When Recovery From One Thing Becomes a Struggle With Another
Almost everyone in recovery has felt it. You put one thing down, and something else gets loud. Usually food. Here is what I think is actually happening, and why the standard explanation leaves people feeling like they failed twice. The pattern almost everyone recognizes Someone puts down alcohol, and six months later they cannot stop […]
The Body Image Conversation Recovery Keeps Skipping
When someone enters treatment for a substance use disorder, the questions tend to follow a familiar script. What were you using? How much? How long? What’s your plan to stay stopped? Here’s a question that rarely makes the intake form: How do you feel about your body, and did that have anything to do with […]
Using Dimensional Over Categorical Thinking When It Comes to Eating Behaviors
Three recent papers I’ve been part of all circle the same idea from different angles: the people who struggle most with eating are often the ones who don’t fit the diagnostic boxes we’ve built for them. Here’s a recap of that work, and why I think the future of this field is dimensional rather than […]
Why “One Size Fits All” Eating Disorder Treatment Is Failing & What We Should Do Instead
For decades, we’ve been telling people with eating disorders essentially the same thing: learn to eat all foods in moderation, challenge your food rules, and the problem will resolve. This message has become gospel in the eating disorder field. And for decades, treatment outcomes have remained stubbornly poor. A new meta-analysis published in 2025 finally […]
The Science Is In: Ultra-Processed Foods Are Driving the Chronic Disease Epidemic
Why This Research Matters for People in Recovery If you’ve ever felt like certain foods have a grip on you that defies logic—where you eat them despite knowing they make you feel terrible—you’re not imagining things. And it’s not a character flaw. A landmark three-part Lancet Series on ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and human health was […]
The Six Food Addiction “Camps”
After years of working in the nutrition field and straddling the worlds of eating disorder treatment and addiction recovery, I’ve observed a fascinating continuum of approaches to food addiction. As someone who’s spent over a decade trying to bridge these sometimes opposing philosophies, I’ve noticed six distinct camps that have emerged. Each has its merits, […]
Functional Medicine for Eating Disorders: A Revolutionary Approach from a Los Angeles IFMCP
Los Angeles and beyond, I’ve witnessed firsthand how functional medicine for eating disorders transforms recovery outcomes. After treating hundreds of clients with eating disorders, addictions, and other disordered eating patterns, I’ve learned that sustainable recovery requires addressing the biological imbalances that drive these conditions—including the often-overlooked phenomenon of food addiction. Why Functional Medicine for Eating […]
Bridging the Divide: A Podcast Dialogue on Food Addiction in Eating Disorder Recovery
As a mental health nutritionist who has spent over a decade working with eating disorders while simultaneously researching ultra-processed food addiction, I recently participated in a thought-provoking dialogue on the EDeology Podcast. The conversation, hosted by Elka Cubacub, brought together Libby Supan (a therapist and certified Intuitive Eating counselor) and yours truly to explore one […]
When Calorie Counting Backfires
Calorie Counting: A Double-Edged Sword in Nutrition and Mental Health Calorie counting has been a cornerstone of mainstream nutrition education for decades. Many people were taught to think of food as numbers: input and output, “calories in, calories out,” as if the body were a simple machine. While tracking calories can help individuals develop awareness […]
Promising Results for Ultra-Processed Food Addiction Treatment: New 12-Month Study
I’m pleased to share groundbreaking research that significantly advances addressing ultra-processed food addiction (UPFA). As a researcher and clinician who has dedicated years to bridging the gap between eating disorder treatment and addiction frameworks, this new study holds particular significance for our field. The Research Breakthrough Our international research team recently published findings in Frontiers […]
