Doctor Nurse Mama prescribes Hope for Healthy Families on American Family Radio

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Hello and welcome to the Doctor Nurse Mama show prescribing Hope for Healthy Families.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Here on American Family Radio.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck. Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite part of the afternoon, getting to spend time with you prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. I'm so happy to be here with you. We are just barreling through 2025. If you missed the show yesterday, well, by the way, my husband listened in. He said, wow, you got a little fiery there. You were really passionate about what you were talking about. Yes, indeed I was. Am I sorry? No, not even a little bit. I had a few things that I really wanted to convey to parents, especially yesterday. And we have just had an amazing 2025 with so many guests who have given us so much encouragement, so much edification. And every day we're prescribing hope. And since we started doing our daily prescription, my producer just told me today we have 71 prescriptions already. So exciting. You can find those on my Facebook page or on the out on the show. Listen to the past episodes. And if you missed yesterday, I did announce American Family association is inviting you to an event at the Ark, the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky on October 30th and 31st. If you want information on that, go to afa.netevents and you'll find all of the information that you need right there.

This program is intended for general informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice

Well, let's dive into today's prescription for Hope. Today we're talking about an issue that impacts really literally every single person on the planet. If you eat food, if you need food to live, this program is for you. Our prescription for Hope Today is that healthy few healthy food fuels healthy families. We're going to talk about some issues of healthy eating. Now I want to give a disclaimer right up front. The content that we're sharing today on the program is just intended for general informational purposes and it shouldn't be construed as medical advice because there is just no way we can speak to the individual circumstances. It is so important to always consult your primary care provider or a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical questions or concerns. And that professional medical guidance should guide your health decisions. I cannot give you personalized medical advice, but we're going to talk generally about this. And so today we're diving into a really timely and kind of touchy topic. But stick with me. We're talking about the rise of weight loss medications and the complex stories behind them. Now these drugs are making headlines reshaping conversations about health, about body image, changing.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: How we care for ourselves.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And more and more people are turning to them, not necessarily out of vanity, but in pursuit of better health. People want to be healthier. They want to have more energies and sometimes relief from long standing struggles with weight. But here is the truth. Weight is never just about food. It is emotional, it's generational. It's about our relationship with our bodies, our stress, our habits. And for many, it's, it is really tangled with shame or fear or unhealthy coping mechanisms. And so today we're going to approach that with empathy. Because for some, weight loss medications are a meaningful part of that health journey. For others, there's hesitation, there are questions. But for everyone, there are underlying issues. And today we're talking about food addiction, disordered eating.

Today we're going to talk specifically to people who are struggling with food addiction

So I wanna start before I introduce our guest with some basic information, make sure we're all on the same page. You have likely heard of the rise of new kinds of medications that are generally called GLP1s that stands for glucagon, like peptide 1. So in very simple terms, it's a hormone that impacts blood sugar regulation, digestion, appetite, among some other things. And it has been successful in weight loss for many people. And some of the side effects are gastrointestinal distress or discomfort. And in rare cases, there are some serious side effects that have occurred. Now, we started to see increased use in the public starting around 2017. And for most people, these medications are really expensive. They cost an average of $1,000 a month. But the popularity of these led to a severe shortage. There was estimated to be more than 400% increase in demand between 2021 and 2023. So during this interim, the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, allowed comp these medications, basically making an alternate formulation to address the shortage. Those compounds are not FDA approved. So the shortage was just declared resolved and now pharmacies technically can't provide those compounds anymore. Although it really remains to be seen how this will actually play out. Now, as modern Americans, we are accustomed to instant gratification. We want personalized solutions that are affordable and accessible. And there may be some who have experienced benefits of those GLP1 medications. There are many who struggle with many kinds of disordered eating, including food addiction. And you know, those foods, you just feel like you can't stop eating. Like whoever eats one potato chip or one bite of a cookie or one french fry, and sometimes that's not lack of willpower. Many of these foods are actually designed to be addictive. They're Made to be what's called hyper palatable. That might be a new term to you, but that means they hit just the right combination of sugar, fat and salt to light up the brain's reward center. That triggers a dopamine release. And that's the same feel good chemical that's involved in other addictions. And I'm speaking in simple terms here, but you get the general idea. It makes you want more. Now, over time, this can lead to a kind of food addiction. Eating becomes less about hunger, and eating often is about comfort or escape or habit or ritual. And it is a real emotional cycle that a lot of people struggle with, often in silence and shame. And it's estimated eating disorders among young people especially doubled during the pandemic. Now, I hear everyone talking about the mental health crisis, which is very real among young people. But when the world is out of control, food can be a very easy way to seek some means of control, Especially for kids who don't have control over where they go to school or what house they live in or what parent they live with or, you know, what finances they have. But that, that food control can be a source of comfort. And what a lot of people don't know is that eating disorders are actually the most deadly mental health disorder. Yes, you heard me right. And it's also estimated that about 1 in 8Americans over the age of 50 show signs of food addiction. So today we're going to talk specifically to people who are struggling with food addiction and share some resources. My guest is Dr. Rhona Epstein. She's a licensed psychologist. She's an addiction counselor. She's a marriage and family therapist in the Philadelphia area. She is the author of Food triggers, End your cravings, Eat well and live better, better satisfied, a 90 day journey towards food freedom. Several other books that she has in resources. But for more than 30 years, she has led seminars and conferences and workshops to help people overcome food addiction and the underlying issues with it. She has a doctorate in psychology, a master's in counseling psychology, and she's passionate from her own personal experience. Dr. Rhona welcome to the show. We are so grateful to have you here today.

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Well, thank you for having me on. It's a pleasure and a blessing. Thank you.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: It is a blessing. I know this is going to be a blessing.

Dr. Rhona has bravely shared her own struggles with food addiction

And one of the blessings that we have is, Dr. Rhona you have bravely shared your own struggles with food addiction, which is so often where our ministry and area of expertise comes from, that root of our own struggle. Can you tell us a Little bit about what that journey looked like for you and what finally led you to seek lasting healing.

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Well, might as well dive right in the deep end, right?

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That's right. Exactly. Let's go.

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Yeah. Well, I actually, I, oftentimes joke that I think I came out of the womb looking for ice cream. I was like one of these little kids who just had to have sweets all the time. I didn't like real food. I only like junk food.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I think people can relate.

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Yeah, well, it was bad. I mean, I, you know, I was one of those kids who, you know, if you tried to make me eat real food, I kind of had a, had a hissy fit. And, so I kind of lived on Pop Tarts and Captain Crunch and, Oreos and ice cream and spaghetti. Pretty much anything that had sugar food. Sugar and white flour. Pretty much. That's pretty much, you know, peanut butter and jelly. That was, that was it. I think that was my entire, diet for most of my childhood. It's, it's amazing that I lived to tell the story. yeah. And, you know, I don't think we knew much. I mean, I'm, you know, right now I'm, you know, my early 60s. So, you know, I don't think we knew what we know today about nutrition. We certainly didn't know about food or sugar addiction. we didn't have the science that we have today. I didn't understand what was happening. I had a crazy preoccupation with sweets. you know, we understand alcoholism and substance abuse, how they're progressive problems. And what was happening to me was that as I was growing up, it was just getting worse and worse. I was becoming obsessed. I was hiding, sneaking, lying. I began to have weight problems. And then all the shame and trying to control it with diets. And then, you know, so then you have now this compounded problem of trying to control what I look like by starving myself with crazy diets and then, you know, having a sugar addiction. So of course you can't. That doesn't really work out too well. So, you know, one day, one day binging, one day trying to control it with the diets and back and forth in this insane two part craziness of obsession with, with weight and obsession with food and, and just getting worse and worse. So, you know, kind of tie that in with emotional issues. you know, depressed, anxious, you know, very insecure. you know, people with body images, image issues, you know, can understand. There's a lot of sort of shame around, you know, what you look like. And I was very hung up around feeling like, you know, I didn't look right. But if you look at my pictures, I didn't look nearly as bad as I thought it was very, just. I had a terrible body image. And, yeah, it just got really bad. So, you know, by the time I was 17, it was full blown, like textbook case bulimic, which, by the way, they didn't have that word in the, in the world back then. So we didn't even have. Nobody knew what that was. So I didn't. No one knew. I had no one to tell. I wouldn't tell. So in front of people I did one thing, and in secret I did another thing. So I had, I pretended to be happy and together and, while I was, felt like dying on the inside. So it was a terrible, terrible life. And thankfully I, you know, found my way to a support group at the end of my senior year of high school. So, and then I got help and I found a relationship with God and, and I found freedom and I discovered that. Actually I do believe for me that, sugar is like heroin for me. And I can't have, I can't have cooked, I can't eat Oreos. I only eat boxes of Oreos. Like, I can't eat one or two. I eat, I eat boxes. And so I haven't had any, of those sort of sweets, you know, ice cream and cookies I haven't had since 1983. And, and you know, from. Some people think that's crazy, but for me that's sanity. It's what, you know, like alcoholic need to be sober. I need to be sober from those foods.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: thank you so much for sharing your story, Dr. Rhona It is something that I know so many people deal with because I see this in my clinical practice. I see, teenagers who are dealing with this. I see parents who are dealing with this. And it can be hard on the. Looking from the outside to understand it because you just tend to simplify it. If it's not a struggle that you have, you think, well, just don't eat that. But then not understanding that struggle. And you use the word obsession a lot, which is something that I see in people who struggle with this. And it's, it's funny that you mentioned not funny, but it's ironic that you mentioned 1983. Now, of course, if those who are old enough to remember may remember Karen Carpenter, who was one half of the musical duo the carpenters. And she tragically became really one of the earliest and most public figures associated with eating disorders. And she died at the age of 32 in 1983. And her struggle really brought national attention to the dangers of eating disorders which really weren't widely understood at the time. And today we are going to dive into this why it happens. When we come back, we'll talk about how people can use food as a self prescribed medicine for emotional pain and how do we start to untangle that? Now Dr. Rhona has a workbook that's come out that will help and it may help find hope and healing for food addiction, a guide to holistic recovery. And we'll talk more about hope on the other side of this. I'll see you on the other side of this break.

Because of the generous donations provided from listeners like you, Preborn has rescued 330,000 babies

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Because of the generous donations provided from listeners like you, Preborn has rescued over 330,000 babies. But every day the abortion industry is taking thousands of babies lives. We have to save them. Please donate your best gift to save more babies at preborn.com/AFR , That's preborn.com/AFR. As we celebrate the many pro life victories going forth, we rejoice. Preborn's network of clinics have a unique opportunity to advance even further without political persecution. What does this look like? Preborn is the greatest threat to the abortion industry. By rescuing on average 200 babies lives a day, they are putting a serious dent into abortion. But there are still thousands of babies who die daily and Preborn's goal is to rescue them all. With the help of the pro life community, meaning you, we can save so many more. Please join us in saving all of these precious lives. The ultrasound is the game changer. Once a mother hears that precious heartbeat, she is twice as likely to choose life. If you consider yourself pro life, we need your help. One ultrasound is just $28. Five ultrasounds are $140. Five thousand dollars, Sponsors ultrasounds for the entire Preborn Network for an entire day. How many lives can you save? Every child is a beautiful gift from God. Please join the cause to donate securely. Please dial #250 and say the keyword baby. That's #250 baby or visit preborn.com / AFR that's preborn.com / AFR Preborn is there for hurting mothers and at risk babies standing strong in the darkest corners of our nation. By sponsoring an ultrasound, you can be there too. One ultrasound is just $28 and doubles a baby's chance at life. Please donate your best gift to save more babies at preborn.com/AFR that's preborn.com / AFR

Nobody by Casting Crowns features Matthew West

Why you ever chose me? There's always been a mystery? All my life I've been told I belong at the end of the line with all the other not quite we'll all never get it right? But it turns out they're the ones you were looking for all this time? Cause I'm just a nobody? Trying to tell everybody all about somebody who saved my soul? Ever since you rescued me? You gave my heart a song to sing? I'm living for the world to see nobody but Jesus? I'm living for the world to see nobody but Jesus.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That song, is Nobody by Casting Crowns featuring Matthew West. And we are here talking to somebody. That somebody is you.

Food addiction is something many of us experience but few talk about out loud

Today on the show, we're talking about something that many of us experience but few talk about out loud. And you know, for me, from my seat, looking at my professional sphere makes me sad because I think there are some things that are becoming more acceptable to talk about in mental health struggles. But food addiction is not one of those there. It's turning to food for comfort. And for some, that a moment of relief after a stressful day other for other people it becomes a much deeper struggle where food is filling not just hunger needs, but a void of, loneliness and heartache or shame. And Our guest today, Dr. Rhona Epstein, knows this journey intimately. She's here to help us understand what that really looks like, how healing begins not with judgment, but with grace and with honesty. Because we all crave that something we're all craving. Comfort, connection, peace. But sometimes that craving shows up in the kitchen. And Dr. Rhona has just shared her story, her own personal story of having difficulties and struggling with food addiction. And that is really brave to share that story, but it gives you a different place to be able to talk from when you have that lived experience. And so, Dr. Rhona I want to dive back in and say that, you know, you describe food as a kind of self prescribed medicine for emotional pain, that people sometimes use food to medicate their loneliness, their fear, their shame. Why does food become such a powerful coping mechanism for so many people?

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Well, first of all, it's, easily accessible. And I don't think that we realize it, that it's druggie. Like I think we know alcohol and drugs are doing that. But I think, yeah, we use the word comfort food and I think we're, we kind of joke about it, you know, and you know, if you watch movies or, you know, you listen to kind of Conversation. If you tune in, people joke about, you know, eating because of stress or, you know, just, you have a breakup and, you know, all the breakup scenes, you see people drowning their sorrows in a, you know, bowl of ice cream or a pizza. and, you know, we kind of laugh about it, and we're kind of okay with it. But of course, for some people, when you have a habit of it and it becomes like a stronghold or a bondage, it's not, it's not funny. when you can't stop and you're so hooked that you are, you know, your life is being taken over and ruined by it. it's one thing if you have it once in a while, but, you know, I think what happens with food, as opposed to all the other types of behaviors that we use for comfort food starts really young. Like, for me, I was just a little kid. And, and, and the thing is, like, you talked about the dopamine, the feel good chemicals in the brain. Like, you, you get these fix feelings, like it's a six and your brain is actually getting these, this surge of feel good chemicals. And, you're creating this feeling that actually does make you feel a little better or a little comfort. And it starts so young, the habit of sort of, oh, well, mom and dad are fighting, or people coming home like a kid coming home from school after a stressful day, or they're feeling social anxiety or, you know, maybe they don't. There's no one home and they're just there alone with their bag of Doritos. And that's sort of bringing them this feeling of like, this is my friend. Here I am, me and my Doritos. Like, it makes them feel better that they're there by themselves and, you know, takes away, takes the edge off.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I think there's two important things to take from what you just said. First of all, I think it's really, it is really cruel that you, like what you described that use. It's socially acceptable to use food as a coping mechanism. It's entertaining, it's funny, it's humorous. That's accepted. You know, if you get a bad grade on a test, you say, I'm going to go drown myself in a, in a, you know, pint of ice cream or whatever. And like you said, if you're doing that every once in a while, you know that that's not what we're talking about here. But while it's socially acceptable to use food as a coping mechanism, the body changes that happen are not Socially acceptable. And that's kind of a cruel irony that's in that. And I think the second thing that is really important for people to understand is the difference between disordered eating and eating disorders. These are two terms that sound similar. But you were describing some of those behaviors where you're starting to use food as a coping mechan and you're using it as a comfort, like, I'm alone. This makes me feel better. That is a sign of disordered eating. It just means that you have unhealthy eating behaviors, many of which are used as a coping mechanism. But it may or may not rise to the level of a diagnosis of an official eating disorder. Now here's why this is important to me, Dr. Rona, is because once you identify those and you can recognize that, hey, this is not, I know this isn't good. I know this isn't a good way to cope, that means you can catch it early. And if you can find the right resources, it's much easier to address once you catch, once you address it early. Especially for kids when their brain is neuroplastic and can be rewired versus letting it go on down the road where you start to have some real health threats and even threat of death from the damage that it does to your body. So I think those two things are really important. But Dr. Rhona in a world full of hyper palatable foods and constant stress, right? We're, and we're on the go all the time. We're families who live on the go. We don't have, we're not cooking healthy foods at home. Plus healthy foods are more expensive a lot of times. How do we even start? Because it can feel overwhelming. I think we can all acknowledge that, hey, there's a problem. Even if I don't struggle with this or understand it, I recognize that this is a problem. How do we even start to untangle what is physical hunger and what's emotional hunger? Where do you even start when you start to realize, okay, I'm using food as a coping mechanism?

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: That's a very good question. Where do I start?

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Can you do world peace in about three and a half minutes? Okay, great.

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Well, right. I guess the problem is like if, if a person's just really in some. I mean, because the, challenge is that sometimes it's just a person was kind of raised in a family where, you know, we're really not just not eating right. I mean, you know, if, if mom and dad aren't really preparing healthy food and we're not really being Properly nourished by the food that's being put on. Like, in my case, I was only eating sugar and white flour, so I wasn't actually getting nourishment from my food. So no wonder I was kind of crazy. not, you know, there was emotional problems too. It wasn't just that the food was wrong, but our bodies need to be nourished. So, you know, being able to kind of look at, like, what am I eating? And does, the food that I eat give me what I need to, for my, for my, what I need for nourishment? Am I getting protein? Am I getting vegetables? Am I getting healthy fats? Am I getting healthy grains? You know, do I have fruits? Or is everything that I'm eating processed food? That's not really. If you can't read the words on the label, actually if there's a label, that might be a hint that you might be in trouble to begin with. Right. Because real food doesn't have labels. and I'm not saying every food that has a label on it is a bad food. It's just that, you know, we need more nourishment in order to be satisfied and satiated so that we're not looking for junk food or like you said, hyper palatable foods that are not really food. Right. If you look at the ingredients of most of the things that we're having trouble with, the things that we can't stop, most of the things you can't even read the label because there's a bunch of chemicals.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah. That is really, that's really challenging. Absolutely. That's really challenging.

Dr. Rhona says many people feel overwhelmed when trying to eat healthy

And I'm feeling like, you know, there may be people out there listening who just feel overwhelmed. And that's one of the most common mistakes that I see, Dr. Rhona people make, is that when they realize, okay, we're not eating healthy, I'm at a place where I can maybe. I'm not going to say that out loud, but I'm going to admit that to myself. Like, we have, we really have got to do that. It can feel so overwhelming to where do we start? Because even some of the things you're talking about, like eating grains, eating real food, like how I think so. One of the, most common mistakes that I see people make is try this all or nothing approach. Like, I'm going to go clean out the pantry. We have this giant trash bag. We're throwing out, everything that is, you know, quote unquote, bad for us, and we are going to eat healthy starting Monday. And that Just never works. You have to. To start small. And even those small changes that you make. Now, I'll tell you, Dr. Rhona, I grew up in the era where I did not eat a vegetable that was not canned. I mean, that's. I thought that's how vegetables came. You know, they were all canned, right? So even, you know, and we, you know, we. We just. We ate baloney, we ate white bread. Like, we just. We ate a lot of processed foods. So even my own personal journey and learning how to do that, I had to have a friend take me to the grocery store. And this is going to sound so embarrassing. She had to teach me how to. How to make a sweet potato. I'm like, how, what, do you do with this? It's so hard. And, like, what do you even do with it? And so she was teaching me. So what do you say to those people who are thinking, okay, maybe this is me. What is one compassionate and practical first step that they can take toward healing?

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Yeah, well, you make a good point. And, you know, I think some progress is better than no progress. And if we. If you do become too, I mean, there's obviously this ideal, right? Eat real food. Eat nourishing food. but yes, it is a process that you have to get to a place of learning, like, how to prepare. Like you said, if you only eat vegetables out of a can, you probably don't like vegetables. Like, I have a lot of clients like that. People come in, they're like, I hate vegetables. Like, well, did you ever. You probably don't know how to make them taste good, right? And the truth is, if you, you know, if you are willing, you know, let's. Let's look at how we can learn some ways to make them so that they taste good. but I think we have to give ourselves room to learn and to grow into that place. I mean, you know, I've been working on this for years, learning how to develop, my cooking skills. And, you know, some people are like, well, I'm a bad cook. I don't know how. And they're just so used to eating fast food food, and that's just the way they, you know, they roll. But if sometimes it's just like, okay, let's just try this, like, and, I'll recommend, like, a recipe that's super easy and really tasty and really all whole, like, healthy ingredients. And let's just try that for breakfast and see how it goes, you know, and let's start to introduce nourishing, Foods, let's replace your breakfast, breakfast junk food with my, you know, with my healthy banana oatmeal muffins, you know, and, and they don't. That don't have any sugar in it. And I mean, I. This recipe's got five ingredients, and I've never had anybody come back and say, I hate those muffins. As a matter of fact, I have clients who are fast food addicts who come back and say, I'm, I'm making them every day, every week now because they're amazing and there's no sugar in them. And like, you know, kid tested really good, you know, and so it's, let's start there and then, and then maybe, you know, we keep on making efforts to try new things. I recommend people nowadays like, you know, you like your friend who taught you how to make a sweet potato. Today we have, TikTok. We have TikTok and Instagram. You can Google like, okay, how do I, you know, healthy salads, you know, or healthy, you know, or delicious broccoli recipe and just look at videos and watch and find some inspiration from people and give something a try.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I think that's a great idea. And you can do that even together as a family. Like, why not set a challenge for every week? You know, you decide together on just one small little step. Another little example that I can give you on my own family's journey is something as simple as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, just like you talked about. You know, I used to, like, just did not even think twice. But even just making simple changes, like using whole grain bread and real peanut butter, that's just peanuts and spreadable fruit, that's just fruit. Now. I can't go back and eat the other. It changes your taste buds over time. But I think, you know, some of these things are, like you said, there's a lot of resources that we can have, but just taking that step in a right direction, just thinking, okay, what's one healthy thing that we can try? What's one step in the right direction? But I think the greater issue is once you realize, okay, we're not eating healthy. Dr. Rhona, I think the question that families need to ask themselves is why? Why? What is this? Is it really our schedule? Is it our values? Is it our learned patterns of behavior addressing that? Why are we not, you know, getting. Is it just too comfortable? And I, I don't have, you know, the tolerate toleration for any discomfort. That can be really hard.

Dr. Rhona Epstein's workbook focuses on helping people overcome food addiction

And we're already up against another break Dr. Rhona but when we come back, I want to talk about the faith element of this. And really, you know, your, your workbook takes a faith based approach to healing. And I want to talk about how connecting with God's love helps someone move, away from using food for comfort and looking at those emotional and spiritual underlying issues. And we'll talk about that when we come back. If you want to know about this workbook, it's called Hope and Healing for Food Addiction, a guide to holistic recovery. And if you are struggling with eating and you're thinking, I'm not happy with what I'm eating, I want to challenge you to think why. And if there are some emotional issues, some mental health issues underlying there, this may be time to reach out to a healthcare professional or someone else you trust to begin your healing journey. And you can. It's never too late to start learning how to cook a sweet potato like I learned how to do. I think next on my list is steaming artichokes. That seems really advanced, but I have goals. So when we come back. We'll be back with more from Dr. Rhona Epstein. See you on the other side of this break.

>> Jeff Chamblee  Buddy Smith: We live in a day when America's families are under attack like never before. Buddy Smith, senior vice president of the American Family Association. The war against biblical principles rages on numerous fronts. The Internet, Hollywood, Washington, D.C. america's corporate boardrooms, and the list goes on. At American Family Association. We're committed to standing against the enemies of God, the enemies of your family. And we recognize it's an impossible task without God's favor and your partnership. Thank you for being faithful to pray for this ministry, to give financially and to respond to our calls for activism. What, what you do on the home front is crucial to what we do on the battlefront. We praise God for your faithfulness and may he give us many victories in the battles ahead as we work together to restore our nation's biblical foundations.

My place in this world. Not a lot to lean on. I need your life to help me find my place in this world. My place in this world.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is Place in this World by For King and Country and Michael W. Smith. And maybe you grew up in my generation and you're thinking, wait, that doesn't sound like how that song is supposed to sound. Well, that came out with For King and Country's Origin movie, Unsung Hero. It is a new remix and today we are talking about something that is not a new issue that some that families have struggled with for a long time. We're talking about something that's pretty tender. We're talking about food struggles. And have you ever eaten not because you were hungry, but because you were hurting? Well, you are not alone. Emotional eating is a very real and very human experience. And for some, it can turn into a painful cycle. It can be addiction. Now, this does relate to genetics. It does relate to environmental influences. Sometimes people deal with both of those. And today we're honored to talk with Dr. Rhona Epstein, who brings wisdom and compassion, her own story of recovery. And whether you struggle with food or you love someone who does and maybe you don't understand their struggle, this conversation is about understanding some of that why behind the cravings and discovering a hope that satisfies that, better than any food ever could. And listen, I just want to tell you that food struggles are not a sign of weakness. It's just a signal that there's something deeper that needs care and compassion. And as a family, your greatest strength is your love and willingness to face those challenges together. And progress may be slow, it may be imperfect, but every small change is a victory. And so just keep showing up for one another with patience and grace and hope. If you're in a family who is thinking, okay, maybe we do have an issue here. Know that especially I am especially concerned about young people. Eating disorders are the most deadly mental health disorder. So if that is something you're struggling with, please do not just wait and see what happens. Do not just try to handle it on your own. It is really important that you reach out for help. You could start with your primary care provider, a healthcare professional, a counselor, an expert. Reach out to somebody that is really important to do and to address those emotional changes. And if you just think, okay, we've just fallen in a habit of not having healthy eating habits, well, it's never too late to change, and you don't have to do it all today. It can be a slow journey. And later on in the year, on our 52 Habits for Healthy families, we'll be talking a little bit more about nutrition and how you can adopt some of those habits.

There is a spiritual component to the battle with food, Rhona says

Now, Dr. Rhona, I want to talk about the spiritual impact of this, because you do address that in your workbook and in the therapy that you provide. But there is a spiritual component of this. Tell us about that.

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Well, yes, and I'm glad that you talked about, you know, being patient with yourselves and. And having. And I think in some ways, it's a biopsychosocial spiritual. It sort of kind of covers all the different parts of us. I think the food issue. And, you know, for many of us, we just kind of try to tackle it as a physical problem, you know, a food problem and a weight problem. And I think in the world, we tend to go after, you know, diet programs. And frankly, as a counselor, people, you know, seem to have. Even people who are very spiritual. I work with mostly Christians, and they seem to have left God out of their food battle. It's a fascinating thing. Yes, it's a kind of interesting thing where you have people who are praying about many different things. But with regards to this battle with food, it's more like they're beating themselves up about it instead of turning to God for help. and it seems like it's like, well, I have to get my act together. you know, they feel sinful or shameful. many people have horrible shame. They feel like they are, you know, I'm supposed to take care of the temple of the Holy Spirit, and look what a mess I'm making. And so instead of, turning to God, they're turning against themselves. You can see how, the enemy can use this to really tear people down. And, you know, frankly, you told me that I can just go strong spiritually. So I'll tell you.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I did.

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: If you look at, like, the scriptures from the very beginning, the very first, sin that we see is with even an apple. And it's food, right? It's the shiny food. And, you know, it's so amazing to me when I look at the level of destruction that takes place. you know, the food obsession, the weight obsession, the health issues, the emotional breakdown, the way that people get depressed, the suicidality, the way that people become, recluses. They stop functioning in their families. Literally withdrawing from activities, withdrawing from their marital intimacy, withdrawing from socializing, all kinds of things. ministry, people not wanting to go out in public because they're ashamed of their body. When you look at how this. It seems like food is so benign, but it's actually destroying people, this problem. And I mean, this is. Look, I have a front roof seat to out of control people who are out of control with their eating. So, this is a very deep issue, the level of destruction. You talk about spiritual warfare. People's lives are being destroyed because of cookies and ice cream and fast food. And, it's. And I know. And that what happens inside of a person is in their mind, they think, well, this should be. I should be able to do this. I should be Able to stop. And you know, I think it seems so easy, right? If you look at the, like, it seems like it's just food, right? I mean, I've literally sat across from people who are running companies, you know, people who are very intelligent people. Doctors, lawyers, CEOs, and they're sitting there and they can manage the world, but they can't manage their food. M. And ah, so it's, it's, it's insidious the way that this problem can really wreck a life. And so understanding how we really do need the power of God to help us because we can't do it without him.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, I'm really convicted as you're talking, Dr. Rhona, because you're right. Satan comes to steal, to kill, to destroy. And he loves to destroy, people who are made in God's image. And messing with their image is. It does. It disrupts their spiritual health. And just as you described, a spiritual disconnection. And you know, you're describing these very, you know, high level, successful people. And I think it's hard too, for people who maybe don't have that struggle to look from the outside. And then that piles on because they, there's just this lack of understanding, thinking, why can't you just stop? Like, I don't struggle with this. Why don't you stop? And what I want to ask you, Dr. Rhona, is, you know, you're sitting with these people, you have a front row seat, just like you said. And there are a lot of people who may be really afraid of the thought of talking about something like this with somebody, about seeking coaching, seeking therapy. What does that look like? Can you demystify it a little bit and make it more accessible and approachable for somebody who's thinking about reaching out?

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Yeah, well, I mean, I think that we talked about this in the beginning, that so many of us are really struggling. And I think it's amazingly freeing when I do a group and people are like the. Me too, me too. Everybody can get it. Like when you talk to me, people come to talk to me. And of course I'm telling the truth. Like, I know what it's like to be in a bondage with food. I know what it's like to be fully, completely out of control and fully obsessed. So if a person starts talking to me, you're not alone. You have somebody in front of you who gets it, who knows. And so. And being alone in the bondage, it just, it never. There's no way. It's never going to End that way because we need to have people with us. No one gets better alone. And that's. I believe that with. I almost never see it. I think it takes like a team of people, you know, oftentimes, because it's a 24, 7 problem. So, you know, kind of facing that sometimes, you know, God uses these problems that are annoying and troublesome to help us in ways that we wouldn't even have expected. You know, the underlying issues that are behind it, they get healed. God wants to heal us. He wants us to have an abundant life. He doesn't want us to keep on drowning our feelings in food. He wants to heal our feelings. Right? And so, you know, there's another path and that if we keep on using food and hiding in secret, we'll never find the path of true healing.

How do you see hope in people's recovery from food addiction

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, you bring up a really great point and that. That food is unavoidable. So if you have another kind of addiction, if you have a gaming addiction, a gambling addiction, an electronic addiction, alcohol addiction, a drug addiction, a sex addiction, even those kinds of things, you know, are easy to say. Like, okay, well, I am just. I'm not going to have any alcohol. I'm going to abstain totally. You can't abstain from food. You have to eat food. And so, having that. And you've talked about some of those boundaries of what that looks like, looks like, so having that, I think you're so right. It does need a team. You need somebody who gets it. You need somebody who has been there. You need God has equipped professionals to help, like yourself, to help and what my pastor calls common grace, to give common graces to everyone. And, and I think there's so many people, Dr. Rhona, who really do feel hopeless. Maybe they've tried a thousand different things in a thousand ways, in a thousand days, and they failed a thousand times. And they just feel like this is just going to be me, like this is just going to be the rest of my life. How do you see hope in people's recovery? We obviously have heard your story. I don't know if you have other stories maybe that you can share of hope, but how do you see lasting hope and especially that lasting hope that we find from God?

>> Dr. Rhona Epstein: Yeah, well, I mean, you know, faith is believing in what we can't see, right? And so, I mean, it's not. It takes, a leap of faith. I think when you, like, you point out so well, this is exactly what food addiction is like. You try and fall and try and fall and try and fall. And after a while, you think, this is it. And so. So it's very hard, actually. I see many people who feel like, how many times? I mean, people who have lost 100 pounds and gained it back, who have had every sort of diet, weight loss, surgery, every single thing that there's been ever out there, and they feel like, there's no point, there's no hope. And yet to believe God and keep believing and going forward, keeping your eyes fixed on the One, not on ourselves, but on Him. Right? Because he's the power. He's the One who sets us free. And I think the mistake we make is we keep looking at ourselves and we look at our struggle and we look at how we keep falling instead of looking on the power of God. He is our healer. He is the one who sets us free. So you know it. And so we need our support system to help us to keep the faith. and then to keep on finding the tools that we need so that we can. We can keep using the tools. Because there are many things that we need to learn, like how to eat and how to handle all of our feelings without food. And that's a feat, right? If you've used food for your whole life to manage your feelings, now you have to learn how to. How to do all that without. Without using food. But, you know, m. All things are possible as.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Yes, with God, all things are possible. I just was thinking of a scripture from, Matthew, chapter 11. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. I think you just gave a really important word, Dr. Rhona, because so often we try to fix it ourselves. And you take it all upon yourselves. It's just like you talked about in the beginning. You separate this from the spiritual element and you think, okay, well, this is my psychological problem, my mental health problem, my physical problem, and I've got to fix it. And. But you've got to give it to God. In the middle of that struggle. You've got to know that he sees your pain and invite him to walk beside you. And you don't have to fight this battle alone, because I think that is really the most important thing. You said healing from food addiction is not just physical, it is very much spiritual. So I encourage you to invite God into your journey and let his grace replace your guilt, let his peace quiet your anxiety, and let his strength carry you through. Because every prayer, every honesty moment, every effort matters. And I want you to trust that restoration is possible not through your power alone, but through the one the only one who can make all things new. He There is hope for you. I hope that if you, are struggling with this, you can find Dr. Rhona Epstein's book, Hope and Healing for Food Addiction, a guide to holistic recovery. And there. There is hope for that. Listen, friend, as you Whatever you're doing in your solution, don't leave God out of it. That's what I'm taking from today. And I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. And I can't wait to see you back here tomorrow. I'll see you then. Have a good day.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: SA.

>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

Dr. Rhona Epstein (American Association of Christian Counselors) talks with Jessica about solutions to food addiction

Rx for Hope: Healthy Food Fuels Healthy Families

https://drrhona.com/