Episode 239: Dr. Claire Wilcox - Rewire Your Food-Addicted Brain: Fight Cravings and Break Free from a High-Sugar, Ultra-Processed Diet Using Neuroscience
Release Date: 07/24/2025
Episode 261: Real Food Recovery: Holistic Healing, Harm Reduction & Building Lifelong Recovery Roots with Jamie Reno and Paige Alexander
Food Junkies Podcast
In this episode, Paige and Jamie from Real Food Recovery join us to explore the powerful intersection of holistic health, nervous system regulation, and long-term recovery from ultra-processed food addiction. They share why they wrote their book, the four core branches that anchor recovery, and why recovery isn’t about perfection—it’s about resilience, compassion, and sustainable support systems that hold us when life falls apart. With honesty and courage, Jamie shares her story of leaving an abusive relationship and navigating destabilization while protecting her recovery....
info_outline
Episode 260: Healing Trauma, Shame, and Food Addiction through the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model with Jan Winhall
Food Junkies Podcast
Jan Winhall is a psychotherapist, author, educator, and the developer of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model (FSPM), a groundbreaking framework that integrates trauma therapy, polyvagal theory, and embodied focusing to understand and treat addiction and trauma. Over more than four decades of clinical work, Jan has specialized in supporting survivors of sexual violence, complex trauma, and addiction with a deeply de-pathologizing, feminist, and body-based lens. She is the founder of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Institute, teaches internationally, and collaborates closely with leaders in the...
info_outline
Episode 259: Dr. Carrie Wilkens, PhD on Rethinking Addiction Without Shame
Food Junkies Podcast
In this episode of the Food Junkies Podcast, Clarissa and Molly sit down with psychologist Dr. Carrie Wilkens to unpack what it really means to help people change without shame, stigma, or power struggles. Drawing from decades of work in substance use, eating disorders, trauma, and family systems, Carrie invites us to rethink “denial,” “relapse,” “codependency,” and even the disease model itself, while still honoring the seriousness of addiction and the depth of people’s pain. Together, we explore how self-compassion, curiosity, and values-based behavior change can transform not...
info_outline
Episode 258: Clinician’s Corner – Holidays Edition: Boundaries, Nervous Systems & the Hella-Days
Food Junkies Podcast
In this Clinician’s Corner episode, Clarissa and Molly dive into what they lovingly (and accurately) call the “Hella-Days”—that stretch from early fall through New Year’s where routines disappear, food is everywhere, emotions are high, and nervous systems are fried. Together, they unpack why this season is so activating for people with food addiction and nervous system sensitivity, and how to navigate it with values, boundaries, and a whole lot of self-compassion—whether you’re surrounded by family or spending the holidays on your own. In This Episode Clarissa & Molly...
info_outline
Episode 257: Dr. Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO - Cancer, UPFs, and Metabolic Healing
Food Junkies Podcast
In this episode, we sit down with integrative oncologist and metabolic health pioneer Dr. Nasha Winters (who insists we call her Nasha) to explore the powerful intersection of cancer, ultra-processed foods, metabolism, and sovereignty. Nasha shares her astonishing personal story: years of dismissed symptoms, normalized suffering, and relentless gaslighting that culminated in a diagnosis of end-stage ovarian cancer at age 19—and being sent home to die. Thirty-four years later, she’s very much alive and leading a global movement to rethink cancer as a metabolic, terrain-driven disease rather...
info_outline
Episode 256: Dr. Erica LaFata - Diagnosing Ultra-Processed Food Addiction with FASI
Food Junkies Podcast
On this episode of the Food Junkies Podcast, we welcome back Dr. Erica LaFata to dive into her groundbreaking work developing the Food Addiction Severity Interview (FASI) — a clinician-administered diagnostic tool modeled after the SCID alcohol use disorder module and adapted for ultra-processed foods. Building on self-report tools like the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and mYFAS, Erica explains why the field urgently needs a structured clinical interview to validate ultra-processed food addiction as a distinct psychiatric presentation and move toward formal recognition in the DSM....
info_outline
Episode 255: Challenging the Naysayers with Dr. Nicole Avena
Food Junkies Podcast
In this powerful episode, Dr. Vera Tarman and Clarissa Kennedy welcome back Dr. Nicole Avena, one of the first researchers to scientifically validate the concept of food addiction. Together, they unpack the latest critiques of food addiction and explore why this diagnosis is still being challenged – and why the science strongly supports it. 🔍 Key Questions We Tackled Is food addiction “too broad” to be useful? Can we really rely on self-report tools like the Yale Food Addiction Scale? What about brain imaging – doesn’t Kevin Hall’s PET study “disprove” food addiction? Are...
info_outline
Food Junkies Recovery Stories Episode 30: Ashley Elizabeth
Food Junkies Podcast
C J shares a moving conversation with Ashley Elizabeth, a woman whose honesty and courage shine through her recovery journey. Ashley is remarkably open about her experience with food addiction and the lifelong impact of being put on a diet at a very young age. Like so many, she spent years trapped in the cycle of obsession, shame, and the constant search for control, returning to foods she didn’t even like just to get her fix. When Ashley first entered a 12-step program, she approached her food plan like another diet, and for a while, it worked. But true transformation came when she embraced...
info_outline
Episode 254: Dr. Paul O'Malley
Food Junkies Podcast
Dr. Paul O’Malley is a Los Angeles-based dentist who’s redefining what it means to care for your teeth—and your whole body. With more than 30 years of experience, Dr. O’Malley specializes in biomimetic and holistic dentistry, which basically means he works with your body, not against it. His focus is on preserving your natural tooth structure, using biocompatible materials, and avoiding the “drill and fill” mindset that leaves so many people anxious about the dentist’s chair. He earned his DDS from Creighton University and completed a residency at Baylor University, but what...
info_outline
Episode 253: Clinician's Corner - From Rules to Guardrails: Rewriting the Manual for Recovery
Food Junkies Podcast
Molly and Clarissa get real about the spoken and unspoken “rules” we inherit—from family, culture, religion, peers, and recovery spaces—and how those rules can quietly run our lives. They explore when structure is protective (especially early recovery) and when rigidity shrinks our world. The invitation: notice the rule, name whose voice it is, examine its intention, and rewrite it as a flexible, values-aligned boundary (a loving guardrail) that serves your recovery today. What we cover Invisible operating systems: How covert rules (“Don’t cry in public,” “Finish your plate,”...
info_outlineWe’re honored to welcome back Dr. Claire Wilcox, a trailblazer in the field of food addiction. Claire is an addiction psychiatrist, former internist, and associate professor of translational neuroscience at the Mind Research Network. She’s worked in everything from eating disorder treatment centers to general psychiatry and is on the frontlines of research, clinical care, and advocacy. Her academic textbook Food Addiction, Obesity and Disorders of Overeating has helped shape the professional dialogue—but today, we’re talking about her newest book, Rewire Your Food-Addicted Brain: Fight Cravings and Break Free from a High-Sugar, Ultra-Processed Diet—a compassionate, research-informed, and accessible guide for individuals navigating food addiction. And here’s the wild part: this book was directly inspired by the Food Junkies Podcast.
💥 Key Takeaways 💥
🔹 The Why Behind the Book
Claire was inspired by the validation, science, and compassion found in our podcast. She wanted to turn years of neurobiology, research, and lived experience into a digestible, practical resource for both clinicians and people in recovery.
🔹 Not Just Another Food Book
This is NOT a weight loss book. It’s a science-backed, shame-free guide to understanding food addiction and reclaiming your life from ultra-processed foods — whether you score mild, moderate, or severe on the mYFAS scale.
🔹 Food Addiction ≠ Weakness
Claire beautifully reframes food addiction as a neurobiological condition, not a moral failing. Like alcohol or nicotine addiction, it’s rooted in genetics, brain wiring, and environmental exposure — often starting in early childhood.
🔹 Diagnosis Matters
Chapter 6 tackles the controversial diagnostic gray zone, comparing food addiction to binge eating disorder and explaining how tools like the mYFAS can help people finally feel seen, understood, and validated.
🔹 Personalized Recovery > One-Size-Fits-All
The book includes three levels of food plans that adapt to the individual — from flexible to more structured — based on your symptoms, goals, access to food, and cultural context. There’s no moral hierarchy here, just practical options.
🔹 Harm Reduction is Welcome Here
Recovery isn’t linear, and slips happen. The book normalizes recurrence without shame, promotes spiraling up over time, and encourages readers to find what works for them — even if it’s not “perfect.”
🔹 Tools with Neuroscience Receipts
Each tool is not only practical — it’s also evidence-based, with brain science to back it up. Claire doesn’t just tell you what to do… she tells you why it works.
🔹 Values Over Weight
This book helps you set recovery goals beyond the scale — like peace, freedom, energy, and connection. Weight loss may happen as a side effect, but the real win is regaining your life.
🔹 Validation for the Spectrum
Whether you’re struggling mildly or feel like you're at your lowest, this book meets you where you are and reminds you: there is a way out — and it can be your way.
💡 Bonus: There are FREE online chapters + tools available starting August 1st through New Harbinger Publications!
📘 Available Everywhere Books Are Sold
➡️ Title: Rewire Your Food-Addicted Brain: Fight Cravings and Break Free from a High-Sugar, Ultra-Processed Diet Using Neuroscience
➡️ Website: https://www.wilcoxmd.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.