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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ultra-Processed Foods and Mental Health: Insights from Dr. David Wiss
Ultra-Processed Foods and Mental Health The relationship between nutrition and mental health is a complex and often controversial topic. Dr. David Wiss, a leading expert in the field of nutrition for addiction recovery and eating disorders, offers valuable insights extracted from a recent research paper published in MDPI. In this article, we’ll explore Dr. Wiss’s […]
Understanding Body Image as a Component of Personal Identity
Body image is an integral part of personal identity, reflecting how we think, feel, perceive, and behave concerning our bodies. Unfortunately, body image disturbance and outright body hatred have become all too common in today’s society. This pervasive issue is often closely linked with disordered eating, though not everyone with body image concerns has an […]
How Food Addiction and Intuitive Eating Converge and Diverge
In the world of nutrition and eating behavior, two seemingly opposing concepts—food addiction and intuitive eating—often spark debate. On one hand, food addiction posits that certain foods, particularly those high in sugar, fat, and salt, can trigger addictive-like responses in some individuals. On the other hand, intuitive eating encourages a balanced, mindful approach to food, […]
Dismantling the Myth that “All Foods Fit” in Eating Disorder Treatment Journal Article
Dismantling the Myth that “All Foods Fit” in Eating Disorder Treatment Or do you believe that all foods fit in eating disorder treatment? They certainly do in some cases! Abstract: We call for a reevaluation of the long-standing dogmatic nutritional principle that “all foods fit” for all cases of eating disorders (EDs) and its […]
