What if the biggest breakthroughs in mental health didn't start with more effort—but with better timing?

In this deeply grounding and wide-ranging conversation, we're joined by Ignacio Cuaranta, a board-certified psychiatrist whose work sits at the intersection of psychiatry, chronobiology, metabolic health, and lifestyle medicine. Trained in Argentina and working internationally, Dr. Cuaranta brings a refreshingly non-dogmatic, biology-forward lens to mental health—one that prioritizes rhythm, regulation, and compassion over blame or biohacking extremes.

Together, we explore why sleep and light exposure may be the most powerful psychiatric interventions we have, how ultra-processed foods disrupt not just metabolism but emotional regulation, and why afternoon crashes, anxiety, impulsivity, and insomnia are often rhythm problems—not personal failures.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why morning light and nighttime darkness are foundational for mood, impulse control, and nervous system regulation
• How ultra-processed foods hijack reward pathways, especially when the brain is already fatigued
• The overlooked role of chronobiology in psychiatry—and why timing matters as much as content
• Afternoon crashes, cortisol dysregulation, and the myth of "low motivation"
• Time-restricted eating as a clinical tool, not a rigid rule
• Why consistency often matters more than perfection—especially for sensitive nervous systems
• Sleep as a keystone habit that makes every other change more accessible
• Practical, harm-reduction strategies for winter, shift work, and modern screen-heavy life
• Sauna, temperature, and seasonal rhythms—what actually helps and when
• Why reducing physiological "noise" can ease cravings, emotional volatility, and mental fatigue

This episode is especially supportive for anyone:

• Early in recovery from ultra-processed food use
• Living with anxiety, insomnia, or mood instability
• Feeling exhausted by self-optimization culture
• Curious about nutritional psychiatry, metabolic mental health, and nervous system regulation
• Wanting evidence-informed strategies that honor individuality, sensitivity, and real life

Dr. Cuaranta reminds us that regulation is not weakness, sensitivity is not pathology, and recovery doesn't require hacking yourself into submission. Often, the most meaningful change begins by restoring order to the basics: sleep, light, food quality, and rhythm.

If you've ever felt like your nervous system is doing its best in an environment that's working against it—this conversation is for you.

💌 Email us at: foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com

The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

In this reflective, clinically rich conversation, Molly and Clarissa begin by looking back on the words that shaped their last year—and naming the ones guiding them forward. From emanate and flourishing to safety and permission, they explore how intention-setting collides with real life, nervous systems, social context, and recovery work.

From there, the episode moves into a nuanced and often uncomfortable topic: "volume addiction." Is overeating whole foods after removing ultra-processed foods simply binge eating disorder in disguise? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. And sometimes it's something entirely different.

Drawing from decades of combined experience in addiction treatment, mental health, trauma, and eating disorders, Molly and Clarissa unpack:

• Why labeling overeating as a new "addiction" can do more harm than good

• How binge eating disorder is diagnosed (and why food type alone doesn't define it)

• The roles of nervous system dysregulation, trauma, habit learning, dopamine loops, hormones, and survival biology

• Why early recovery often includes a messy stabilization period—and why that's not pathology

• The tension between rigid food rules and true safety

• Why embodiment, somatic work, mindfulness, and self-compassion are foundational—not optional

They also challenge both food addiction and eating disorder paradigms when they become overly rigid, externalized, or disconnected from lived experience. Instead, they make a compelling case for internal resources over external control, and for recovery approaches that allow experimentation, nervous system safety, and individual variation.

This episode is an invitation to think more broadly, more compassionately, and more critically—about labels, treatment, and what long-term recovery actually requires.

✨ Key themes include:

• Safety as a prerequisite for flourishing

• Permission to disappoint, experiment, and be fully yourself

• Why healing is inherently non-linear and embodied

• Moving beyond shame, restriction, and one-size-fits-all answers

If you've ever wondered whether something is "wrong" with you for still struggling after removing ultra-processed foods—or felt boxed in by labels that no longer fit—this conversation offers both validation and a way forward.

📩 Have thoughts or questions? Reach us at foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com

The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.