29: The Inside Story of Addiction: What You’re Made Of with Christina Vaselak

Families Navigating Addiction & Recovery

“There's hope. There's hope. There's hope. It's not your fault and there's something you can do about it.” –Christina Vaselak

A casual conversation with an old acquaintance turns into a very enlightening discussion! Well, we’re still in the Winter Symposium with Jeff and he just had a great breakfast with Christina Vaselak, owner of Garden Gate Counselling and The Academy for Addiction and Mental Health Nutrition. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a certified nutritionist. She’s currently writing a book and today we are privileged to get a prevue of it.

So, our lesson for today is Biology 101. Science may not be your favorite subject when you were at school because of so many alien concepts and terms. But today you’re going to love it as it goes down to a personal level. What we’re made of- our genes and other biochemical molecules- basically constitute who we are and what we become. Aside from our physical appearance, our emotions and predispositions can be tracked down to a molecular level- even the generational pattern of addiction. Just how? Listen in as Jeff and Christina discusses the biochemistry of addiction, how nutrition can affect, why genes need to be considered by substance users and non-users alike, and what test can give you the answers that you need.

Get the show notes, transcription and resources mentioned at

http://thefamilyrecoverysolution.com/

Highlights:

01:34 About Christina

04:15 The Biochemistry of Active Addiction

28:17 Genetics 101

36:36 The Test

42:17 The 20-Minute Miracle