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Food Junkies Podcast

Food Junkies Podcast

By: Clarissa Kennedy
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Welcome to the "Food Junkies" podcast! Here we aim to provide you with the experience, strength and hope of professionals actively working on the front lines in the field of Food Addiciton. The purpose of our show is to educate YOU the listener and increase overall awareness about Food Addiction as a recognized disorder. Here we discuss all things recovery, exploring the many pathways people take towards abstinence in order to achieve a health forward lifestyle. Most importantly how to THRIVE rather than just survive. So stay positive, make a change for yourself, tell others about your change, and hopefully the message will spread. The content on our show does not supplement or supersede the professional relationship and direction of your healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder or mental health concern. Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • Episode 288: Susan Peirce Thompson, PhD — Six-Year Outcomes, GLP-1s & the Identity Shifts Behind Lasting Recovery

    Episode 288: Susan Peirce Thompson, PhD — Six-Year Outcomes, GLP-1s & the Identity Shifts Behind Lasting Recovery
    Jul 2 2026
    📢 A quick announcement from the Food Junkies team: For the first time, we're moving to a new release schedule — new episodes every other week, still featuring one Recovery Story each month. We'll share more about this decision in our next Clinician's Corner. Whether you've been with us from the beginning or just found us, thank you. This is also the perfect time to dive into our archive of hundreds of conversations with experts, clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience. Our next episode launches on July 17th. About Today's Guest Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson is a cognitive psychologist with expertise in the psychology of eating and the founder and CEO of Bright Line Eating, a global program for abstinence-based recovery from ultra-processed food addiction and long-term weight management. She is an adjunct associate professor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester and the author of Bright Line Eating, ReZoom, On This Bright Day, The Official Bright Line Eating Cookbook, and her newest book, Maintain. In 2025, Susan published a study in Frontiers in Psychiatry reporting six-year outcomes from the Bright Line Eating program that suggest an abstinence-based food addiction recovery approach can support clinically meaningful, long-term weight loss. In This Episode Vera and Clarissa sit down with Susan to unpack her research, her personal recovery story, and the deeper psychology of maintenance. Topics include: Susan's journey from drug addiction to food addiction recovery — and why she found the food harder to quitHow Bright Line Eating began, and why so many people won't walk into a 12-step roomThe honest story behind ReZoom: Susan's own break-and-resume cycles while leading a recovery movementThe six-year follow-up study: methodology, sample, limitations, and what the numbers actually showHow outcomes compare to published GLP-1 (semaglutide) data at long-term follow-upWhy simply learning about the addictiveness of sugar and flour may "inoculate" people against further weight gainThe four Bright Lines: sugar, flour, meals, quantitiesWho did best at six years — and the surprising role of morning accountability callsGLP-1 medications in food addiction recovery: Susan's "pro-choice" stance, the promise, the unknowns, and why we shouldn't pathologize medication for a brain-based diseaseThe tension between weight loss outcomes and addiction symptom recovery — and protecting listeners in larger bodies who are doing everything "right"Lipedema: the under-recognized condition affecting an estimated 11% of women that doesn't respond to dietary interventionThe three identity shifts in Maintain: becoming devoted, resourced, and liberatedGrief work: why letting go of foods (and food-centered traditions) is a real loss that deserves real mourningFinish-line anxiety and the fear of liberation — who am I without the food and weight struggle?Willpower, habit stacking, and designing a life that works even on your worst dayWhat's next for Susan: an alternative memoir about the dopamine-dominant brain Connect with Susan Peirce Thompson Website: https://brightlineeating.comBooks: Bright Line Eating, ReZoom, On This Bright Day, The Official Bright Line Eating Cookbook, and Maintain The Food Junkies Podcast Hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Clarissa Kennedy, and Molly Painschab — real conversations about food addiction, recovery, and the science that supports both. ✉️email us at foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com Circadian Rythms and Food Addiction Workshop with Viktoria Hamma 🔗Part 1: https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/circadian-rhythm-and-red-light-therapy-educations 🔗Part 2: https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/circadian-rhythms-red-light-therapy-part-2-understanding-your-body-s-internal-clock 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.
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    58 mins
  • Episode 287: Dr. Jason Fung | Is Fasting Safe for the Food Addict?

    Episode 287: Dr. Jason Fung | Is Fasting Safe for the Food Addict?
    Jun 25 2026

    In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with world-renowned nephrologist, researcher, and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Jason Fung to explore one of the most pressing questions in the food addiction community: Is fasting safe for the food addict?

    Dr. Fung's latest book, The Hunger Code: Resetting Your Body's Fat Thermostat in the Age of Ultra-Processed Food, challenges the calorie-centric model of obesity and offers a deeper, more honest look at why we eat the way we do — and what it actually takes to change.

    In this episode, you'll hear:

    • Why the calories in/calories out model fails — and what the hormonal model of obesity actually means
    • The three types of hunger driving overeating: homeostatic, hedonic, and conditioned hunger — and why the social and emotional components may account for 90% of our eating behavior
    • How ultra-processed foods are engineered to hijack the brain's reward system — and why that matters for food addicts
    • The difference between fasting and starvation — and why the mindset behind fasting changes everything
    • The dangers of using fasting as a punishment after a binge — and how to use it safely and intentionally instead
    • Why a low-carb, higher-fat diet makes fasting more sustainable for people coming out of binge cycles
    • Dr. Fung's honest take on GLP-1 medications like Ozempic — the benefits, the limitations, and why they're not the whole answer
    • What Japan and Italy get right about eating culture that the U.S. has lost
    • Why public policy — not just personal willpower — must be part of the solution to ultra-processed food addiction

    About Dr. Jason Fung:

    Dr. Jason Fung is a Toronto-based nephrologist and one of the world's leading experts on therapeutic fasting and low-carb nutrition. He is the bestselling author of The Obesity Code, The Diabetes Code, The Cancer Code, and his newest release, The Hunger Code. He is also the co-founder of The Fasting Method, a coaching program helping people reverse obesity and type 2 diabetes through hormonal and lifestyle approaches.

    🔗 Learn more at thefastingmethod.com

    The Food Junkies Podcast is hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Molly Painschab, and Clarissa Kennedy — dedicated to exploring the science, stories, and solutions behind ultra-processed food use disorder.

    🎙️ Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen to podcasts.

    ✉️ Email us at foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com

    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.
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    58 mins
  • Food Junkies Recovery Stories Episode 35: Keren

    Food Junkies Recovery Stories Episode 35: Keren
    Jun 22 2026

    CJ is joined today by Keren, a vibrant young woman whose passion for recovery and love of life shine through in everything she does. With an infectious enthusiasm and deep gratitude for her journey, Keren is dedicated to sharing her experience, strength, and hope with others who may be struggling. Her commitment to helping people has even inspired her to launch her own YouTube channel, where she openly documents her recovery journey and encourages others to keep going. Full of energy, honesty, and heart, Keren brings a refreshing perspective to the conversation and reminds us all that recovery can be filled with purpose, joy, connection, and hope.

    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 cjnguy@myfoodaddictioncoach.com

    Interested in sharing your recovery story on our show? We'd love to hear from you! Please email FJRecoverystories@gmail.com

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    37 mins
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