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Food Junkies cover art

Food Junkies

Written by: Vera Tarman, Phil Werdell
Narrated by: Lisa Bunting
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Publisher's Summary

2016 Voice Arts Award Finalist

A fact-filled guide to coping with compulsive overeating problems by an experienced addiction doctor who draws on many patients' stories of recovery.

Overeating, binge eating, obesity, anorexia, and bulimia: Food Junkies tackles the complex, poorly understood issue of food addiction from the perspectives of a medical researcher and dozens of survivors. What exactly is food addiction? Is it possible to draw a hard line between indulging cravings for "comfort food" and engaging in substance abuse? For people struggling with food addictions, recognizing their condition - to say nothing of gaining support and advice - remains a frustrating battle.

Built around the experiences of people suffering and recovering from food addictions, Food Junkies offers practical information grounded in medical science, while putting a face to the problems of food addiction. It is meant to be a knowledgeable and friendly guide on the road to food serenity.

©2014 Vera Tarman with Philip Werdell (P)2016 Post Hypnotic Press Inc.

What listeners say about Food Junkies

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Very well done.

Informative without being dry. It ties together the various addictions and disorders making it easier to understand. I'm looking forward to watching the studies progress in the field of addiction.
Reader is engaging.

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  • JB
  • 2020-02-28

I think I'm addicted to sugar!

It was a very real and informative book. the narrator was ok I thought it was the actual doctor reading it. There is a growing problem with sugar I can see it in my own life and extended family. I am staying to contain the beast inside me.

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food addiction demystified

Very excellent in helping me understand the notion of food addiction. Fascinating stories. Well read.

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Highly Recommend

This book was recommended to me by a family Physician. Very informative and enlightening. I have been trying to give up sugar for almost a year without success. This book gives me hope that it can be done, however I wish there were strategies for how to deal with eliminating it totally. It not only tells about the dangers of food addiction but also the correlation between other addictions. Overall well written and engaging.

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Incredible Book - A MUST read!!! LIFE ALTERING!

I finished this book last night and have now handed it to my husband to read. I thought it was fantastic and has given me so much food for thought! I’m especially intrigued about the effects of menopause and hormone influence.... I want to look at that further. As a healthcare professional this gave me a lot of education that I was lacking, in an easy to digest sort of way! I think the overall message in this book is incredibly important and I will recommend it to friends patients and family without any hesitation! I feel like there is a lot to digest and I certainly felt like I wanted to read a portion and then ponder before venturing on. I am a fan of personal case studies to illustrate real life scenario’s, they give the reader a visual to attach key pieces of information too. I found myself thinking that there is such a broad range of situations, I wouldn’t classify myself as extreme at all, compared to some of these case studies, but the struggle with control is incredibly well described.
The hope really is in abstinence and believing that it will bring relief. I was chatting with my daughter who lives in another city about this and she became tearful at the thought of never eating regular pasta or sweet treats again...such an eye opener to me as a mother of her undeveloped value on her health, intellectually she got it, but emotionally it made her sad with feelings of depravation. At 25 obviously the focus is different and she hasn’t first hand knowledge of the consequences in store. She is now reading this book and told me she could see her own behaviors in the text.
What occurred to me last night as i walked home, was how important it is to recognize the need to pause, step outside of predictable behavior (getting frustrated with a difficult child, or giving into the craving and eating) and look closely at what’s behind the behaviour......craving, addiction etc..... I’m going to try to keep that imprint in my mind to call up when needed.
So much to think about.......invest in this book, you won’t regret it, it has changed me on the inside and helped me profoundly in my battle for control over craving and food.

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Great information

Really enjoyed listening to so many stories and their journeys. Recommend to anyone interested in food addictions.

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Eye opener

Love that it takes a nonbiased approach to solutions and science based data from a doctor who understands addiction and has the courage to come out herself as a food addict well.

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  • MKR
  • 2019-06-21

Still losing the battle of the bulge?

Are you weary of the constant battle in your head about whether you're going to eat this, or you're not going to eat that... And you decided for sure you're not going to eat it and then all of a sudden you've eaten it? This book explains why and how to avoid the battle all together. You don't have to fight anymore. You don't have to wage a constant war with yourself and everybody around you about what you're going to eat and when.

It has some groundbreaking ideas and others that just haven't been accepted yet by the medical profession, but it will be like before alcoholism was accepted as a disease. Obesity is just a symptom, just like being drunk is just a symptom. There's no point in trying to lose weight if you're eating the wrong things. Or, if there is actually something eating you. Each of us is completely unique and there is no one-size-fits-all diet. Emphatically, it is not a case of "moving more and eating less." And, you can't give up eating entirely as you can with alcohol. But there are specific foods and substances that are acting on you just as if they were drugs. It is actually not you choosing to eat foods that are wrong for you. The foods themselves influence your brain and make you choose them. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by large companies to ensure that just this exact reaction is achieved.

Complete freedom is only achieved when you figure out what items are triggering you, how to find them in your foods, and get rid of them. But let me assure you... just as Tarman & Werdell say, this is not a moral issue and you are not a bad person because you are overweight, no matter what society says or how the media makes you feel.
Some of the things you'll read will sound like they are impossible to do, but they are not. They are, without question, a small price to pay for true peace of mind and actual happiness in this obesogenic world.

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This book change my life!!

No works to express how much this book is helping me to understand my food addiction.

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Sanity Returned

What can I write to have you believe that what has been written by Vera Tarman and Philip Werdell is nothing short of a revelation.

I am a 58 year old obese male with Type 2 diabetes and a food addict. I purge by fasting. I did not know or understand what bingeing ment or that I had an addiction. I just like to eat, I enjoy food, I enjoy the sensation of eating, full or not, I ENJOY EATING. I ate when depressed, I ate to console myself, I ate when I was angry, I ate to help me sleep, I ate I ate, but did not consider I was addicted or a binge eater until I read Food Junkies. Food Junkies woke me to issues I have yet to resolve from my childhood that carried me through to my adult life.

This past March, I began studying nutrition, liver and kidney functions, Cardio Vascular and Arterial Diseases, insulin resistance, and the science behind whole foods (Keto), in hopes of regaining my health and affirming I would not loose body parts from the Type 2 Diabetes.

I read and watched such experts in the field as Dr Jason Fung, a Nephrologist in Toronto and author of the Obesity Code, Dr Ken D. Berry, a Tennessee Doctor, an expert in the Keto world and the carnivore diet and author of "Lies My Doctor Told Me". Amy Berger, a Certified Nutrition Specialist who specializes in using low-carbohydrate and ketogenic nutrition to help people reclaim their vitality through eating delicious foods, and showing them that getting well doesn’t require starvation, deprivation, or living at the gym. Ivor Cummins, a Chemical Engineer working with Doctors and Nutritionist breaking down and bringing us the science on health and nutrition and so much more. There are so many more people I have not mentioned.

But I am not here for that. I needed you to know where I have been and why I ended up here.

I have studied and will continue to do so for years to come to understand what is needed to be healthy. I am here because with all that knowledge, I was still failing and struggling mentally to cope with losing weight, that is until I read Food Junkies.

This book is the psychological understanding I needed to match with the science I am learning. Food Junkies helped me understand that there were reasons behind my eating habits and that I can begin to break down the triggers I have used for years to say: I have eaten this much much might as well eat more. I am now looking for those triggers and working on recognizing them for what they are.

I am nowhere close to being who I wish to be physically or mentally, but I am closer than I have been in months.. years with this new knowledge form Dr Vera Tarman. I cannot thank her enough for what this has meant to me.

I began this journey at 360+ lbs (163 Kilograms, 25.7 Stone) and am currently at 285 lbs (129 Kilograms, 20.3 Stone), I now have the information to continue on my health journey and keep my sanity in check, and I do mean that as the book also explains the dark side what can happen.

I am so grateful to Dr Vera Tarman and Philip Werdell,
Thank you.

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7 people found this helpful