Episode 8: Dr. Joan Ifland

Welcome to Protecting Your Nest. Joining the show today is  processed food addiction specialist, Dr. Joan Ifland. Dr. Ifland has broken a lot of ground in the realm of food addiction—having released a number of influential books and studies—and she is currently working on evidence-based training for healthcare professionals. Dr. Ifland is a fellow of the American College of Nutrition and earned her PhD in Addictive Nutrition at Union Institute and University. She created Addiction Reset, an online resource and community for people struggling with food addiction and has created a number of other free online resources. Please see the links below for more details.

In this episode, Dr. Ifland brings to light the shady reality of what goes on behind the scenes in the marketing departments of big food companies in the United States. Additionally, she walks us through her doctoral work which validated the alcoholism diagnostic criteria for over-eating. What is going on in a person’s brain that causes them to become addicted to processed food and how are marketing professionals at big food companies taking advantage of it? Why does it seem like will-power doesn’t ever win the battle against addiction and craving? How does one begin to effectively reverse processed food addiction and start moving in a healthy direction? Dr. Ifland negotiates these questions in great detail and with astounding expertise.

Food addiction is not an eating problem. It is a substance use problem. There are addictive substances in foods produced by food companies that are causing people to become addicted to it.

Thank you so much for listening to Protecting Your Nest. For additional resources and information, see the links below. 

Links:

Dr. Joan Ifland:

Dr. Tony Hampton: