Couverture de Food Addiction, the Problem and the Solution

Food Addiction, the Problem and the Solution

Food Addiction, the Problem and the Solution

De : Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir
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The International School For Food Addiction Counseling And Treatment (The INFACT School) brings you the podcast, Food Addiction: The Problem And The Solution which explores the ubiquitous problems of food addiction and presents the solution. The school, founded by director Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir MSc, is the world’s first and only sugar/food addiction counseling training with U.S. and European food addiction counselor certifications. infactschool.com Host, Susan Branscome, a recovered food addict, interviews guests who are professionals and counselors focused on the disease of food addiction, as well as individuals who have successfully recovered from food addiction. The podcast will resonate with food addicts, those dieting unsuccessfully, those desperate to learn more about food addiction and recover, as well as professionals treating and counseling clients with food addiction and medical practitioners treating patients suffering from obesity and obesity-related illnesses and issues. Subscribe to Food Addiction: The Problem and The Solution wherever you get your podcasts!Copyright Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir Hygiène et vie saine Maladie et pathologies physiques Psychologie Psychologie et psychiatrie
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    Épisodes
    • Why 30–50% Don’t Respond: What We’re Missing in Eating Disorder Treatment
      Feb 17 2026
      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 experience in long-term recovery from alcohol use disorder, bulimia, and food addiction. Dr. Dennis believes recovery must address the whole person: biological, psychological, social, and spiritual—not just symptoms or weight. A central theme of this episode is what happens when treatment doesn’t work. Dr. Dennis points to a sobering reality: 30–50% of people with eating disorders do not respond to gold-standard treatments, often leaving patients believing they are broken. She challenges that narrative and argues that food addiction—particularly addiction to sugar and ultra-processed foods—is a critical and often dismissed missing piece. Drawing parallels to Big Tobacco, she explains how corporate influence, stigma, and lack of diagnostic legitimacy have delayed research funding, insurance coverage, and effective treatment, despite growing neurobiological evidence involving dopamine reward pathways, craving, withdrawal, and continued use despite harm. Dr. Dennis approaches every patient through a trauma-informed lens, emphasizing that all eating disorders and food addiction exist on a continuum shaped by disrupted safety, neglect, or adversity—what she describes as both “big T” and “little t” trauma. Rather than separating behavior from biology, she explains how trauma alters reward systems and coping mechanisms, making food a powerful regulator of emotion and survival. Her model centers on patient-led collaboration, clinical humility, and a strong therapeutic alliance—meeting people exactly where they are, without leaving them there. The conversation also explores some of the most debated issues in the field, including harm reduction versus abstinence, the eating-disorder community’s resistance to food addiction, and the expanding use of GLP-1 medications. Dr. Dennis stresses that abstinence is a “tricky word” that must be defined clinically and individually—not ideologically—and that medications may have a place when used thoughtfully, transparently, and alongside comprehensive care. She closes with a message of hope: recovery is not about weight or perfection, lives do get bigger, and no one should stop seeking answers simply because one approach failed. #eatingdisorderrecovery #healthyliving #obesity #MAHA Dr. Nicole Avena (https://www.instagram.com/drnicoleavena/?hl=en) #ashleygearhardt #foodaddiction #ultraprocessed #addictionscience #foodfreedom
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      1 h et 2 min
    • Blending Science and Empathy to Help Food Addicts Recover
      Sep 30 2025
      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 patterns that spiraled into guilt, shame, and obsession around food. Years later, Jessica reached 360 pounds, underwent both gastric sleeve and gastric bypass surgeries, and began to see firsthand the limitations of relying on restriction and surgery alone.Today, Jessica is abstinent from offending foods and volume and thriving after decades of obesity, two major surgeries, and a history of drug and food addiction. A graduate of the INFACT School, she combines science with empathy to guide clients seeking relief. She knows the struggle of trying to control food and weight with willpower or medical intervention and offers a spiritual and recovery-based solution that goes deeper than restriction. Her work centers on teaching that freedom from food obsession is possible—through abstinence, recovery, and connection.Jessica is passionate about meeting people before they undergo gastric bypass surgery, helping them explore a path to recovery that doesn’t rely solely on surgery. With warmth and honesty, she shares her own journey of learning to recognize emotions like anger, breaking free from food obsession, and discovering true freedom. Connect with her on Facebook at Taste of Freedom (https://www.facebook.com/people/A-Taste-of-Freedom/61576852342384/), on Instagram at A Taste of Freedom Coaching (https://www.instagram.com/atasteoffreedom.coaching), or reach out directly at email: jparker.atof@gmail.com to learn more about her coaching and recovery approach.
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      58 min
    • Today I Have Peace and Neutrality Around Food
      Aug 19 2025
      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 early a time as he could remember. Childhood brought emotional instability and deep discomfort, and food quickly became his escape. As his addictions grew, he eventually faced life-threatening consequences not only from substance use but also from disordered and compulsive eating. Mike found sobriety from drugs and alcohol in 2005. Three years later, in 2008, he entered his first 12-step food recovery program, beginning what he often calls the hardest journey of all. Food was harder than drugs or alcohol. He admits, wrestling with the question of whether complete abstinence from food was even possible, and often would think to himself that people who said they had it were either lying or didn’t have it as bad off as he did. For the next decade, he cycled through food addiction and eating disorder treatment programs and countless 12-step meetings. Despite his best efforts, lasting recovery eluded him. Eventually, he reached a point of total desperation, physically broken, emotionally hopeless, and eating to die. Then, in a moment he least expected, the right combination of desperation, willingness, and support came together for him. It marked the turning point toward the most profound recovery and wellness he had ever experienced. Since 2018, Mike’s recovery has not been perfect or linear. He has relapsed more than once, but each time, he has returned to the support and structure needed to realign with his recovery. He believes his life depends on maintaining abstinence, and his resilience lies in never giving up and continuing to show up and seek recovery even when hope felt out of reach. Mike believes that if recovery can happen for a Man as hopeless as he was, then it can be had by anyone. Now in his 50s, Mike is healthy, thriving, and enjoying a beautiful life with his family. He has maintained a 150-pound weight loss for many years and speaks openly about how addiction nearly took his life but recovery gave him a new one. Mike’s story is also one of service and joy. He transformed his love of food and a lifelong passion for cooking into a recovery-focused mission. Since 2020, he has led hundreds of cooking and meal-planning classes at Milestones in Recovery (https://www.milestonesprogram.org/), known as Cooking with Mike. In these sessions, he shows that people in recovery from eating disorders and food addiction can enjoy abundant, delicious, and nourishing meals while maintaining abstinence. His philosophy is simple: recovery doesn’t mean deprivation, it means positive transformation, supported by planning and mindful preparation. In Fall of 2020, Mike enrolled in the INFACT School (https://infactschool.com/), deepening his knowledge of food addiction and treatment. That education inspired him to expand his role from recovery sponsor to certified counselor, allowing him to guide others professionally. He now encourages others who feel called to this work to pursue certification as well.
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      55 min
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