174. Eating Disorders, Genetics, and the Brain: What We May Be Missing

Welcome to the Emotional Eats Podcast!

Paige Gordon lived with bulimia nervosa for over two decades. She went through residential treatment, inpatient treatment, therapy, and nutritional counseling, yet continued to struggle.

What made her experience especially difficult was being given explanations for her eating disorder that never seemed to fit. Paige didn't relate to an obsession with thinness, and she didn't feel that emotional eating explained what was happening either. Instead, she describes an intense drive toward food and constant food noise that felt biological.

Eventually, her own recovery experience led her to start asking a different question: What was actually happening in her brain and body?

Today, Paige is an author, advocate, speaker, and member of the Board of Directors of the National Eating Disorders Association. She has become deeply involved in eating disorder research and advocacy, with a particular interest in genetics, brain reward pathways, hunger and satiety signaling, and the potential role of GLP-1 pathways.

In this conversation, Paige shares:

• Why eating disorders may have very different underlying causes from one person to another

• What food noise felt like for her and why it was different from hunger

• How genetics, trauma, environment, and reward circuitry may influence eating behavior

• Her personal experience with GLP-1 medication and why she believes much more research is needed

• Why lived experience needs a bigger voice in eating disorder research

• Why women struggling with food deserve curiosity and compassion instead of comparison and shame