Food Junkies Podcast

About Food Junkies Podcast

Welcome to the "Food Junkies" podcast! Here we aim to provide you with the experience, strength and hope of professionals actively working on the front lines in the field of Food Addiciton. The purpose of our show is to educate YOU the listener and increase overall awareness about Food Addiction as a recognized disorder. Here we discuss all things recovery, exploring the many pathways people take towards abstinence in order to achieve a health forward lifestyle. Most importantly how to THRIVE rather than just survive. So stay positive, make a change for yourself, tell others about your change, and hopefully the message will spread. The content on our show does not supplement or supersede the professional relationship and direction of your healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder or mental health concern.

Publisher

Clarissa Kennedy

Category

health & fitness · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Jan 2021

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

180 of 348 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 295: Dr. Thomas Sambrook | Why We Eat When We're Full - Food Cues & the Brain

   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.

2. 

   24 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 294: Luis Mojica | Stimulants, Depressants & Balancers - A New Way to Understand Food Cravings

   Host Clarissa Kennedy interviews Luis Mojica, somatic practitioner, nutritionist, and founder of Holistic Life Navigation, about understanding food cravings through stimulants, depressants, and balancers.

3. 

   21 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Food Junkies Recovery Stories Episode 38: Felicia Sussman

   Certified Addiction Professional CJ interviews Felicia Sussman about her inspiring journey of recovery, resilience, and finding freedom from food addiction.

Inside a recent episode

Episode 295: Dr. Thomas Sambrook | Why We Eat When We're Full - Food Cues & the Brain

Published 8 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] It's actually interesting on the basis of most really clever AI in these days, artificial intelligence. But my interest, I'm getting to the food aspect in a moment. My interest there really is in the degree to which human behavior is habitual and it is released by cues in the environment rather than people consciously pursuing a goal or a strategy that they want. And the tie-in here really for behavior change is that people are often quite surprised at how difficult it is for them to shift habits. They're a bit amazed that carrying around a liter and a half of grade, they can't shift these simple habits. […]

Who has been a guest on Food Junkies Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Luis Mojica
• Felicia Sussman
• Lucy Loch
• April Oscarson
• Dr Matt Bernstein

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

769,974

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

164 ratings

Spotify

4.7 / 5

64 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 87 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

99

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

96

Contact Food Junkies Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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