Professionals

Recovery from sugar addiction all alone is almost impossible. Addiction is a brain illness and results in physical, psychological, social, and spiritual consequences. To heal, you need knowledge about the addicted brain and lots of information and tools.

We usually think we eat sugar/carbs because we feel miserable for many reasons. BUT the truth is we feel miserable because of what we’ve been eating for a long time. This is about brain and biochemistry, not a mental problem.

The professionals on this page have very different backgrounds and education, but they all work with sugar/carb addiction. Some are certified to do SUGAR® diagnostic, which is what I always recommend starting with. It’s difficult to suggest a treatment plan unless you have a deep understanding of the problem. SUGAR® is a diagnostic tool based on ICD-10 and DSM-5 criteria for addiction to a psychoactive substance.

“Sugar addiction is the single most important eating disorder (in those with some degree of food security)” / Prof. Tim Noakes.

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

Kristina Dobyns, PhD, M.S., RSMT, NTP, HMA-certified Integrative Addiction Recovery Professional

Dr. Kristina Dobyns holds a PhD in Psychology and an MS in Exercise Science. She is a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner specializing in carnivore and ketogenic nutrition, Certified Mindful Eating Instructor, Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention facilitator, and certified yoga teacher. Her work integrates therapeutic carbohydrate restriction, somatic psychology, nervous system regulation, and addiction science. By bridging metabolic repair with embodiment and relapse prevention practices, she helps individuals restore neurochemical balance and optimize mental and physical health.

Katie Vogan, FNP-C, SUGAR-certified

Katie is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner in Mesa, Arizona. She specializes in Metabolic Health Optimization using a Functional Medicine root-cause approach. She has a passion for reversing diabetes and insulin resistance with the use of Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction (TCR).

Amanda Cini, BHSc, MND, APD, NNP™, MHP™, HMA- and SUGAR®-certified and licensed

With over 20 years of clinical experience and her own lived recovery journey, Amanda brings compassionate, root-cause care to individuals struggling with metabolic dysfunction, disordered eating, and sugar/carbohydrate/ultra-processed food addiction. Her approach integrates the science of therapeutic carbohydrate restriction (TCR), metabolic psychiatry, and addiction medicine with a focus on metabolic and neurochemical repair to restore physiological and mental well-being, and support lasting food freedom.

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!

Dr. Kathryn Cornella, HMA- and SUGAR®-certified and licensed

Dr. Kathryn Cornella is a visionary leader in integrative and functional medicine, dedicated to empowering individuals to achieve exceptional well-being and peak performance. Her expertise spans over four decades. Dr. Cornella holds certifications in Holistic Medicine for Addiction (HMA), Sugar Addiction assessment (SUGAR), and Advanced Training in Relapse Prevention Therapy (CENAPS). This expertise allows her to address the underlying causes of addiction and create personalized plans for sustainable recovery.

Christine Trimpe, BAA, SUGAR®-certified and licensed, practitioner and Christian Health and Wellness Coach

She empowers professional Christian women to quit sugar and claim weight loss victory once and forever. After overcoming her battle with morbid obesity and sugar addiction through the keto and intermittent fasting lifestyle, Christine found a new passion for helping others break free from the “sugar shackles™” and thrive in health with freedom and greater joy in living. She is the founder of The SugarFreed™ Me Weight Loss Solution program.

Carlos Zumárraga Novelo, MD, SUGAR®-certified and licensed

Carlos teaches his patients how to recover from sugar addiction and sugar toxicity long term. His holistic program includes diagnosis, grief management, harmful reduction and abstinence contracts, biochemical repair, somatic serenity achievement, how to live with intention, addictive personality recognition and dissolution, the development of the true self, relapse prevention and support.

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.

Angelica Jyttner, SUGAR®-certified and licensed, currently undergoing HMA® certification with Bitten Jonsson.

Since 2025, I’ve been running Recovery By Action together with Sofia Nord. We offer intensive treatment at a residential facility with structured aftercare and online relapse prevention.

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, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, 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

Annabeth Hall, SUGAR®/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.

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, HMA®-certified and licensed, NTP

Nutritional therapy practitioner, low-carb/keto/carnivore nutrition and life coach; 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.

Jennifer Waters, 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.

Monica Boyer is a certified ketogenic lifestyle coach, SUGAR®/HMA®-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, 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, 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.

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

I’m a nutritional therapist and coach and my passion is providing you with the tools to free yourself from years of dieting, feelings of failure, self-loathing, shame, and confusion over why you just can’t do this moderation thing that everyone talks about!

There is no one solution to finding freedom and peace around the choices we make many times a day about what to eat and drink.  It is different for every single one of us, so I use my knowledge of nutrition science alongside compassionate coaching to guide you towards your own best solution.

Kiera Jennings, SUGAR®/HMA®-certified and licensed, SUGAR & HMA-certified and licensed, Food Addiction Recovery Advocate

Are you curious to about SUGAR & carb addiction? Maybe you have been exploring for a while and have found the courage to reach out and make a shift that might really get the rocks rolling.

I work within the wider low-carbohydrate framework, and if you would like a simple and easy approach I am passionate about carnivore. With a certification in carnivore though Nutrition Network, I have a passion for its simplicity and healing capacity along with experience of many of the common mistakes.

I’m a big believer in ”Move, Do and Talk in recovery”, this enables you to activate your procedural memory, the kind of memory that you get when you learn to ride a bicycle or learn to make a meal versus trying to learn from a black and white page.

Björn Engström, SUGAR®/HAM® certified and licensed social worker and addiction therapist

Björn is a social worker and addiction therapist with a degree in Holistic Addiction Medicine (HAM®). After 15 years in social services—11 of them as a manager within addiction treatment—he has a deep understanding of both individual and systemic challenges. Together with Rosie, he runs Leva Fri, where they offer treatment, coaching, and education for sustainable recovery from a holistic perspective. Through Leva Fri, they train the next generation of addiction coaches and therapists in the HAM® model.