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Food Junkies PodcastAuthor: Clarissa Kennedy
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. Language: en Genres: Health & Fitness, Nutrition Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Episode 295: Dr. Thomas Sambrook | Why We Eat When We're Full - Food Cues & the Brain
Thursday, 8 October, 2026
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.
