Dr. Jen Unwin: Why Ultra-Processed Food Addiction Needs Medical RecognitionDr. Jen Unwin: Why Ultra-Processed Food Addiction Needs Medical Recognition
The Kick Sugar Coach Podcast
Clinical psychologist Dr Jen Unwin talks with host Florence Christophers about ultra-processed food addiction, why it should be medically recognised, and how whole-food, low-carb approaches and simple screening tools can support recovery. The conversation also highlights group treatment results and the crucial role families play in shifting children away from sugar toward real food.
41:38•19 May 2026
Dr Jen Unwin on Getting Ultra-Processed Food Addiction Taken Seriously
Episode Overview
- Ultra-processed food use disorder is being formally proposed to the WHO and DSM bodies so that it becomes a recognised medical condition with proper research and treatment pathways.
- Low-carb, whole-food approaches have helped many people with type 2 diabetes reduce drugs and stabilise appetite, yet are still not standard guidance in the UK.
- The CRAVED tool offers a simple six-question screen (cravings, reaching for more, activities neglected, volume, exclusion, damage) to flag possible food use disorder.
- A 12-week online group programme using whole foods, abstinence-based plans, and relapse support showed large improvements in mental wellbeing and food addiction symptoms at 12 months.
- Changing what children and grandchildren are fed—away from sugar and towards real food—is framed as a crucial act of care that can influence future generations’ health.
“It just makes sense, doesn’t it? If you’ve got a problem with blood sugar, maybe don’t have the sugar and the simple carbohydrates.”
What insights can experts and survivors share about addiction? This conversation brings clinical psychologist Dr Jen Unwin together with host Florence Christophers to talk about why ultra-processed food addiction needs to be taken as seriously as alcohol and drug dependence. You’ll hear Dr Unwin share her own long-term struggles with sugar and baking, and the lightbulb moment when she heard Bitten Jonsson talk about sugar addiction: “I just thought, you know, yes, there you go. Boom.
That’s me.” From there, she trained in the field and teamed up with her GP husband, Dr David Unwin, helping patients with type 2 diabetes use low-carb, whole-food diets to reduce medication and improve health. The heart of the episode focuses on the push to get **ultra-processed food use disorder** recognised in major medical manuals (ICD and DSM).
Dr Unwin explains the ongoing applications to the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association, why official status matters for research funding and treatment pathways, and how the food industry’s influence makes this a tough battle. There’s also a clear breakdown of the CRAVED screening tool for food use disorder, based on six simple questions around cravings, loss of control, withdrawal, and harm.
A 12‑week online group programme using whole foods, education about the brain, and abstinence-based plans is described as showing “massive, statistically significant improvements” a year later. The conversation turns practical and emotional too: the role of women in feeding families, the regret many feel about giving children sugar, and the call to move kids and grandkids towards real food, even if it means a few tears at first.
If you’re wondering whether your relationship with ultra-processed foods is “just a sweet tooth” or something more, this episode gives language, structure, and hope — and might nudge you to ask, what small step could you take toward real food today?
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