Healing Trauma and Food Habits with Jessica Setnick (Part 2)Healing Trauma and Food Habits with Jessica Setnick (Part 2)
Retrieving Sanity
Registered dietitian Jessica Setnick joins Keegan to unpack how shame, trauma and survival patterns shape eating habits far beyond simple willpower. Their conversation links addiction, food, and recovery, offering a fresh way to understand why changing how you eat can feel so complicated.
25:16•22 Jun 2026
Healing Food, Shame and Survival: Jessica Setnick on the Iceberg Beneath Our Eating Habits
Episode Overview
- Eating behaviours sit on top of a much larger “iceberg” of unconscious survival skills, family patterns, biology and trauma.
- Willpower cannot override the body indefinitely; attempts to control food without understanding the roots often backfire.
- Food acts as a mood‑altering chemical, so comfort eating usually has a logical purpose, even if the outcome is unhelpful.
- Shame around eating, weight or addiction can be deadly; bringing hidden behaviours into the open is a crucial first step.
- Many people with serious eating issues do not fit the stereotype, and healthcare systems often miss or minimise their struggles.
“Shame is a killer.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of how food, trauma, and recovery all collide in one very human conversation. This time, registered dietitian Jessica Setnick returns to chat with host Tanner Keegan Read (who goes by Keegan) about why eating behaviour is never just about willpower, and why shame can quietly fuel both addiction and disordered eating.
Jessica explains her “iceberg” idea of food habits – what you see on the surface (overeating, under-eating, bingeing, restriction) is just a tiny part of a much bigger picture. Beneath that sit survival skills, family patterns, culture, biology, addiction, and trauma. As she puts it, “Willpower is nothing compared… if you think you have enough willpower to overcome your unconscious, no, your body will fight back.” The chat is frank, funny in places, and very down‑to‑earth.
Keegan uses his own history with alcoholism, food allergies, and health issues to show how easy it is to think you’re making “simple” choices, while actually acting out years of conditioning and pain. Jessica breaks down how things like people‑pleasing, finishing everything on your plate, or reaching for ice cream when you’re sad can all start as rational survival strategies – but might stop serving you later in life.
You’ll also hear about how diet culture, lazy healthcare, and the old stereotype of eating disorders as a “skinny white girl problem” have left huge numbers of people unseen and untreated, including men, transgender people, and those with chronic illness or disabilities.
Jessica ends with a powerful reminder: “Shame is a killer.” She urges anyone who feels stuck or embarrassed about their eating to write it down, talk to someone safe, or seek out an eating disorder dietitian – even if they don’t think their problem is “bad enough.” If food, recovery, and self-worth are tangled up for you, this conversation might be a nudge to start asking what’s really under your own iceberg.
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