Psychologist who quit sugar for a decade says simple behavioural tricks help curb compulsive eating

Dr Jen Unwin, a consultant psychologist who says she once gave in to every craving and was addicted to treats and ultra‑processed foods, reports she has not eaten sugar in a decade and now teaches the practical, behavioural steps she believes can help people with compulsive eating.

Unwin, who has 35 years of clinical experience, described meeting patients whose day‑to‑day food routines echo a familiar pattern: an intention to eat healthily followed by a small lapse that escalates into bingeing, compensatory skipping of other meals and growing shame. One recent participant she recounted, identified only as Joan, is a 62‑year‑old former nurse recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who had tried numerous diets without durable success.

According to Unwin, Joan described starting a day with a healthy breakfast and resolving to stick to a plan, only to have a midmorning 'just one biscuit' become eight. Skipping lunch to compensate did not stop the cycle; by evening cravings for pizza would lead to ordering a takeaway, often followed by return to the biscuits. Unwin said such cycles of restraint, lapse and bingeing are common among people who seek help with compulsive eating and food addictions.

Unwin works with Food Addiction Solutions, a charity that offers group programmes aimed at people who report compulsive eating behaviours. She said the groups show the same themes repeatedly: persistent cravings, frequent consumption of ultra‑processed foods, and the emotional consequences of repeated unsuccessful dieting that can compound feelings of shame and hopelessness. The charity's programmes combine peer support with behavioural approaches, she said.

Unwin has framed her own experience of giving up sugar as a demonstration that change is possible and that specific, repeatable steps can help people avoid the cycles that derail weight‑management efforts. She argued that these techniques are the kind of practical advice doctors should offer patients who report difficulty controlling intake of sugary or highly processed foods.

The case of newly diagnosed patients such as Joan illustrates the clinical and emotional complexity clinicians confront when treating metabolic conditions alongside entrenched eating behaviours. Health professionals and patients often confront a mix of physiological cravings, learned habits around food, and the psychological impact of repeated unsuccessful dieting, according to Unwin's account.

Public health discussions increasingly focus on the role of ultra‑processed foods in dietary patterns, and some clinicians and charities emphasize behavioural interventions and group support as tools to help people change those patterns. Advocates within support groups point to structured routines, peer accountability and practical strategies to reduce exposure to trigger foods as central elements of sustained change, though approaches and outcomes vary among individuals.

Unwin's account underscores the lived experience of many patients who, despite knowledge of healthy eating, struggle to translate that knowledge into daily behaviour. She and colleagues at Food Addiction Solutions continue to offer group programmes that aim to break repetitive cycles of cravings and bingeing, with an emphasis on practical steps individuals can apply in real time.

For patients like Joan, Unwin said the combination of group support and behavioural techniques has helped some participants reduce or eliminate their intake of added sugars and highly processed treats. She framed her own decade‑long avoidance of sugar as one example among many in which sustained behavioural change was achieved through repeated practice and peer support, rather than through short‑term dieting alone.