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What does recovery look like — and how do we measure it? In this episode, we're joined by Dr. John Kelly, one of the world's leading addiction researchers and founder of the Recovery Research Institute at Harvard Medical School, for a deep dive into the science behind what makes recovery possible, sustainable, and real. Dr. Kelly breaks down the difference between remission and recovery, shares what decades of research tells us about who gets better (spoiler: most people do) and unpacks the active ingredients that help people build lives they love. We also get into the language we use around addiction, why it matters more than you think, and what the latest science says about stigma, stages of change, and recovery capital. Whether you are in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working in the field — this episode is packed with hope, science, and practical insight. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔑 IN THIS EPISODE ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ • What recovery actually means — and how it's different from remission • Why 75% of people with substance use disorder do recover (and what that means for you) • The CHIME model: the 5 active ingredients of lasting recovery   → Community | Hope | Identity | Meaning & Purpose | Empowerment • Stages of Change (Prochaska & DiClemente) — and why just thinking about change counts • Recovery Capital: what's in your "recovery bank account"? • The power of language — why words like "abuser" cause measurable harm • Stigma, genetics, and why addiction is nobody's fault • What excites Dr. Kelly most about the future of addiction research • Psychedelics and addiction treatment: cautious optimism from a Harvard researcher ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 👤 ABOUT OUR GUEST ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ John Kelly is the Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School and founder and director of the Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is one of the world's leading researchers on addiction recovery, mutual help organizations, and reducing stigma in the addiction field. 🔗 Recovery Research Institute: www.recoveryanswers.org ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ FOOD JUNKIES PODCAST ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Food Junkies Podcast explores food addiction and ultra-processed food use disorder through honest conversations with clinicians, researchers, and people in recovery. Hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Clarissa Kennedy, and Molly Painschab. 📲 Subscribe so you never miss an episode ▶️ Find us on YouTube 👍 Like this video if it gives you hope 💬 Drop a comment — what resonated most with you? The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

What if the key to understanding your relationship with food isn't willpower — it's neuroscience? In this fascinating episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Dr. Rachel Herz, neuroscientist, leading expert on the psychology of smell, and author of Why You Eat What You Eat and That's Disgusting. From the evolutionary roots of disgust to why ultra-processed foods bypass our natural aversion responses, this conversation will genuinely change how you think about what ends up on your plate — and in your mouth. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why disgust is almost entirely learned — and what the one innate exception is The neuroanatomy of smell and why scent is so deeply tied to emotion and memory How one bad experience with a food can create a lifelong aversion (one-trial learning) The difference between disgust and fear — and why that distinction matters for disordered eating Why non-tasters may be more prone to overeating than super tasters How ultra-processed food is engineered to bypass our natural "this isn't real food" signals Whether disgust could be a therapeutic tool in changing our relationship with UPFs Why Dr. Herz believes disordered eating is psychological and behavioral — and where she and the Food Junkies team respectfully differ on the addiction model Practical, science-backed strategies for becoming more intentional around eating About Dr. Rachel Herz Dr. Rachel Herz is a neuroscientist and faculty member at Brown University, widely regarded as the world's leading expert on the psychology of smell. She is a TED 2019 and TEDx 2024 speaker, has published 108 peer-reviewed research articles, and serves as an expert witness in legal cases involving smell. She is the incoming president of the International Society of Neural Gastronomy. Her books include: Sensation and Perception (widely used neuroscience textbook) That's Disgusting: Unveiling the Mysteries of Repulsion — a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food — named among the best food books of 2018 by Smithsonian and The New Yorker Connect with Dr. Rachel Herz 🌐 rachelherz.com Connect with Food Junkies  🎙️Food Junkies Podcast — available on all major platforms 🌐 foodjunkiespodcast.com ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast 📘 Sugar-Free For Life: I'm Sweet Enough FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SugarFreeForLife ✨ Back-to-Basics Workshop: https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/back-to-basics The Food Junkies Podcast is hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Molly Painschab, and Clarissa Kennedy. We are dedicated to honest, evidence-informed conversations about food addiction, ultra-processed food use disorder, and recovery. The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

Are you highly sensitive — and secretly using food to manage a world that feels like too much? In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Esther Kane, MSW, a British Columbia-based psychotherapist with nearly 30 years of experience helping highly sensitive people (HSPs) break free from emotional eating and food addiction. Esther isn't just a clinician — she's an HSP herself who nearly died from an eating disorder and has spent decades figuring out what works. If you've ever been told you're "too sensitive," struggled to explain why food feels like your only relief, or burned out trying to take care of everyone but yourself — this one's for you. 🕐 In This Episode What is a Highly Sensitive Person? Based on 40+ years of research by Dr. Elaine Aron, HSPs make up 15–20% of the population. Their nervous systems process everything more deeply — emotions, sensory input, other people's pain. It's not a disorder. It's a biological trait. And it comes with superpowers most people never develop. Why HSPs are so vulnerable to food addiction The world is chronically overstimulating for HSPs. Food numbs the overwhelm. It turns the volume down. Add in chronic people-pleasing, self-abandonment, absorbing everyone else's emotions, and being told your whole life that you're "too much" and food addiction makes complete sense as a survival strategy. What recovery looks like for HSPs Esther doesn't start with the food. She starts with the nervous system. You can't take away someone's coping mechanism until they have something else to hold onto. She walks through the somatic tools, boundary work, and root-cause healing that move the needle for highly sensitive people. 🎙️ Connect with Esther Kane 🌐 estherkane.com 📺 YouTube: Compassionate Conversations 👇 Are YOU a highly sensitive person? Drop a 🙋 in the comments if this episode described you — or share it with someone who has always been told they feel too much. They need to hear this. Subscribe so you never miss an episode of Food Junkies — real conversations about food addiction, recovery, and what it takes to heal. The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

Life doesn't pause for recovery — and right now, life is a lot. In this Clinician's Corner episode, co-hosts Molly Painschab and Clarissa Kennedy sit down for an honest, grounded conversation about what it looks like to stay connected to your recovery when the world feels like it's on fire and your personal life is a lot at the same time. This isn't a pep talk. These are two clinicians talking real about the neuroscience of stress and cravings, the shame spiral that follows a slip, and what "minimum viable recovery" can look like when you're just trying to make it to tomorrow. If you've been asking yourself why this is suddenly so hard? This episode is for you. In This Episode, We Cover: 🧠 Why your brain is working against you right now The neuroscience behind chronic stress and cravings — and why a recovering brain is already running harder than average before you add the weight of the world on top. 🌍 The macro AND the micro From political instability and financial stress to grief, caregiving, and personal loss — we name what's happening and why pretending otherwise is doing you a disservice. 📱 Setting boundaries with the news cycle How to stop the doom scroll from hijacking your nervous system — without swinging to total avoidance. Finding the middle path that keeps you informed without dysregulated. 😔 The shame spiral that turns slips into recurrences It's not always the slip itself that does the damage. Molly breaks down why the judgment after the slip often has far longer-lasting consequences — and how to interrupt that cycle. 🛟 Minimum viable recovery What's the smallest version of recovery you can do today to make it to tomorrow? Clarissa introduces this framework and it will change how you think about hard seasons. ⚓ Recovery anchors and non-negotiables The value of identifying a few tethering behaviors before you're in crisis — and why protecting those anchors can keep you from unraveling. 💙 Co-regulation and connection We are not wired to regulate alone. From turning on your camera in group to body doubling with an emotional support human — why connection isn't optional when things get hard. 🌿 Meaning-making, spiritual practice, and nature Reconnecting with your why — the deep one, not the diet-culture one — and how spiritual practice and time in nature can restore a felt sense of control when everything else feels uncertain. Resources & Links Mentioned ▶YouTube: Food Junkies Podcast - YouTube 🌐 Sweet Sobriety membership & groups: https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/group-coaching-2025 📧 Email us with topic requests or questions: [email protected] If this episode resonated with you: → Share it with someone who needs to hear it right now → Come to group — even if you've been avoiding it, just go → If you're a professional, bring this conversation to your next supervision session The Food Junkies Podcast is hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Molly Painschab, and Clarissa Kennedy. New episodes drop weekly. 🎙️ Subscribe, leave a review, and share with someone in recovery who could use a reminder that they're not broken — they're just carrying a lot right now. BACK-to-BASICS WORKSHOP with Megan Sloan  What you'll walk away with: • Simple strategies to improve balance, posture & core stability • A deeper understanding of your body and how it communicates with you • Practical tools you can use immediately • A stronger sense of trust and connection with your body    Saturday, April 25 at 10am EST  90 minutes  Live + replay included  $25 USD ➡️ https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/back-to-basics   The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.  

What does it take to turn personal pain into policy change? In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Chérie St. Arnauld, Executive Director of Metabolic Revolution and a passionate advocate for metabolic health, to explore the power of grassroots mobilization in the fight against ultra-processed foods. Chérie grew up in a household shaped by economic constraints and ultra-processed food. It was her sister's cancer diagnosis, and the radical dietary intervention that gave her 10 more years of life, that forever changed how Chérie understood the relationship between food and healing. Today, she's channeling that lived experience into one of the most dynamic grassroots organizations in the metabolic health space. In this conversation, Vera and Chérie explore what the food addiction and metabolic health communities can learn from each other, and what it actually looks like to build a movement from the ground up. 🎙️ What We Cover: • Chérie's story: growing up on ultra-processed foods, her sister's illness, and the whole-food dietary shift that changed everything • How a ketogenic diet transformed Chérie's mental health and clarity • The founding of Metabolic Revolution and its mission to empower individuals to demand change from their institutions • The October 2024 Rally for Metabolic Health at the Washington Monument — how it happened, who spoke, and what it sparked • The petition to ban ultra-processed foods from school meals — and the volunteer-led school lunch committee it inspired • A halted ketogenic therapy research study at the University of Maryland — and how Metabolic Revolution took action • The parallel between Big Food and Big Tobacco — and what a master settlement agreement could look like • Grassroots strategies: rallies, community walks, petitions, state attorney general investigations, and more • Why individual stories + research + cost data may be the most powerful combination in advocacy • The intersection of food addiction and metabolic health — and why these movements are stronger together • What the food addiction world can learn from Metabolic Revolution's bottom-up approach 🔗 Resource(s) Mentioned: • Metabolic Revolution: metabolicrevolution.org   🙌 If you or someone you love is struggling with ultra-processed food use disorder, please visit us at sweetsobriety.ca and foodjunkiespodcast.com Connect with Food Junkies:  🎙️ Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts  💻 Website: foodjunkiespodcast.com   ▶️ YouTube: Food Junkies Podcast - YouTube  💌 Email: [email protected] 👍 Like, subscribe, and leave a review — it helps more people find us.   The Food Junkies Podcast is hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Molly Painschab, and Clarissa Kennedy. We explore the science, stories, and solutions behind food addiction and ultra-processed food use disorder. The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

CJ has the privilege of sitting down with Kristy today. Today, I'm honored to introduce Kristy, a devoted homeschooling mom whose life is a powerful testimony of resilience, strength, and hope. Kristy once believed her struggles were simply about weight and exercise, never realizing she was battling food addiction. Through faith, courage, and deep self-discovery, she came to understand the root of her struggle and found freedom on the other side. She is unwavering in her belief that God carried her through every step of the journey. Now, she shares her story to encourage others, offering hope and lifting up anyone walking through addiction.   If you're considering personalized assistance, CJ, a Certified Addiction Professional specializing in Food Addiction, is here for one-on-one coaching. Reach out to CJ at [email protected]  Interested in sharing your recovery story on our show? We'd love to hear from you! Please email [email protected] 

What's really happening inside your child's body when they eat ultra-processed food? In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Dr. Jacob May — mitochondrial researcher, registered dietitian, and Associate Professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center — to explore the cellular and metabolic consequences of a diet dominated by ultra-processed foods, particularly in children. Dr. May leads the Mitochondrial Energetics and Nutrient Utilization Laboratory, where his team investigates how dietary patterns shape metabolism at the cellular level. He's a keynote speaker, precision nutrition researcher, and practicing clinician — and his insights here are both science-forward and refreshingly practical. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why mitochondria can't tell the difference between a McDonald's burger and organic beef — and why that still matters What phytonutrients and zoonutrients are, and why ultra-processing strips them out How ultra-processed foods drive insulin resistance through a damaging feedback loop Whether children are more resilient or more vulnerable to the effects of UPFs — and why the answer is complicated What the research actually says about saturated fat, ketogenic diets, and insulin sensitivity How the gut microbiome is affected by ultra-processed food intake Why breath biomarkers may be the future of non-invasive metabolic screening What GLP-1 medications mean for the future of nutrition science — and why dietitians aren't obsolete Practical, real-world advice for feeding children in an ultra-processed food environment About Dr. Jacob May: Dr. Jacob May is an Associate Professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and head of the Mitochondrial Energetics and Nutrient Utilization Laboratory. His research focuses on how dietary patterns — including ketogenic and ultra-processed food diets — affect cellular metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and metabolic disease. He holds a PhD in nutrition science and is a Registered Dietitian with an active clinical practice. He was a keynote speaker at Pennington's 2025 Childhood Obesity Conference. Email Dr. May: [email protected]   Connect with Food Junkies: 🎙️ Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts 💻 Website: foodjunkiespodcast.com  ▶️ YouTube: Food Junkies Podcast - YouTube 💌 Email: [email protected] The Food Junkies Podcast is hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Molly Painschab, and Clarissa Kennedy. We explore the science, stories, and solutions behind food addiction and ultra-processed food use disorder. The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

Are you working hard, caring deeply, and still feeling like it's not enough? You're not alone, and this episode is for you. This week, Molly and Clarissa sit down with Dr. Ellen Hendriksen, clinical psychologist, core faculty at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, and author of How to Be Enough and How to Be Yourself. Ellen brings warmth, science, and radical compassion to one of the most common, and most quietly painful, struggles in recovery: perfectionism. In this conversation, we explore: 🔹 Where perfectionism actually comes from — genetics, family of origin, AND the culture we're swimming in 🔹 Why shame fuels the binge-restrict cycle and how to begin replacing self-punishment with self-kindness 🔹 The crucial difference between rules and values — and how that distinction can transform your recovery 🔹 Why procrastination is never really about time (and what it's actually telling you) 🔹 How to build a stable, grounded sense of self-worth that isn't constantly up for evaluation 🔹 Why comparison is hardwired — and what to do with it instead of fighting it 🔹 The "already enough" practice that rewires how we see ourselves Whether you're navigating food addiction recovery, disordered eating, or just the exhausting weight of never feeling like you measure up — this episode offers real tools, real grace, and real hope. ABOUT DR. ELLEN HENDRIKSEN Dr. Ellen Hendriksen is a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and perfectionism. She is core faculty at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD) at Boston University and author of two books: How to Be Enough (perfectionism) and How to Be Yourself (social anxiety). Find her newsletter How to Be Good to Yourself When You're Hard on Yourself on Substack. 🔗 Find Ellen's books wherever books are sold 📬 Ellen's Substack: Search "How to Be Good to Yourself When You're Hard on Yourself" CONNECT WITH US:   Food Junkies Podcast on YouTube: (2) Food Junkies Podcast - YouTube 📧 Email us at: [email protected] If this episode resonated with you, please leave us a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it. 💛 The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

Have you ever left a session feeling smaller than when you walked in? In this episode of Food Junkies: Clinician's Corner, Clarissa and Molly explore one of the most important — and least talked about — dynamics in eating disorder, food addiction, and substance use treatment: what happens when the clinician's model gets in the way of the client's healing. 🔑 What We Cover in This Episode: ⬡ The Rosenhan Experiment — how psychiatric patients were misdiagnosed and then had their normal behavior interpreted as worsening symptoms, and what it reveals about clinical bias today ⬡ Epistemic dismissal — the active or passive rejection of a person's own knowledge and lived experience by the very professionals meant to help them ⬡ How diagnosis can be a flashlight or a floodlight — illuminating patterns vs. erasing the person ⬡ What happens when clients start performing recovery instead of living it ⬡ The role of ego in clinical practice — and why it doesn't always look like arrogance (sometimes it looks like certainty) ⬡ Why ambivalence is not pathology — and why allowing clients to explore moderation can be clinically sound ⬡ The difference between recovery and discovery, and why one may feel more alive than the other ⬡ How behaviors that look like symptoms are often solutions — and why treating the smoke instead of the fire keeps people stuck ⬡ Why autonomy predicts engagement and long-term change — and what that means for how we design treatment ⬡ Whose anxiety is actually driving the treatment plan? 🔗 Connect With Us: 📧 Topic suggestions & questions: [email protected] ▶️ Watch on YouTube — subscribe to help us grow and reach more people who need this content!    The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.      

Can you eat plant-based and still avoid sugar, carbs, and ultra-processed foods? In this episode of Food Junkies, Dr. Vera Tarman is joined by Adina Mullen, plant-based chef, author of Vegan Flavors of the World, and founder of Adina's Delicacies, to explore whether vegetarian or vegan eating can truly support food addiction recovery, low-sugar living, and even plant-based keto—without deprivation or rebound eating. Adina brings a deeply grounded, real-world approach to plant-based cooking rooted in whole foods, cultural traditions, flavor, and satisfaction. This conversation goes beyond diet rules to focus on nourishment, satiety, and sustainability, especially for people healing their relationship with food. 🌱 What You'll Learn in This Episode ✔️ Is plant-based keto actually possible? ✔️ Why many people fail on plant-based diets (and how to avoid rebound eating) ✔️ The difference between vegetarian, vegan, and whole-food plant-based ✔️ How to feel satisfied without sugar or ultra-processed foods ✔️ Best plant-based protein sources, including options for people on GLP-1s ✔️ Why preparation and texture matter more than restriction ✔️ How culture, memory, and comfort foods support long-term recovery ✔️ Common mistakes that leave people hungry, depleted, or triggered 🧠 Key Topics Covered 🥑 Plant-Based Keto & Low-Sugar Eating Adina explains how low-carb, low-sugar plant-based eating can work using whole foods like vegetables, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, tofu, and seeds—while also naming why keto isn't sustainable for everyone. 🥦 Why "Vegan" Doesn't Always Mean Healthy Removing animal products and replacing them with ultra-processed vegan foods often leads to hunger, instability, and relapse. Whole foods, structure, and adequate fat and protein matter—especially in food addiction recovery. 🍲 Flavor, Texture & Satisfaction Roasting vs boiling, crispy textures, homemade dressings, sauces, and slow cooking are key to making vegetables feel grounding and satisfying—not like deprivation food. 🌍 Culture, Memory & Healing Food isn't just fuel. Adina shares how honoring cultural and traditional meals—without animal products—helps people feel emotionally nourished and connected. 💪 Protein for Plant-Based & GLP-1 Users Includes discussion of: TVP (textured vegetable protein) Tofu & tempeh Nuts and seeds (chia, flax, hemp, pumpkin) Smart prep for digestion and satiety 📘 About the Guest: Adina Mullen Adina Mullen is a plant-based private chef and founder of Adina's Delicacies, specializing in gourmet vegan cuisine inspired by global flavors, heritage, and memory. She is the author of Vegan Flavors of the World, featuring plant-based adaptations of traditional dishes from 12 countries, with a second volume coming soon. ✨ Key Takeaways Healing doesn't come from fighting food—it comes from letting food support you Steadiness matters more than perfection Satisfaction, fat, protein, and flavor are not optional in recovery You don't need more rules—you need nourishment, warmth, and trust 🔔 Subscribe for More Conversations Like This If you're navigating food addiction recovery, low-sugar living, plant-based nutrition, or metabolic health, subscribe to Food Junkies for evidence-based, compassionate conversations that go deeper than diet culture. ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast 💌 Email us at: [email protected]   The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.  

In this powerful episode of Food Junkies, we're joined by Amber Romaniuk, emotional eating and digestive health expert, to unpack the real drivers behind binge eating, food addiction, and the relentless restrict–overeat cycle. Amber shares her personal recovery journey from binge eating, bulimia, and food addiction—and explains why lasting healing requires more than another diet or food plan. Together, we explore how hormones, thyroid function, nervous system stress, and shame shape our relationship with food in ways most people are never taught. This conversation is especially important for women who feel like they "know better" but still struggle—and wonder why nothing seems to stick. 🎯 In this episode, we cover: Why emotional eating is communication, not a lack of willpower How cortisol, thyroid dysfunction, and low progesterone can drive cravings and binge cycles Why fasting, restriction, and over-exercise often worsen food addiction patterns How shame keeps people stuck—and what actually helps dissolve it What "Body Freedom" really means beyond weight loss First steps to identify emotional eating triggers without self-blame Why healing your relationship with food must come before hormone repair can work This episode is for you if: ✔ You struggle with binge or emotional eating ✔ Diets and food rules keep backfiring ✔ You suspect hormones or stress are part of the picture ✔ You're exhausted by shame and ready for a deeper, kinder path forward 🔗 Connect with Amber Romaniuk 🌐 Website & free resources: https://amberapproved.ca 🎙 Podcast: The No Sugarcoating Podcast 📱 Instagram & YouTube: @AmberRomaniuk 👍 If this episode helped you, please like, subscribe, and share—it helps more people find compassionate, evidence-informed conversations about food addiction recovery. ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast 💌 Email us at: [email protected] 💬 Comment below: What part of this conversation resonated most with you?   The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

Is there a built-in "fat switch" in our genes—something nature designed to help us store fat for survival? And if so, what does that mean for food addicts living in a world saturated with ultra-processed food? In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Dr. Richard Johnson, Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado, former Chief of the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, author of The Sugar Fix, The Fat Switch, and Nature Wants Us to Be Fat, and a researcher with 700+ scientific papers to his name. Dr. Johnson explains how fructose (from sugar and high-fructose corn syrup—but also produced inside the body under certain conditions) can activate a powerful metabolic pathway that increases hunger, lowers cellular energy, and shifts calories toward fat storage. He connects this to uric acid, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and the modern "perfect storm" of ultra-processed foods engineered to intensify cravings. Together, they explore the evolutionary logic of fat storage, why visceral fat may have had survival value, why "calories in/calories out" fails to explain the whole picture, and what practical steps can help people restore metabolic flexibility—including carbohydrate reduction, movement that supports mitochondrial health, and the emerging role of GLP-1 medications as a tool (not a replacement) for nutrition change. What You'll Learn 🔥Why Dr. Johnson argues sugar isn't "just a calorie," and how fructose changes metabolism differently 🔥The role of uric acid in blood pressure, metabolic disease, and the fructose pathway 🔥How salt + starch + fat can amplify the "fat switch" (and why chips and fries are a perfect example) 🔥Why the body can make fructose from glucose, even if you aren't eating fructose directly 🔥The survival biology behind fat storage—and why visceral fat may have had an adaptive purpose 🔥How insulin resistance can be a short-term protective mechanism (and how modern life turns it chronic) 🔥Why low-carb approaches may "reboot" sugar absorption and cravings in as little as 7–14 days 🔥What Dr. Johnson believes is a major dietary driver of Alzheimer's risk 🔥How to support mitochondria through movement and nutrition 🔥Dr. Johnson's perspective on GLP-1s: benefits, limits, and relapse risk after stopping   Resources Mentioned Dr. Richard Johnson's books: The Sugar Fix, The Fat Switch, Nature Wants Us to Be Fat   About Our Guest Dr. Richard Johnson is Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado, a former Chief of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, and the author of The Sugar Fix, The Fat Switch, and Nature Wants Us to Be Fat. His research explores how sugar—particularly fructose—drives kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, and how modern food environments may overactivate ancient survival pathways.   If this episode helped you understand your cravings or your biology with more clarity and less shame, please share it with a friend, leave a review, and subscribe so more people can find recovery-focused science. ✉️ Email us: [email protected] Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast   The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

In this month's Clinician's Corner, Molly and Clarissa take a deep dive into the fix response—a lesser-named but incredibly common nervous-system survival strategy that shows up as over-functioning, urgency, problem-solving, and "doing something" to make discomfort go away. This episode explores why fixing isn't a personality flaw, control issue, or codependency—but a biologically wired, trauma-informed self-preservation response that once helped keep us safe. Together, we unpack how the fix response shows up in food addiction recovery, relationships, work, parenting, and even helping professions—and why it so often leads to burnout, resentment, and cycles of shame when left unexamined. In this episode, we discuss: What the fix response is (and what it's not) Why fixing feels regulating in the moment, but often backfires long-term How fixing differs from healthy problem-solving Common fix patterns in food addiction recovery (constant plan changes, "starting fresh Monday," adding rules after lapses) Over-functioning, hyper-responsibility, and lawn-mowing other people's problems Why fixers struggle with rest, delegation, and asking for help How ADHD, dopamine, urgency, and novelty-seeking intersect with fixing The developmental and trauma roots of the fix response How fixing pairs with fawn, hyper-independence, and people-pleasing Why optimization culture and biohacking can reinforce dysregulation The cost of living in constant "fix mode"—burnout, resentment, disconnection, and relapse risk How to recognize fix mode in the body (jaw clenching, shallow breath, tight chest, restless urgency) Why the goal isn't to eliminate fixing—but to update it How to build awareness, pause, discern responsibility, and bring choice back online This conversation is especially relevant for clinicians, coaches, caregivers, helpers, parents, and anyone in recovery who feels exhausted from always being the one who "handles things." 📺 Watch on YouTube and please subscribe—it helps us reach more people who need this conversation.  📩 Have a topic you want us to cover? Email us at [email protected]   The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

In this episode, Molly and Clarissa welcome back Dr. Ann Saffi Biasetti for a rich, grounded conversation on body forgiveness and why it can be a turning point in embodied healing. Drawing on her clinical work, research, and lived experience, Ann shares that "forgiving your body" isn't a mental exercise or forced positivity—it's a felt shift that helps move people from control and correction toward listening, trust, and reconciliation with the body as an ally. Ann also introduces themes from her upcoming book, Your Body Never Meant You Any Harm: A Somatic Guide to Forgiving and Healing Your Relationship With Your Body, and revisits the foundation of her work from Befriending Your Body—offering an informed, non-pathologizing approach for anyone healing from disordered eating, chronic dieting, trauma, shame, illness, or body distrust. What you'll hear in this episode How Ann's postpartum autoimmune illness became a doorway into deeper embodiment—and body advocacy The difference between interoceptive awareness (noticing signals) and standing up for your body when you're dismissed Why embodiment is a psychospiritual construct—and how "being beside your body" can be a practical starting point How to tell the difference between mind fear-stories and what your body is actually communicating Entry points for people who feel body connection is inaccessible: curiosity, regulation, and "giving your body a chance" What it means to find your center—and why being "off-center" fuels critical thoughts and body war How diet culture targets predictable times of day when people feel more vulnerable in body image A clear breakdown: body forgiveness vs body acceptance vs body neutrality Why pushing the body to "comply" before safety and trust are built can feel re-traumatizing The clinical risk of "behavioral recovery" without embodiment—and why unresolved embodiment work can look like "relapse" or "symptom swapping." Ann's powerful reframe for "my body failed me" (and the deeper words that often live underneath that phrase) Memorable takeaways Body forgiveness is not forced forgiveness. It's a mind–heart shift that often arises from understanding, regulation, and compassion rather than effort. Curiosity is an access point. It creates space where judgment collapses and new options become possible. Words land in the body. Shifting language (from "failed me" to "became unwell," "changed," "declined," "disappointed," "let me down") can soften the adversarial stance and open an embodied conversation. Mentioned in this episode Befriending Your Body (Ann's book and the evidence-informed compassion-based program) Your Body Never Meant You Any Harm (Ann's forthcoming book on somatic body forgiveness) Embodiment as a "container" for recovery (not just behavior change) Self-compassion components (mindfulness, common humanity, kindness) as supports for body repair For listeners who want to go deeper If you've ever felt like your body is the problem—or you've done everything "right" and still feel distrust—this conversation offers a different path: not fixing the body, but rebuilding relationship with it. Ann's approach emphasizes safety, steadiness, and the kind of compassion that can hold grief, regret, and shame without getting stuck there. Subscribe / Follow / Share If this episode resonates, please follow the podcast and share it with someone who needs a kinder, truer framework for healing their relationship with their body. 💌 EMAIL us at [email protected]  Don't forget - we are on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

Why is it so hard to lose weight—and even harder to keep it off? In this episode, we explore groundbreaking research showing that fat cells can retain an epigenetic "memory" of obesity, even after significant weight loss. This emerging science helps explain why weight regain is so common and why willpower alone is not the issue. We're joined by Ferdinand von Meyenn, Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich, where he leads research on nutrition and metabolic epigenetics. Prof. von Meyenn has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers, with work featured in top scientific journals including Nature and Cell. Together, we unpack what "obesogenic memory" really means, how epigenetics allows fat cells to adapt—and remember—past environments, and why long-term exposure to excess calories can biologically prime the body to regain weight faster in the future. In this conversation, you'll learn: What epigenetics is and how it differs from genetics How fat cells adapt to chronic overnutrition—and why those changes can persist after weight loss Why short-term weight changes are easier to reverse than long-term weight gain How this research challenges the idea that weight regain is a personal failure What current data suggests about bariatric surgery, GLP-1 medications, and long-term outcomes The role of inflammation, adipose tissue signaling, and the brain in body-weight regulation Why prevention matters—and why compassion matters even more for those already affected What researchers hope to uncover next about rewriting epigenetic memory This episode offers a powerful, science-based reframe: difficulty maintaining weight loss is not about weakness—it's about biology adapting to past environments. Understanding this may open the door to more effective, humane, and sustainable approaches to metabolic health in the future. 🎧 Whether you're a clinician, researcher, or someone who has lived through the frustration of weight regain, this conversation brings clarity, validation, and a forward-looking perspective on where the science is headed. If you found this episode helpful, consider subscribing on YouTube and sharing it with someone who could use a science-grounded reminder that their struggle is not a moral failing. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast 💌 Please email us at [email protected] The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.