Certified and licensed SUGAR®/HMA® specialists

Why do SUGAR®?

SUGAR® stands for Sugar Use General Assessment Recording. We also use this acronym to remind ourselves that SUGAR® stands for “Sweet & starchy, Ultra-processed, Grain-based foods.

SUGAR® is a diagnostic tool, a structured interview that examines patients’/clients’ relationships to sugar/flour/processed foods.

SUGAR® is the only diagnostic tool for “food addiction”, but there are many screening tools (UNCOPE S, Yalescale, and others).

The instrument is based on diagnostic criteria for harmful use and addiction to mind-altering drugs described in WHO’s ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases and health-related problems) and APA’s (American Psychiatric Association) DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

SUGAR® will help you know if your brain has developed an addiction to these foods or if you have harmful use, the reason this is very important is that treatment methods are different for these two conditions.

Video demonstration of SUGAR® here.

Only certified SUGAR® practitioners are authorized to use the instrument. To become eligible, a certification/licensing education is required.

Bitten Jonsson and Börje Dahl

Here is a list of SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed specialists worldwide:

Paula Curtis, HMA®-certified and licensed, certified in Functional Medicine Health Coaching (FMHC), training in CENAPS relapse prevention.

Paula is following her passion; coaching clients on how to move from the dark tunnel to living in recovery from their sugar and processed-carbs addiction.The combination of her vast experience, training, and wisdom gives Paula the essential insights required to guide clients on their pathway to a life brimming with “Sweet Liberty.”

Helle Madsen, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

Helle is a recovering addict herself and her passion is to help other women get out of the roller coaster of weight loss and -gain. Helle is a certified social worker, supervisor, and coach. She has worked in therapy and coaching for many years. In 2021, she started a sugar addiction recovery program in Denmark.

Karen Lee Edwards, SUGAR®-certified and licensed, Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction Coach.

Karen knows what it feels like to be dealing with autoimmune disorders, to be treated by Western medicine only to become more unwell. Karen follows a carbohydrate-restricted lifestyle and finds it rewarding and humbling to help people achieve the healthy lifestyle they so deserve.

Erin McArthur, MD, pediatrician, SUGAR®-certified and licensed by Bitten Jonsson.

My world changed and my future became brighter when I realized that sugar addiction was a real thing. 

Kate Oliver, UK-based SUGAR®- and HMA®-certified and licensed, ACRPS-certified, addiction recovery coach.

Kate is a UK-based sugar addiction recovery coach. Her forty-year history of weight gain and weight loss ended with a breakthrough call and diagnosis of sugar addiction. A real aha-moment! Now certified and licensed to run SUGAR® assessments and a certified HMA® specialist, all those years of lived experience help to make her an exceptional coach!

Hanna Gillving, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed addiction medicine specialist, functional medicine therapist, holistic health consultant, and teacher.

Hanna is a Swedish authority on ancient practices for health and happiness. She offers 1-on-1 coaching for clients internationally via Zoom. Hanna is also the author of KETO-licious, a guide on how to use food, breath, and ancestral lifestyle habits to heal from addiction, optimize health, and thrive in life.

Cynthia Myers-Morrison, EdD, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

Cynthia is a certified food addiction coach. She is certified and licensed to offer the SUGAR® assessment based on ICD or DSM criteria for substance use. She is also a Holistic Medicine for Addiction Specialist. In addition to her three masters and doctorate degrees, she continued professional studies at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN), and International Food Addiction Counseling Training (INFACT), and the Boston Trauma Center.

Dr. Nathaël Leduc Arbour, MD

Family physician, Bachelor of Occupational Therapy, licensed in SUGAR® diagnostic tool, ongoing HMA® training, and second cycle addictology licence at Sherbrooke University

Dre Nathaël Leduc Arbour, MD

Médecin de famille, Bacc ergothérapie, Certification outil diagnostic SUGAR®, formation HMA® en cours et microprogramme de 2^e cycle en addictologie Université Sherbrooke

Cheryl Poulin, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

SUGAR®/HMA®-licensed and certified by Bitten Jonsson, author, trainer, and lecturer.
iPEC-certified Professional Coach, CPC
iPEC-certified Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, ELI-MP
Completed LCHF/Ketogenic Nutrition and Treatment – Nutrition Network
Completed Addictive Eating – Nutrition Network

Lotta Malmberg, SUGAR®-certified and licensed addiction specialist, psychotherapist

SUGAR®-licensed and certified by Bitten Jonsson, clinical CBT/DBT psychotherapist in private practice for the past 20+ years, behavioral scientist, and addiction specialist. INFACT school-certified food addiction professional, February 2022. SUGAR®-licensed/certified, September 2022. Starting a sugar addiction recovery program in Gozo, Malta, November 2022. Not a fan of titles or post-nominal letters.

Charlotte Schön Poulsen, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, Alcohol and Drug Therapist

Addiction therapist with a focus on food addiction. SUGAR®/HMA®-licensed and certified by Bitten Jonsson, author, trainer, and lecturer. Since 2016, I have operated the treatment home LevaSockerfri (sugar-free living) in Linköping together with Frida Sandin. Since 2022, together with Jessica Eibladh and Frida, we also operate the education company Know Addiction Academy, which has taken over the baton after Bitten Jonsson and educates HAM in Swedish for sugar/food addiction specialists.

Frida Sandin, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, public health scientist and HMA specialist.

SUGAR®/HMA®-licensed and certified by Bitten Jonsson, author, trainer, and lecturer. Since 2016, together with Charlotte Schön Poulsen, I operate the treatment home Leva Sockerfri (sugar-free living) in Linköping. Since 2022, together with Jessica Eibladh and Charlotte I also run the educational company Know Addiction Academy, which has taken over the baton after Bitten Jonsson and trains Swedish Holistic Addiction Medicine, sugar/food addiction specialists

Annica Strandberg-Schmidt, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed addiction specialist

SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed by Bitten Jonsson, addiction specialist. Author, instructor in Conscious Breathing, certified in Relapse Prevention Therapy by CENAPS Corporation, and has a YouTube channel where you can find inspiration and knowledge. Annica is a tutor in Bitten Jonsson’s SUGAR training.

Wendy Moore, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

My certification as a sugar addiction counselor follows a successful career as a music teacher and a professional musician. I advocate for and practice a ketogenic lifestyle and am the founder and lead of Keto-Retreats in Ontario, Canada. I have trained as a personal fitness trainer and I have also enjoyed many years as a recreational triathlete, kayaker, and masters swimmer. My personal experience with addiction and adhering to a keto/low-carbohydrate and sugar-abstinent food plan has been key to helping me to achieve optimal wellness and has enabled me to empathize with others, successfully helping them with their health journeys.

Tia Reid, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, CDM, CFPP, MHP

Director of Nutritional Services at Memorial Hospital, Chester, Illinois; LCHF/keto nutrition coach; accreditation through Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners; SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed.

Amber Wentworth, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, NTP

Nutritional therapy practitioner, low-carb/keto/carnivore nutrition and life coach; SUGAR®/HMA®-certified/licensed; certified master life coach; certified keto/carnivore coach; certified Advanced Cognitive Behavior Therapy practitioner; certified mindfulness coach; and Precision Nutrition-certified.

Anna Fruehling, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

Anna Fruehling is a recovering addict with 32 years clean. When she realized sugar acts as the gateway drug, priming the brain for all other addictions, a light bulb went off! It is her purpose and privilege to help others recover fully from all outlets of the deadly disease of addiction.

Dave Wolfe, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

Dave Wolfe Is a recovering addict who detoxed from sugar, grains, and 25 years of ADHD meds… and this from a former artisan bread baker and registered dietitian!

Judy Wolfe, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

Judy ‘No Matter What’ Wolfe is a low-bottom, high-maintenance food addict, and a person of more (no amount is enough). Her passion is to help peeps like her, recover from sugar/processed food and volume addiction.

Melanie Martin, mBANT DipION FdSc. SMHP, CNHC. SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

Monica Boyer is a certified ketogenic lifestyle coach, SUGAR®-certified and licensed

Monica Boyer is a certified ketogenic lifestyle coach who has lost over 120 lbs living the ketogenic life and kept it off for nearly four years. She is also a certified life coach. Monica is a wife, a mom to four children, and a zookeeper to the family critter zoo!

Shelly Hutson, SUGAR®/HMA®- certified and licensed, Integrative Nutrition Wellness Recovery Coach

Hi, I’m Shelly – an emotional eating expert, licensed sugar interviewer, integrative nutrition recovery coach, and living proof that you can conquer food addiction, once and for all.

Rachel Murray, BScN, RN, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, dōTERRA® Wellness advocate, registered holistic nutritionist™

Hi, my name is Rachel Murray, and I’m a sugar and carb addict just like you!

Since my early teens, I quietly struggled with my health. It started with what I now refer to as restriction, but at that time, had I sought treatment, I would have been labeled as anorexic.

Shun Foreman, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed

I believe wholeheartedly that food addiction is real. My passion is to bring sugar awareness to communities of color by understanding how historical and present-day injuries impact health. I understand that everyone may not be able to live a sugar-free lifestyle, so I use history and health to motivate them to make the best food choices.

Sanna Åbonde, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, HMA – Holistic Medicine for Addiction counselor, Recovery coach & Body Consciousness practitioner

I noticed early in life (3 1/2 years old) that I loved sugar, and that I didn’t eat like others, I stole, hid, sneaked, and had a hard time focusing on anything other than when I was going to eat sugar again.

I have always ”known” that something was wrong with me and that my willpower was not enough, as I saw in others.

The right fuel mix for my brain paired with tools to deal with the addiction brain became my way to recovery.

Jennifer Waters-Blockert, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, HMA – Holistic Medicine for Addiction counselor, psychosynthesis therapist

Jennifer started her journey of recovery in 2001 when she got into treatment for sugar addiction. Learned from Bitten Jonsson that her eating disorder was in fact a coping strategy for sugar addiction. She did turn around her life, removing alcoholic foods such as sugar/flour and prioritizing her recovery. It gave her the freedom and the life she always wanted.

Annabeth Hall, HMA®-certified and licensed, behavioral scientist.

Coach and responsible for the mental part of the company and the training/nutrition program 16 Weeks Of Hell. Many years of experience in therapy aimed at people with alcohol, drug, and gambling addictions and their relatives. Long experience as manager of operations focused on addiction problems.

Sara Azizi, MSc Pharm, SUGAR-certified, Ayurvedic lifestyle consultant, soon-to-be yoga teacher

I’m a licensed and certified pharmacist. I also have knowledge about Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine) and yoga. My aim is to use the best of modern medicine/science and combine it with all the wisdom from ancient medicine and cultures. I think a holistic approach is a must and the only way we as human beings can be well and thrive.