Food Addiction, the Problem and the Solution

Sachir Ajlouni’s incredible journey from obesity and food addiction to recovery is a story of hope and transformation. Weighing 450 pounds at his heaviest, Sachir spent over 30 years trapped in a cycle of compulsive overeating and failed attempts at weight loss, including bariatric surgery. It wasn’t until he entered SHiFT, Recovery by Acorn (https://foodaddiction.com/) a food addiction recovery program that he realized the true nature of his struggle: it wasn’t just about his weight or eating habits—it was his addiction to food that had been controlling his life. After seeing success from others, he entered a food addiction program where he met Phil Werdell (https://www.foodaddictioninstitute.org/post/in-loving-memory), founder of SHiFT, Recovery by Acorn. Through his own recovery, Sachir lost 250 pounds and gained a deeper understanding of how food can be as addictive as alcohol or drugs. He now devotes his life to helping others break free from the chains of food addiction through Aglon Recovery (https://aglonrecovery.com/), a center he founded to offer support and healing. Sachir’s workshops help people recognize that food addiction is real and that overcoming it requires more than just willpower. It’s about understanding the emotional and psychological drivers behind eating behaviors and taking responsibility for recovery once the problem is recognized. If you’re struggling with your own relationship with food, or if you know someone who is, this podcast offers an opportunity to hear firsthand how recovery is possible. Sachir’s story is a testament to the power of self-awareness, support, and commitment to change. Tune in to listen to an inspiring account of resilience and recovery—and learn how you, too, can begin your journey toward healing.

The INFACT School (https://infactschool.com/) is the only school in the world that teaches students about the science of food addiction and how to treat it. Graduates receive a Certified Food Addiction Professional (CFAP) which is recognized in Europe and the U.S. This seven-month virtual training program involves speakers and many top professionals who study the disease of food addiction. Students are taught screening, assessments and intake technique processes involving looking at behaviors and addiction genealogy. They are trained in counseling and treatment for abstinence and the reversal of personality changes that happen as a person becomes addicted to a substance. The guest is the podcast owner and highly respected pioneer and school’s founder, Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir, a recovered food addict who released 130 lbs. to achieve a healthy weight through abstinence and working a 12-step food addiction recovery program. She then knew what her life’s mission would be: help other food addicts by opening a treatment center in Iceland and beginning the INFACT School. Over 130 students have graduated from the school, with new classes offered in March and September each year. We discuss the science behind food addiction, which is just like the addiction to alcohol and drugs: a dopamine response, and over time, experiencing higher tolerance, using more of the substance despite negative consequences. Late-stage food addicts are often obese with obesity-related health issues and cannot stop on their own from eating the offending foods, and once they start, they have difficulty stopping. 37 clinicians, researchers, and academics throughout the world have reached an agreement that food addiction, specifically ultra-processed food addiction, is a substance use disorder. The International Food Addiction Consensus (IFAC) (https://heyzine.com/flip-book/a00ee3aa6c.html) met in London, U.K. in May 2024, and a conference is planned in Mexico City in September 2025 as the application is being submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO) to be placed in the International Classification of Disease, (ICD) to place ultra-processed food addiction as a substance use disorder, in the ICD. Esther believes in complete abstinence from sugar and addictive foods, along with treatment and recovery programs to recover from food addiction. Her work and that of the school have been impactful and revolutionary. Listen to this wonderful interview with Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir. Yale Food Addiction Scale https://infactschool.com/yale-food-addiction-survey/

Large food companies, previously owned by tobacco companies, know that we are addicted to sugar and ultra-processed foods. These companies are making large profits using the same tobacco addiction model with items they are selling us to eat. Food companies add sugars to food items, like high fructose corn syrup, and 250 other sugars to the engineered items they call food. Meanwhile, the U.S. population is over 50 percent obese with many health problems and our children are becoming addicted to sugar and these chemically-altered items. We are made to feel like it is our fault as food addicts, by these food companies and by medical professionals, that we just need to eat less and exercise more to lose weight and become healthy. Sugar and highly processed foods cause a dopamine release in our brains identical to other addictive substances like alcohol and drugs causing us to become addicted. Dr. Nicole Avena and Dr. Erica LaFata, are two professionals who have made it their life’s work to raise awareness about our sugar and ultra-processed food addiction. Dr. Avena’s book Sugarless, Book, Dr. Nicole Avena, and Dr. Erica LaFata’s research using the Yale Food Addiction Scale have helped progress our understanding of what is actually going on. Dr. Avena and Dr. LaFata presented their findings at the International Food Addiction Consensus Conference (IFAC) held in London, May, 2024. Professionals gathered at this conference and reached a consensus: Ultra-processed foods should be recognized in the International Classifications of Diseases (ICD) and the APA’s (DSM), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a substance-use disorder, identical to alcohol and drugs. The only question now is: As a society, how long will it take for us to see the truth? That we are ADDICTED: to sugar and ultra-processed foods …..and they are killing us. And how many millions must die as our country spends billions on obesity-related illnesses for us to recognize that we are addicted to sugar and ultra-processed foods? It is not our fault. There is a problem and there is a solution.

Before recovery, Raena Z. weighed 315 pounds and today she is a recovered food addict which over a 100-lb weight release. As an overweight child, she recalls liking food more than others and using food to manage her emotions. In this episode, Raena shares an experience from high school that caused her incredible shame. After she married and gave birth to her son, her weight continued to climb higher. Eating in secrecy, she could not stop once she began and finally realized her powerlessness and how her compulsive food behaviors were affecting her life. In November 2017 after surrendering to her powerlessness and escaping denial of her food addiction, Raena entered an intensive residential treatment program and began physical and emotional recovery. Today she lives freely of food obsession, compulsivity, and addiction as she has experienced recovery using a 12-step recovery program. She cites all the support she uses to remain abstinent from overeating including fellowship with others. Listen in to this incredible story of addiction and recovery!

Amy B.’s highest known weight was 265 as she used food for many years to deal with stress, anxiety and life challenges. While there is humor and a comedic lightness in this podcast episode discussion between two food-recovered food addicts, the messages are serious and important in talking about what it was like and recovery from food addiction. A recovered alcoholic, Amy used food in the same ways she used alcohol, addictively and to numb emotional pain. Within the laughter, we talk about how we were numbing ourselves with food and alcohol and found that using a 12-step programs of recovery dealt with each addiction’s negative consequences including carrying excess body weight. As an only child, she was not taught that feeling emotions was OK and learned to escape them in self-destructive ways. In recovery from food addiction, she learned that her emotions were not going to kill her as she processed them without using food. We talked about how the transformation in recovery helped her deal with relationships and life stresses in a new way. Amy learned that she needed to surrender her food addiction to a higher power and get to work on taking action in recovery. Today she is free from food addiction as she eats no sugar with the use of a food plan which involves eating whole foods that her body needs to maintain a healthy body weight. Listen in to this inspiring story of recovery from food addiction!

Lori P. is a recovered food addict who shares the challenges experienced in childhood, during a failed marriage, and after the death of her mother. An accomplished company executive, she had used food and many diets during her life attempting to manage her weight and food addiction. Lori had reached a bottom in her addiction and reached a point of desperation, so she began recovering in a 12-step program. She surrendered control of food and weight through abstinence from offending foods as she physically recovered by releasing and maintaining a 55-pound weight loss. Today Lori uses a spiritual solution to help her in daily recovery as she says God has shown her love and grace and she has learned to love herself. She left corporate life and realized that she was meant to give back to other professional women. As she became clean from food use she began to tap into her gifts and purpose as she started her own company. What a story of inspiration and transformation to a life of purpose and joy and out of the food! https://www.infactschool.online/podcast

Kristie M., a recovered food addict, has been maintaining a 170-pound weight loss for many years. Having been a child of obese parents and one parent who abused alcohol, she identifies as being obsessed with food early in her life and dealt with the shame and denial of not being able to control her weight or food use on her own. There were many food behaviors including secret eating that plagued any success around the use of diets to control her weight or food. A work colleague told her about a 12-step recovery program for the disease that she entered. Despite a relapse about five years into her abstinence in which she gained 100 pounds, she came back fully surrendered to her addiction to sugar, flour, and volume eating and today she maintains a normal body weight. Kristie has experienced tragedies in her life yet today she accepts life on life’s terms. Recovery has taught her to live for today, not dwell in the past or worry about the future as she has changed how she thinks, behaves, and reacts to people and life events. She says her life has been transformed by finding freedom from food addiction with a program that works for her. https://www.infactschool.online/

Thirty-four years ago, Dr. Debbie Danowski weighing 328 pounds realized that her life was unmanageable and she decided to enter a food addiction recovery program. Today Dr. Danowski maintains a 170 weight loss through a daily recovery routine. In this podcast, we discuss denial, powerlessness and the negative consequences of food addiction. Getting the message out about food addiction is the driving force in all of her work and the release of her newest book Happy Eating and Food Addiction in American Advertising which profiles how the food and drink industries are contributing to food addiction and obesity in the U.S. In her research for her book, she watched over 500 food advertisements and outlined specific techniques used in advertisements for ultra-processed foods, which promise consequence-free eating to consumers while encouraging the over-consumption of unhealthy and addictive foods and drinks. Dr. Danowski presents an analysis of promotional methods in the context of food addiction characteristics and behaviors through an exploration of the themes used in this type of advertising such as using food to rebel, play, relax and achieve happiness and good health. Listen to Dr. Debbie Danowski explain how as a food addict she recovered and how her career has been spent on helping others understand the truth about it and how the food industry plays a role. A 30 percent book discount is available to listeners at this website: Link For Ordering Book with the use of this code: LXFANDF30 https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666939262/%E2%80%9CHappy-Eating%E2%80%9D-and-Food-Addiction-in-American-Advertising