Food Junkies Podcast

Why do some people on GLP-1 medications lose their cravings for ultra-processed food almost overnight, while others still battle sugar? In Episode 297 of the Food Junkies Podcast, Dr. Vera Tarman talks with obesity medicine specialist Dr. Carolynn Francavilla about what GLP-1s can and can't do for people who struggle with food addiction. 

Dr. Francavilla is a board-certified family physician, the 2025 Obesity Medicine Association Clinician of the Year, and founder of Green Mountain Partners for Health in Colorado. She trains fellow physicians through her program Help Your Patients Lose Weight, hosts The Dr. Francavilla Show, and created GLP-1 Strong, a home strength-training program designed to help patients preserve muscle while using weight-loss medications. 

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• What "food noise" is, why the term came from patients, and how it differs from cravings 

• Why lifelong dieting and restriction may amplify food noise 

• Why some people keep reaching for sugar, soda, and snacks on a GLP-1 even when they aren't hungry 

• Wanting vs. liking: how GLP-1s may interact with the brain's reward pathway 

• Anhedonia and the "flattening" some patients report 

• Why people with type 2 diabetes often lose less weight on these medications 

• Long-term effectiveness: tolerance, durability, and how food noise changes over time 

• How Wegovy and Zepbound differ in their effect on food noise and appetite 

• Protecting muscle: protein minimums, walking, and resistance training 

• Microdosing, tapering, and what happens when people stop a GLP-1 

• Dr. Francavilla's view on food and sugar addiction 

• The one change she'd make to the food industry: getting rid of sweet beverages 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• GLP-1s can quiet food noise, but they don't always touch eating that's driven by stress, emotion, or the need for a dopamine boost. 

• Adequate protein (a minimum of about 60 grams a day) and regular movement are the two main tools for protecting muscle during weight loss. 

• Most people need to stay on the dose that worked for them to maintain their results. 

• These medications work best as part of comprehensive care, including nutrition, exercise, and mental health support. They are not "set it and forget it." 

CONNECT WITH DR. CAROLYNN FRANCAVILLA: 

Website: drfrancavilla.com 

ABOUT THE FOOD JUNKIES PODCAST: 

Hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Clarissa Kennedy, and Molly Painschab, the Food Junkies Podcast explores food addiction, ultra-processed food use disorder, and recovery through conversations with clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience. 

CONNECT WITH THE FOOD JUNKIES HOSTS: 

💌email: Foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com 

Find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoodJunkiesPodcast 

IFACC 2026: The International Food Addiction Children's Conference
Protecting Kids from UPF Addiction Starts Now
Ultra-processed food addiction doesn't start in adulthood. Prevention can't wait either.
On 14 November 2026 (4 PM UK GMT, online), the International Food Addiction and Children's Conference brings together youth ambassadors, researchers, clinicians, and global experts, featuring UNICEF's Fix My Food youth initiative.
What you'll get:
Real stories from young people leading change
The latest science on UPF addiction and early prevention
How global food systems shape children's health
Practical steps for families, schools, and professionals
Your ticket does double duty: all proceeds support Collaboration for Kids and UNICEF's Fix My Food programme.
Parents, educators, clinicians, policymakers, advocates: this one's for you.
🎟️ Get your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1991350856016?aff=oddtdtcreator
ℹ️ Learn more: https://www.the-chc.org/fas/ifacc-2026
DISCLAIMER: 

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.

One in four kids now lives with a chronic health condition. Type 2 diabetes in children rose 60% between 2006 and 2019, and conditions like fatty liver disease are showing up earlier than ever. But kids can also heal remarkably fast, sometimes within weeks or months, when the whole family changes together.
In this episode, Clarissa sits down with Dr. Patel, pediatrician, lifestyle medicine physician, and founder and medical director of Reset Pediatric Lifestyle Medicine in Ontario. Dr. Patel shares three real family case studies showing kids reversing pre-diabetes, fatty liver, high cholesterol, and elevated blood pressure. The changes behind those results were simple and practical: changing what came into the house, modeling new habits as parents, and replacing screen time with movement.
He also talks about why he considers ultra-processed foods and screens the two biggest risky substances facing kids today, and how he helps parents take responsibility without sinking into blame and shame.
In this episode, we discuss:
What lifestyle medicine is, and how it goes beyond "eat less, move more"
The six pillars: nutrition, restorative sleep, movement, stress resilience, avoiding risky substances, and social connection
Why ultra-processed food and screens are the most concerning risks for kids today
"Behavior change is simple, but not easy," and how to move from knowing to doing
How to invite parental responsibility without shame
Case 1: A 14-year-old who turned to food after losing his grandmother. His mom stopped bringing treats into the house, for him and for herself.
Case 2: An 11-year-old who became the change agent and started pushing his parents toward healthier choices
Case 3: An 8-year-old whose family returned to their traditional Ghanaian bean-based dishes and normalized her cholesterol
Why eating in front of a screen can raise intake by up to 60%, and the movie theater popcorn effect
Three first steps for busy families this week: screen-free family meals, better sleep routines, and one simple substitution
A message for overwhelmed parents: you're not too late
Learn more about Dr. Patel and Reset Pediatric Lifestyle Medicine:
Rikin Patel | Reset Pediatrics
Connect with Food Junkies:
foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com
IFACC 2026: The International Food Addiction Children's Conference
Protecting Kids from UPF Addiction Starts Now
Ultra-processed food addiction doesn't start in adulthood. Prevention can't wait either.
On 14 November 2026 (4 PM UK GMT, online), the International Food Addiction and Children's Conference brings together youth ambassadors, researchers, clinicians, and global experts, featuring UNICEF's Fix My Food youth initiative.
What you'll get:
Real stories from young people leading change
The latest science on UPF addiction and early prevention
How global food systems shape children's health
Practical steps for families, schools, and professionals
Your ticket does double duty: all proceeds support Collaboration for Kids and UNICEF's Fix My Food programme.
Parents, educators, clinicians, policymakers, advocates: this one's for you.
🎟️ Get your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1991350856016?aff=oddtdtcreator
ℹ️ Learn more: https://www.the-chc.org/fas/ifacc-2026
 
Disclaimer: 
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.

Why do we keep reaching for food we don't even want? In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman talks with Dr. Thomas Sambrook, lecturer in psychology at the University of East Anglia, about his research on how the brain responds to food cues within milliseconds, and why that response can keep firing long after we're full.
Dr. Sambrook holds two PhDs, one in primatology from the University of St Andrews and one in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Plymouth. His work uses computational modeling and brain-tracking methods to study how we learn habits, make decisions, and respond to reward and punishment, most recently with a focus on primary reinforcers like food and pain.
In his latest study, hungry participants learned to work for two foods, one sweet and one savory. Halfway through, they ate their fill of just one. They said they no longer wanted that food, but their brains still produced the same strong reward signal when they saw a cue for it. What we consciously want and what the brain does when it sees a cue can be two very different things.
For anyone who has said "I don't even want this, so why am I eating it?", this conversation offers a clear, shame-free explanation rooted in biology.
In this episode, we explore:
Dr. Sambrook's path from primatology to studying reward, habit, and food
What makes a behavior a habit, and where habit ends and addiction begins
Devaluation insensitivity, and why it may explain eating in the absence of hunger
The brain's reward signal firing just as strongly for a food you're full of as for one you still want
Why a cue can be as rewarding as the food itself, and the evolutionary reasons for that
Whether advertising and cues could override the "food noise" reduction from GLP-1 medications
Why fast, cue-driven responses beat slow, deliberate decisions
Incubation of craving, and why it may be a separate route from cue-driven behavior
Individual differences in cue reactivity, including possible links to ADHD
Why willpower-based "keep it in the cupboard and just resist" approaches tend to fail
Policy parallels with tobacco: limiting the advertising and visibility of ultra-processed foods
Key takeaways:
You can't control the brain's first response to a cue. That response is automatic and inherited from millions of years of evolution. It is not a character flaw.
Practice cue hygiene. Remove trigger foods from your environment and limit exposure where you can. In recovery language, this is people, places, and things.
Replace the habit; don't just fight it. When a cue hits, redirect the action. Keep a satisfying, healthy alternative within reach, such as an orange that keeps your hands busy.
Eat without multitasking. Eating while distracted trains automatic eating. When you eat, just eat.
Let go of the shame. Watching yourself eat something you don't want is the old reward machinery at work, not a personal failing.
🔗 Connect with Dr. Sambrook: Thomas Sambrook - University of East Anglia
🔗 Connect with the Food Junkies Podcast:
Find us on Apple Music, Spotify, and any other platform where you listen to podcasts.
✉️Email us: foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com
💜 Looking for support with sugar and ultra-processed food addiction?
Sweet Sobriety offers live recovery groups, coaching, and the Foundations Program:
Sweet Sobriety: Foundations PREVIEW - https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/sweet-sobriety-foundations-course-preview
Sweet Sobriety: Foundations – https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/sweet-sobriety-foundations
Sweet Sobriety: Liberation PREVIEW - https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/sweet-sobriety-liberation-preview
Sweet Sobriety: Liberation - https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/sweet-sobriety-liberation
Hosts: Dr. Vera Tarman, Clarissa Kennedy & Molly Painschab
⚠️ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice. If you are struggling with an eating disorder, addiction, or trauma, please reach out to a qualified healthcare provider. Content includes discussion of sexual assault, bullying, and disordered eating. Viewer discretion is advised.

What if your cravings aren't the problem, but a message?
In this episode of the Food Junkies Podcast, we sit down with Luis Mojica, somatic practitioner, nutritionist, and founder of Holistic Life Navigation, to explore how food, trauma, and the nervous system are deeply connected.
Luis shares his powerful personal story: growing up intersex, surviving bullying and sexual assault in silence, and turning to food as his only "witness" during 20+ years of binge eating. He describes how a $20 guitar became his first somatic experience, and how that moment sparked a lifelong path into psychology, nutrition, and Somatic Experiencing.
We talk about his framework of stimulants, depressants, and balancers, a way of understanding food by how it changes your state rather than whether it's "good" or "bad." We also explore why people in recovery often shift to overeating whole foods, and why shame may be harder to metabolize than any food on the planet.
🎧 In this episode, we discuss:
- How unresolved trauma and a dysregulated nervous system can drive food addiction
- Why addiction is an attempt to find safety outside of yourself
- Stimulants, depressants, and balancers: what they are and how to spot yours
- "Volume eating" of whole foods and why it can still be a survival response
- How restrictive eating can be a way to escape the body
- Why a calm, open body can feel unsafe at first, and how to titrate safety
- Conscious choice vs. compulsion: where pleasure fits in recovery
- The biology of shame and why it fuels the craving cycle
- Active pendulation: a one-minute nervous system practice you can do anywhere
- The "roots of your cravings" practice: a gentle way to meet the need beneath the urge
- Why food may be the most overlooked tool for nervous system regulation
🔗 Connect with Luis Mojica:
Website: https://holisticlifenavigation.com
🔗 Connect with the Food Junkies Podcast:
Find us on Apple Music, Spotify, and any other platform where you listen to podcasts.
✉️Email us: foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com
💜 Looking for support with sugar and ultra-processed food addiction?
Sweet Sobriety offers live recovery groups, coaching, and the Foundations Program:
Sweet Sobriety: Foundations – https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/sweet-sobriety-foundations
Sweet Sobriety: Liberation - https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/sweet-sobriety-liberation
Hosts: Dr. Vera Tarman, Clarissa Kennedy & Molly Painschab
⚠️ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice. If you are struggling with an eating disorder, addiction, or trauma, please reach out to a qualified healthcare provider. Content includes discussion of sexual assault, bullying, and disordered eating. Viewer discretion is advised.
#FoodAddiction #FoodJunkiesPodcast #SomaticHealing #NervousSystemRegulation #FoodAddictionRecovery #UPFUD #TraumaHealing #BingeEating #EmotionalEating #HolisticLifeNavigation

Felicia joined CJ today for an incredibly open and honest conversation about recovery, resilience, and the complicated role food played throughout her life. Her story is heartbreaking at times, but it is also filled with strength, perseverance, and hope. For years, food remained intertwined with the recovery she was searching for, keeping her from experiencing the freedom she truly wanted. Felicia shares how she kept moving forward, continued learning, and discovered new ways to care for herself. The contrast between the life she once lived and the energetic, hopeful life she lives today makes her story deeply compelling and inspiring.


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 1