Food Junkies Podcast

Are you working hard, caring deeply, and still feeling like it's not enough? You're not alone, and this episode is for you.
This week, Molly and Clarissa sit down with Dr. Ellen Hendriksen, clinical psychologist, core faculty at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, and author of How to Be Enough and How to Be Yourself. Ellen brings warmth, science, and radical compassion to one of the most common, and most quietly painful, struggles in recovery: perfectionism.
In this conversation, we explore:
🔹 Where perfectionism actually comes from — genetics, family of origin, AND the culture we're swimming in 🔹 Why shame fuels the binge-restrict cycle and how to begin replacing self-punishment with self-kindness 🔹 The crucial difference between rules and values — and how that distinction can transform your recovery 🔹 Why procrastination is never really about time (and what it's actually telling you) 🔹 How to build a stable, grounded sense of self-worth that isn't constantly up for evaluation 🔹 Why comparison is hardwired — and what to do with it instead of fighting it 🔹 The "already enough" practice that rewires how we see ourselves
Whether you're navigating food addiction recovery, disordered eating, or just the exhausting weight of never feeling like you measure up — this episode offers real tools, real grace, and real hope.

ABOUT DR. ELLEN HENDRIKSEN Dr. Ellen Hendriksen is a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and perfectionism. She is core faculty at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD) at Boston University and author of two books: How to Be Enough (perfectionism) and How to Be Yourself (social anxiety). Find her newsletter How to Be Good to Yourself When You're Hard on Yourself on Substack.
🔗 Find Ellen's books wherever books are sold 📬 Ellen's Substack: Search "How to Be Good to Yourself When You're Hard on Yourself"

CONNECT WITH US:  
Food Junkies Podcast on YouTube: (2) Food Junkies Podcast - YouTube
📧 Email us at: [email protected]
If this episode resonated with you, please leave us a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it. 💛
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.

Have you ever left a session feeling smaller than when you walked in? In this episode of Food Junkies: Clinician's Corner, Clarissa and Molly explore one of the most important — and least talked about — dynamics in eating disorder, food addiction, and substance use treatment: what happens when the clinician's model gets in the way of the client's healing.

🔑 What We Cover in This Episode:
⬡ The Rosenhan Experiment — how psychiatric patients were misdiagnosed and then had their normal behavior interpreted as worsening symptoms, and what it reveals about clinical bias today
⬡ Epistemic dismissal — the active or passive rejection of a person's own knowledge and lived experience by the very professionals meant to help them
⬡ How diagnosis can be a flashlight or a floodlight — illuminating patterns vs. erasing the person
⬡ What happens when clients start performing recovery instead of living it
⬡ The role of ego in clinical practice — and why it doesn't always look like arrogance (sometimes it looks like certainty)
⬡ Why ambivalence is not pathology — and why allowing clients to explore moderation can be clinically sound
⬡ The difference between recovery and discovery, and why one may feel more alive than the other
⬡ How behaviors that look like symptoms are often solutions — and why treating the smoke instead of the fire keeps people stuck
⬡ Why autonomy predicts engagement and long-term change — and what that means for how we design treatment
⬡ Whose anxiety is actually driving the treatment plan?

🔗 Connect With Us:
📧 Topic suggestions & questions: [email protected]
▶️ Watch on YouTube — subscribe to help us grow and reach more people who need this content! 
 
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.

Can you eat plant-based and still avoid sugar, carbs, and ultra-processed foods?
In this episode of Food Junkies, Dr. Vera Tarman is joined by Adina Mullen, plant-based chef, author of Vegan Flavors of the World, and founder of Adina's Delicacies, to explore whether vegetarian or vegan eating can truly support food addiction recovery, low-sugar living, and even plant-based keto—without deprivation or rebound eating.
Adina brings a deeply grounded, real-world approach to plant-based cooking rooted in whole foods, cultural traditions, flavor, and satisfaction. This conversation goes beyond diet rules to focus on nourishment, satiety, and sustainability, especially for people healing their relationship with food.

🌱 What You'll Learn in This Episode
✔️ Is plant-based keto actually possible?
✔️ Why many people fail on plant-based diets (and how to avoid rebound eating)
✔️ The difference between vegetarian, vegan, and whole-food plant-based
✔️ How to feel satisfied without sugar or ultra-processed foods
✔️ Best plant-based protein sources, including options for people on GLP-1s
✔️ Why preparation and texture matter more than restriction
✔️ How culture, memory, and comfort foods support long-term recovery
✔️ Common mistakes that leave people hungry, depleted, or triggered

🧠 Key Topics Covered
🥑 Plant-Based Keto & Low-Sugar Eating
Adina explains how low-carb, low-sugar plant-based eating can work using whole foods like vegetables, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, tofu, and seeds—while also naming why keto isn't sustainable for everyone.
🥦 Why "Vegan" Doesn't Always Mean Healthy
Removing animal products and replacing them with ultra-processed vegan foods often leads to hunger, instability, and relapse. Whole foods, structure, and adequate fat and protein matter—especially in food addiction recovery.
🍲 Flavor, Texture & Satisfaction
Roasting vs boiling, crispy textures, homemade dressings, sauces, and slow cooking are key to making vegetables feel grounding and satisfying—not like deprivation food.
🌍 Culture, Memory & Healing
Food isn't just fuel. Adina shares how honoring cultural and traditional meals—without animal products—helps people feel emotionally nourished and connected.
💪 Protein for Plant-Based & GLP-1 Users
Includes discussion of:
TVP (textured vegetable protein)
Tofu & tempeh
Nuts and seeds (chia, flax, hemp, pumpkin)
Smart prep for digestion and satiety

📘 About the Guest: Adina Mullen
Adina Mullen is a plant-based private chef and founder of Adina's Delicacies, specializing in gourmet vegan cuisine inspired by global flavors, heritage, and memory. She is the author of Vegan Flavors of the World, featuring plant-based adaptations of traditional dishes from 12 countries, with a second volume coming soon.

✨ Key Takeaways
Healing doesn't come from fighting food—it comes from letting food support you
Steadiness matters more than perfection
Satisfaction, fat, protein, and flavor are not optional in recovery
You don't need more rules—you need nourishment, warmth, and trust

🔔 Subscribe for More Conversations Like This
If you're navigating food addiction recovery, low-sugar living, plant-based nutrition, or metabolic health, subscribe to Food Junkies for evidence-based, compassionate conversations that go deeper than diet culture.
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast
💌 Email us at: [email protected]
 
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.

In this powerful episode of Food Junkies, we're joined by Amber Romaniuk, emotional eating and digestive health expert, to unpack the real drivers behind binge eating, food addiction, and the relentless restrict–overeat cycle.
Amber shares her personal recovery journey from binge eating, bulimia, and food addiction—and explains why lasting healing requires more than another diet or food plan. Together, we explore how hormones, thyroid function, nervous system stress, and shame shape our relationship with food in ways most people are never taught.
This conversation is especially important for women who feel like they "know better" but still struggle—and wonder why nothing seems to stick.
🎯 In this episode, we cover:
Why emotional eating is communication, not a lack of willpower
How cortisol, thyroid dysfunction, and low progesterone can drive cravings and binge cycles
Why fasting, restriction, and over-exercise often worsen food addiction patterns
How shame keeps people stuck—and what actually helps dissolve it
What "Body Freedom" really means beyond weight loss
First steps to identify emotional eating triggers without self-blame
Why healing your relationship with food must come before hormone repair can work
This episode is for you if:
✔ You struggle with binge or emotional eating
✔ Diets and food rules keep backfiring
✔ You suspect hormones or stress are part of the picture
✔ You're exhausted by shame and ready for a deeper, kinder path forward

🔗 Connect with Amber Romaniuk
🌐 Website & free resources: https://amberapproved.ca
🎙 Podcast: The No Sugarcoating Podcast
📱 Instagram & YouTube: @AmberRomaniuk

👍 If this episode helped you, please like, subscribe, and share—it helps more people find compassionate, evidence-informed conversations about food addiction recovery.
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast
💌 Email us at: [email protected]
💬 Comment below: What part of this conversation resonated most with you?
 
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.

Is there a built-in "fat switch" in our genes—something nature designed to help us store fat for survival? And if so, what does that mean for food addicts living in a world saturated with ultra-processed food?
In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Dr. Richard Johnson, Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado, former Chief of the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, author of The Sugar Fix, The Fat Switch, and Nature Wants Us to Be Fat, and a researcher with 700+ scientific papers to his name.
Dr. Johnson explains how fructose (from sugar and high-fructose corn syrup—but also produced inside the body under certain conditions) can activate a powerful metabolic pathway that increases hunger, lowers cellular energy, and shifts calories toward fat storage. He connects this to uric acid, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and the modern "perfect storm" of ultra-processed foods engineered to intensify cravings.
Together, they explore the evolutionary logic of fat storage, why visceral fat may have had survival value, why "calories in/calories out" fails to explain the whole picture, and what practical steps can help people restore metabolic flexibility—including carbohydrate reduction, movement that supports mitochondrial health, and the emerging role of GLP-1 medications as a tool (not a replacement) for nutrition change.
What You'll Learn
🔥Why Dr. Johnson argues sugar isn't "just a calorie," and how fructose changes metabolism differently
🔥The role of uric acid in blood pressure, metabolic disease, and the fructose pathway
🔥How salt + starch + fat can amplify the "fat switch" (and why chips and fries are a perfect example)
🔥Why the body can make fructose from glucose, even if you aren't eating fructose directly
🔥The survival biology behind fat storage—and why visceral fat may have had an adaptive purpose
🔥How insulin resistance can be a short-term protective mechanism (and how modern life turns it chronic)
🔥Why low-carb approaches may "reboot" sugar absorption and cravings in as little as 7–14 days
🔥What Dr. Johnson believes is a major dietary driver of Alzheimer's risk
🔥How to support mitochondria through movement and nutrition
🔥Dr. Johnson's perspective on GLP-1s: benefits, limits, and relapse risk after stopping
 
Resources Mentioned
Dr. Richard Johnson's books: The Sugar Fix, The Fat Switch, Nature Wants Us to Be Fat
 
About Our Guest
Dr. Richard Johnson is Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado, a former Chief of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, and the author of The Sugar Fix, The Fat Switch, and Nature Wants Us to Be Fat. His research explores how sugar—particularly fructose—drives kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, and how modern food environments may overactivate ancient survival pathways.
 
If this episode helped you understand your cravings or your biology with more clarity and less shame, please share it with a friend, leave a review, and subscribe so more people can find recovery-focused science.
✉️ Email us: [email protected]
Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast
 
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.