About this episode

Esther Kane discusses the challenges and recovery strategies for highly sensitive people dealing with emotional eating and food addiction.

Are you highly sensitive — and secretly using food to manage a world that feels like too much? In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Esther Kane, MSW, a British Columbia-based psychotherapist with nearly 30 years of experience helping highly sensitive people (HSPs) break free from emotional eating and food addiction. Esther isn't just a clinician — she's an HSP herself who nearly died from an eating disorder and has spent decades figuring out what works. If you've ever been told you're "too sensitive," struggled to explain why food feels like your only relief, or burned out trying to take care of everyone but yourself — this one's for you. 🕐 In This Episode What is a Highly Sensitive Person? Based on 40+ years of research by Dr. Elaine Aron, HSPs make up 15–20% of the population. Their nervous systems process everything more deeply — emotions, sensory input, other people's pain. It's not a disorder. It's a biological trait. And it comes with superpowers most people never develop. Why HSPs are so vulnerable to food addiction The world is chronically overstimulating for HSPs. Food numbs the overwhelm. It turns the volume down. Add in chronic people-pleasing…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Vera Tarman

Guest: Esther Kane

Topics covered

• highly sensitive people
• emotional eating
• food addiction
• nervous system
• recovery strategies

Keywords

• highly sensitive person
• food addiction
• emotional eating
• nervous system
• recovery
• self-care
• overstimulation

Mentioned in this episode

Places: British Columbia

More episodes of Food Junkies Podcast

• Episode 279: Clinician's Corner | Why Motivation Isn't the Problem — Building Competence in Food Addiction Recovery · April 30, 2026 · 41 min
• Food Junkies Recovery Stories Episode 33: Heather Miller · April 28, 2026 · 48 min
• Episode 278: Dr. John Kelly | The Science of Recovery – What the Research Really Says · April 23, 2026 · 46 min
• Episode 277: Dr. Rachel Herz | The Science of Disgust, Smell, and Why You Eat What You Eat · April 16, 2026 · 56 min
• Episode 275: Clinician's Corner | Recovery in Unsettled Times · April 2, 2026 · 53 min
• Episode 274: Chérie St. Arnauld | Grassroots Mobilization — How We Push the Message of Food Addiction Forward · March 26, 2026 · 48 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Food Junkies Podcast podcast page.