About the ARC

The Addiction Reset Community (ARC) is a science-backed, supportive community dedicated to empowering individuals to overcome processed food addiction with compassion and lasting results.

Guided by Dr. Joan Ifland, a leading pioneer in processed food recovery, ARC delivers expert-led guidance, proven strategies, and round-the-clock support to help you rebuild a healthy relationship with food.

We recognize the intense challenges of persistent cravings and emotional eating, and we provide practical, judgment-free tools to navigate them effectively. In ARC, you'll develop essential skills for managing triggers, easing stress, and achieving sustainable transformation at a pace that feels right for you.

Here, rigorous science blends seamlessly with genuine empathy—creating a safe space to heal, connect, and reclaim true freedom from food. Your path to lasting peace begins today.

About Joan Ifland, PhD

Dr. Joan Ifland is a leading expert in the field of processed food addiction, with over 25 years of work focused on understanding and treating it as a substance use disorder similar to drug or alcohol addiction.

She holds a PhD in addictive nutrition (2010, Union Institute & University), an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business (1978), and a BA in Economics from Oberlin College (1974). She is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and has been recognized as a food addiction specialist (e.g., by the Oprah Winfrey Network).

Key Contributions to Research

Her research argues that refined/processed foods (high in sugars, flours, processed fats, excessive salt, gluten, caffeine, and sweeteners) trigger brain reward pathways akin to addictive substances, leading to cravings, loss of control, and diet-related diseases like obesity, diabetes, depression, and fatigue.

• Pioneering Paper (2009) — Co-authored "Refined food addiction: a classic substance use disorder" (published in Medical Hypotheses), the first to describe overeating processed foods as meeting DSM-IV criteria for substance use disorders. It hypothesizes that high concentrations of sugar and other refined ingredients drive addiction-like behaviors.
• Textbook (2018) — Lead editor and author of Processed Food Addiction: Foundations, Assessment, and Recovery (CRC Press), a comprehensive 204,000-word volume supported by over 2,000 studies. It provides the field's foundational literature review, diagnostic criteria, definitions of addictive vs. non-addictive foods, neurobiological overlaps with drug addiction, and abstinence-based recovery protocols.
• Recent Publication (2025) — Co-authored work in Frontiers in Psychiatry on binge-type eating disorders and ultra-processed food addiction, exploring phenomenology, pathophysiology, and treatment implications, suggesting abstinence or harm reduction improves outcomes.

Other Notable Works

• Early books like Sugars and Flours: How They Make Us Crazy, Sick and Fat (2000).
• Chapters in handbooks (e.g., Food and Addiction, Oxford University Press).
• Development of online recovery programs based on her research, emphasizing peer support, withdrawal management, and skill-building to manage cues and triggers.

Her work bridges neuroscience, addiction studies, and nutrition, advocating for viewing persistent overeating not as a lack of willpower but as a severe addiction driven by industry-formulated foods. This approach has influenced recovery communities and professional training in food addiction.