- Dec 18, 2025
In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Jenna Cummings—a health psychologist and researcher whose groundbreaking work explores the emotional side of eating. With a background in addiction research and health psychology, Jenna investigates how our expectations about food shape cravings, choices, and even the complex feelings of shame and ambivalence that so often surround eating.
Jenna’s path into this research is anything but linear—beginning with a love of writing, a shift away from journalism, and eventually a deep dive into psychology. Along the way, she studied the science of addiction and saw clear parallels between substance use and eating behaviors. Today, her research centers on a concept she developed called food-related emotional expectancies—the idea that what we expect food to make us feel often drives our decisions more than nutrition facts ever could.
Here’s what we explore in this episode:
- What food-related emotional expectancies are—and how our brains “predict” how food will make us feel before we even take a bite.
- How emotional expectancies develop across the lifespan, from childhood innocence to adult experiences shaped by stigma, dieting, and shame.
- The parallels between alcohol and food expectancies, and what research from addiction studies can teach us about cravings and behavior.
- Innovative new research using smartwatch technology to track mood and eating in real time—offering powerful insights into our relationship with food.
- Why neutralizing overly positive expectancies (rather than shaming negative ones) may hold the key to healthier, more balanced approaches to eating.
Jenna’s work sheds light on why food can feel so emotionally charged—and why change isn’t just about willpower or knowledge, but about reshaping the expectations we carry into every eating experience. Her research is at once scientific, practical, and deeply compassionate, pointing toward interventions that honor both emotional reality and human complexity.
Whether you’ve ever struggled with cravings, wondered why certain foods feel irresistible, or work with clients navigating eating behaviors, this conversation offers a fresh lens on the psychology of eating and the role emotions play in our daily choices.
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