The INFACT School (https://infactschool.com/) is the only school in the world that teaches students about the science of food addiction and how to treat it. Graduates receive a Certified Food Addiction Professional (CFAP) which is recognized in Europe and the U.S. This seven-month virtual training program involves speakers and many top professionals who study the disease of food addiction. Students are taught screening, assessments and intake technique processes involving looking at behaviors and addiction genealogy. They are trained in counseling and treatment for abstinence and the reversal of personality changes that happen as a person becomes addicted to a substance.
The guest is the podcast owner and highly respected pioneer and school’s founder, Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir, a recovered food addict who released 130 lbs. to achieve a healthy weight through abstinence and working a 12-step food addiction recovery program. She then knew what her life’s mission would be: help other food addicts by opening a treatment center in Iceland and beginning the INFACT School. Over 130 students have graduated from the school, with new classes offered in March and September each year.
We discuss the science behind food addiction, which is just like the addiction to alcohol and drugs: a dopamine response, and over time, experiencing higher tolerance, using more of the substance despite negative consequences. Late-stage food addicts are often obese with obesity-related health issues and cannot stop on their own from eating the offending foods, and once they start, they have difficulty stopping.
37 clinicians, researchers, and academics throughout the world have reached an agreement that food addiction, specifically ultra-processed food addiction, is a substance use disorder. The International Food Addiction Consensus (IFAC) (https://heyzine.com/flip-book/a00ee3aa6c.html) met in London, U.K. in May 2024, and a conference is planned in Mexico City in September 2025 as the application is being submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO) to be placed in the International Classification of Disease, (ICD) to place ultra-processed food addiction as a substance use disorder, in the ICD.
Esther believes in complete abstinence from sugar and addictive foods, along with treatment and recovery programs to recover from food addiction. Her work and that of the school have been impactful and revolutionary. Listen to this wonderful interview with Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir. Yale Food Addiction Scale https://infactschool.com/yale-food-addiction-survey/