Food Addiction, the Problem and the Solution

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The Problem And The Solution

Beyond Willpower: How COR Retreat Helps People Heal from Food Addiction (Video)

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 trigger cravings, obsession, and loss of control in susceptible individuals. Through honest storytelling and decades of recovery experience, Nancy and Joni explain why abstinence, connection, and 12-Step recovery have become life-changing tools for healing.

This is a compelling discussion about the neuroscience of cravings, the emotional pain beneath compulsive eating, and why traditional dieting so often fails for food addicts. Nancy shares how she found freedom after decades of struggling with obesity and food obsession despite long-term sobriety from alcohol, while Joni opens up about beginning dieting and bulimia at age 12 and the deep feelings of “not being enough” that fueled her addiction. Together, they describe how COR Retreat approaches recovery through a healthy food plan with whole, unprocessed foods, community support, spiritual growth, and sustainable abstinence from sugar and flour. Their message is both compassionate and hopeful: there is nothing “wrong” with people who struggle with food addiction — this is a brain-based disease, and recovery is possible.

Nancy and Joni explain why connection is critical, why surrender can become a turning point, and how people can finally experience peace and neutrality with food after years of struggle. Whether you are personally affected by food addiction, work in healthcare, or simply want to better understand the impact of today’s ultra-processed food environment, this conversation will challenge assumptions and inspire hope. Learn more about COR Retreat and their recovery programs at cormn.orgShow More

Beyond Willpower: How COR Retreat Helps People Heal from Food Addiction (Video)

This powerful episode of Food Addiction: The Problem and the Solution ...

Beyond Willpower: How COR Retreat Helps People Heal from Food Addiction

This powerful episode of Food Addiction: The Problem and the Solution ...

Why We Can’t Stop: The Truth About Ultra-Processed Food Addiction (Full Video)

Dr. Jen Unwin is a pioneering voice in the field of food addiction, ...

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 toward lasting health change. What makes her work especially compelling is that it is not only professional but personal—Dr. Unwin has openly shared her own struggles with food addiction, giving her a rare depth of empathy and insight into the realities of recovery.

Working alongside her husband, Dr. David Unwin, she has helped pioneer drug-free remission of type 2 diabetes through sustainable dietary change, supporting hundreds of patients and influencing many more worldwide. Together, they demonstrate that when biology, psychology, and behavior are addressed as one, transformation is not only possible—it is repeatable. Her work bridges science and lived experience, combining clinical rigor with a deep understanding of the emotional and psychological drivers of addictive eating.

In this conversation, we explore the science of food addiction—how ultra-processed foods can hijack the brain, why traditional approaches to control food intake so often fall short, and what it truly takes to move from dieting to recovery. Dr. Unwin shares powerful insights on shame, trauma, withdrawal, and the moment of clarity many experience in early recovery. She is also part of a growing international movement—alongside leaders such as Heidi Giaever and other global experts—working to advance recognition of ultra-processed food addiction as a substance use disorder within the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD). This work represents a critical step toward transforming treatment, research, and public policy worldwide. This is a deeply human and hopeful discussion with a clinician who is helping redefine what recovery can look like—and why meaningful change in how we understand and treat food addiction may be closer than ever.

Food Addiction Solutions: https://www.the-chc.org/fas/team

Write to the WHO about food addiction: https://foodaddictioninstitute.org/who-comment-instructions/

The INFACT School: https://infactschool.com/Show More

Why We Can’t Stop: The Truth About Ultra-Processed Food Addiction

Dr. Jen Unwin is a pioneering voice in the field of food addiction, ...

When the Doctor Is the Patient: Dr. Tro on Food Addiction and Healing

Dr. Tro Kalayjian is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine ...

Why 30–50% Don’t Respond: What We’re Missing in Eating Disorder Treatment (Dr. Kim Dennis)

Dr. Kim Dennis brings a deeply integrative and courageous voice to the ...

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 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 #foodaddiction #ultraprocessed #addictionscience #foodfreedomShow More