a retreat or ceremony are biochemically depleted—especially if they’ve been living with:
Chronic stress or trauma
- Substance use or medications
- Depression, anxiety, or insomnia
- Poor sleep, blood sugar crashes, or adrenal fatigue
- Long-standing emotional dysregulation
When these go unaddressed, it’s like trying to update the software on a broken computer.
The system can’t run the upgrade.
The Top Nutrient Depletions We See After Trauma, Addiction & Psychedelic Use
- B Vitamins – Needed for mood, energy, and neurotransmitter synthesis. Depleted by alcohol, stimulants, stress, and antidepressants.
- Magnesium – Critical for calming the nervous system. Most people are deficient. Trauma and adrenaline burn through it fast.
- Omega-3s – Anti-inflammatory fats for brain healing, mood, and cognitive repair. Essential for neuroplasticity.
- Amino Acids – The building blocks of dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and more. Often low after years of stress, poor diet, or substance use.
- Vitamin D & Zinc – Immune-regulating, mood-stabilizing, and necessary for nervous system health.
- Glucose Regulation – Blood sugar crashes mimic anxiety and drive emotional dysregulation. This is especially critical after ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin.
You Can’t Integrate If You’re Biochemically Crashing
Even with the most beautiful ceremony and the most skilled guide, you’ll struggle to:
- Feel grounded
- Sleep deeply
- Stabilize your mood
- Make aligned choices
- Avoid relapse or emotional crashes
- Hold on to your insights
Why? Because you’re running on empty.
Integration requires internal stability. And nutrition is one of the most overlooked foundations of that stability.
Nutrition = Nervous System Support
At The Living Lodge, we design meals and nutritional protocols specifically for people in postpsychedelic recovery.
Whether you’re healing from:
- Trauma and developmental stress
- Addiction or substance withdrawal
- Depression, anxiety, or nervous system collapse
- The intensity of ibogaine, ketamine, or plant medicine…
We focus on:
- Blood sugar regulation (to stabilize mood + energy)
- Nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory meals (to reduce post-journey inflammation)
- Adaptogenic and nervous system herbs (to build resilience)
- Targeted repletion of critical vitamins, minerals, and amino acids
- Gut-brain support (because 90% of your serotonin is made in the gut)
Food Is Medicine—But Also Safety
When your body is nourished:
- You feel more emotionally resilient
- Your brain fog lifts
- You’re less reactive and more present
- You sleep more deeply
- You have the energy to actually integrate and change
Nutrition isn’t a side note in integration—it’s the soil everything else grows from.
The Bottom Line
You cannot regulate a malnourished nervous system.
You cannot rewire a brain that doesn’t have what it needs. And you cannot sustain psychedelic healing on insight alone.
Integration requires nourishment.
Because healing is cellular.
And you deserve a body that feels safe enough to hold your transformation.
