Food Addiction, the Problem and the Solution

This powerful episode of Food Addiction: The Problem and the Solution features two remarkable women from COR Retreat — Program Director Nancy Kaley and Co-Facilitator Joni Osip — who share both their professional expertise and deeply personal journeys in food addiction recovery. This conversation explores why food addiction is far more than a lack of willpower and how ultra-processed foods can tri...

Dr. Jen Unwin is a pioneering voice in the field of food addiction, bringing more than three decades of clinical experience from the UK’s National Health Service and a lifelong focus on one powerful idea: hope. A Fellow of the British Psychological Society and recipient of the Karen Ehlert Lifetime Achievement Award, she has dedicated her career to helping people move beyond shame and self-blame t...

Dr. Tro Kalayjian is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine, founder and Chief Medical Officer of Toward Health, and a founding member of the Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners. Through his virtual metabolic health clinic, he helps patients address obesity, type 2 diabetes, chronic metabolic disease, and food addiction using a personalized, lifestyle-based app...

Dr. Kim Dennis brings a deeply integrative and courageous voice to the conversation on eating disorders, food addiction, trauma, and recovery. As a board-certified psychiatrist and the Co-Founder, CEO, and Chief Medical Officer of SunCloud Health (https://suncloudhealth.com/) she has spent more than two decades treating complex, co-occurring conditions—while also drawing from her own lived experie...

In this powerful episode, we speak with Jessica Parker, a coach who brings both lived experience and deep compassion to her work with individuals struggling with food addiction. At just nine years old, Jessica experienced the trauma of divorce and the sudden shift into a blended family with five new sisters. Food quickly became the language of love in her home, but it also fueled disordered eating...

Mike Fetherston has walked a long, humbling road through addiction and recovery. one that has included alcohol, drugs, food addiction, bulimia, and as a result, morbid obesity which plagued him for much of his life. His struggle began early. By the age of two and a half, Mike was already turning to food as a coping mechanism, saying he loved food and wanted to feel as full as he could, from as ear...

Sakinah Osborne is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and Clinical Director at Milestones In Recovery (https://www.milestonesprogram.org/) —a leading residential treatment center in South Florida that specializes in food addiction and eating disorders. Milestones is one of our valued podcast sponsors, known for its abstinence-based, holistic approach to recovery. Wit...

Guests Amanda Leith  SHiFT, Recovery By Acorn and Esther Helga Guðmundsdóttir, INFACT School both experienced the misery of obesity and countless failed diets—until they discovered their real problem: food addiction, a brain disease. Like many late-stage food addicts, they used food to cope with life, consuming far more food than their bodies needed. Once they recognized their addiction, they bega...

Barney Reason is a recovering food addict who has also overcome addictions to alcohol, drugs, and compulsive behaviors. His journey began early—he had his first drink at age 7 and got sober from alcohol by 25 years old. But as the alcohol stopped, his food addiction escalated, leading him to a peak weight of 365 pounds.  Barney grew up in a deeply unstable environment, marked by abuse, neglect, an...

David Wolfe is a certified food addiction counselor and co-founder of SUGARx Global (https://www.sugarxglobal.com/), an online community dedicated to helping individuals overcome sugar and food addictions. David has been instrumental in developing impactful programs that support people successfully finding freedom from addictive food behaviors. He is also the co-author of The Fix For Cravings (htt...

Dr. Adrian Soto-Mota brings a unique blend of expertise as a practicing clinician, data specialist, researcher, and educator at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the largest university in Latin America. The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) (https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/fastlab/yale-food-addiction-scale/) is the most widely used food addiction screening tool worldwide. Dr. Soto-Mo...

Sachir Ajlouni’s incredible journey from obesity and food addiction to recovery is a story of hope and transformation. Weighing 450 pounds at his heaviest, Sachir spent over 30 years trapped in a cycle of compulsive overeating and failed attempts at weight loss, including bariatric surgery. It wasn’t until he entered SHiFT, Recovery by Acorn (https://foodaddiction.com/) a food addiction recovery p...

Dr. Bonnie Nolan holds a PhD in neuroscience and is a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor. With expertise in both neuroscience and psychotherapy, she works on the front lines of opioid addiction, understanding the brain's dopamine response to addictive substances. She also recognizes how genetics, environment, and mental health issues like anxiety and depression contribute to addiction. H...

The INFACT School (https://infactschool.com/) is the only school in the world that teaches students about the science of food addiction and how to treat it.  Graduates receive a Certified Food Addiction Professional (CFAP) which is recognized in Europe and the U.S.  This seven-month virtual training program involves speakers and many top professionals who study the disease of food addiction. Stude...

Christine G. was raised in an alcoholic home and was often compared by her parents to a sibling and was expected to be different. As a child, she began using food to cope with this treatment and she reached her highest body weight of 229.  Her lowest weight was 95 pounds as she suffered many years with bulimia and food addiction. At the age of 13, Christine experienced a traumatic personal violati...

Large food companies, previously owned by tobacco companies, know that we are addicted to sugar and ultra-processed foods.  These companies are making large profits using the same tobacco addiction model with items they are selling us to eat. Food companies add sugars to food items, like high fructose corn syrup, and 250 other sugars to the engineered items they call food.  Meanwhile, the U.S. pop...

Doris R. grew up in an alcoholic household and as the oldest of five children had a lot of responsibility early in her life. She was responsible for taking care of her younger siblings while her mother worked. Her father was an alcoholic, and her mother was obese and used food. Her first diet was in the 4th grade. A recovered alcoholic, after Doris became sober and her food use increased.  She rea...

Before recovery, Raena Z. weighed 315 pounds and today she is a recovered food addict which over a 100-lb weight release. As an overweight child, she recalls liking food more than others and using food to manage her emotions. In this episode, Raena shares an experience from high school that caused her incredible shame.  After she married and gave birth to her son, her weight continued to climb hig...

Do 12-step recovery programs work? Yes!  Dr. John Kelly of Harvard performed a comprehensive study which is one of the most widely disseminated research findings in the last five years and was reviewed by Cochrane. The Cochrane organization reviews research studies and is internationally recognized as the benchmark for high-quality information about the effectiveness of health care. Dr. John Kelly...

Amy B.’s highest known weight was 265 as she used food for many years to deal with stress, anxiety and life challenges. While there is humor and a comedic lightness in this podcast episode discussion between two food-recovered food addicts, the messages are serious and important in talking about what it was like and recovery from food addiction. A recovered alcoholic, Amy used food in the same way...

These three incredible professionals have not only personally experienced recovery from addiction, but they have made it their life’s work to help others recover from food addiction and eating disorders.  This podcast panel episode is comprised of three well-known experts in the treatment of food addiction and eating disorders, Dr. Marty Lerner, Amanda Leith, and Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir.  Dr....

Lori P. is a recovered food addict who shares the challenges experienced in childhood, during a failed marriage, and after the death of her mother. An accomplished company executive, she had used food and many diets during her life attempting to manage her weight and food addiction. Lori had reached a bottom in her addiction and reached a point of desperation, so she began recovering in a 12-step...

Dr. Joan Ifland is a leading authority and expert in highly-processed Food Addiction and wellness recovery and has personal experience with food addiction.  When she realized that her mental and physical health was being negatively affected by the food she was eating, she began to make changes involving eliminating certain foods and utilizing recovery.  Dr. Ifland gives practitioners and clients n...

Kristie M., a recovered food addict, has been maintaining a 170-pound weight loss for many years.  Having been a child of obese parents and one parent who abused alcohol, she identifies as being obsessed with food early in her life and dealt with the shame and denial of not being able to control her weight or food use on her own.  There were many food behaviors including secret eating that plagued...

After losing 130 pounds and gaining it back…twice, on his 34th birthday, Michael Prager had reached 365 pounds.  He was often miserable and isolated and alienated people in his life while feeling the shame of his body size.   After many years of dieting, he finally learned that he has an addictive, biochemical reaction to sugar, flour, and highly processed foods and decided to “get out of the driv...