Are we being told the full truth about cholesterol—and its role in heart disease?

In this episode of the Real Food Recovery Podcast, Paige Alexander sits down with Maria Cross, author of How to Feed Your Brain, to explore the connection between cholesterol, brain health, metabolism, and the modern diet.

In a world driven by ultra-processed food, rising anxiety, and chronic health struggles, many people are left confused about what actually supports healing. This conversation breaks down the science and challenges common beliefs about food while connecting them to mental health, gut health, the immune system, and long-term wellness.

Maria Cross specializes in nutrition and brain health, with a growing focus on adults over 55 who want to maintain a sharp mind, stable mood, and metabolic health as they age.

Together, we explore:

•   The truth about food and brain health 
•   How processed food impacts brain function and mood
•   The connection between gut health, immunity, and metabolism
•   Why the body must be viewed as a complete, interconnected system
•   Practical ways to support long-term cognitive and physical health

If you’ve ever felt confused, frustrated, or overwhelmed trying to “do the right thing” for your health, this episode will help you reconnect to what actually works.

Real Food Recovery helps people break free from processed food addiction and rebuild a life rooted in nourishment, peace, and self-trust.

You are not alone in this.

📩 Share your questions or story: realfoodrecovery4u@gmail.com

🌐 Learn more: www.realfoodrecovery4u.com

© 2026 Paige Alexander — Real Food Recovery™

Enjoy this episode on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/T70Ed6k0l90?si=pTqKibsrevistT-2

Real Food Recovery Podcast developed from a society wrestling with processed food addiction and the deep ache that comes with feeling trapped in destructive patterns. After decades of obsession, frustration, and starting over more times than can be counted, Paige Alexander holds this space to speak honestly about what it takes to heal. Each episode opens the door to the real, raw, and often messy journey of recovery—offering compassion, lived experience, and the practical tools that helped rebuild a life grounded in peace instead of chaos.

Join us as we welcome functional medicine practitioner, Dr. Vohn Watts. Dr. Watts is at the forefront of gut‑brain, functional medicine, helping thousands translate “symptoms as signals” into lasting recovery. A former military intelligence professional turned clinician, he blends systems‑level thinking with evidence‑informed practice to solve the two upstream drivers of chronic illness, deficiency and toxicity. As the author of Foundational Wellness: The Simple System That Ends Doctor Dependency Forever, he offers a clear, stepwise framework that turns complex science into simple daily habits. Today, he advises executives, teams, and media on building energy, focus, and resilience in a high‑stress, digital‑first world. You can find Dr. Watts at https://aegisformulas.com/

Every conversation is an invitation to feel less alone. Alongside personal stories, Paige takes time to share listener questions about addiction, recovery, mindset, and the emotional work that makes lasting change possible. If you’re searching for hope, understanding, or simply someone who “gets it,” this podcast is here to walk with you.

Questions, stories, or thoughts can be shared anytime at realfoodrecovery4u@gmail.com, and more resources can be found at www.realfoodrecovery4u.com.

© 2026 Paige Alexander — Real Food Recovery. All rights reserved.

Real Food Recovery™ is an original educational podcast focused on sustainable nutrition, self‑trust, and recovery‑aligned living.

Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is prohibited

This podcast feed and all episodes are original works created and owned by Paige Alexander under Real Food Recovery™.

Real Food Recovery Podcast developed from a society wrestling with processed food addiction and the deep ache that comes with feeling trapped in destructive patterns. After decades of obsession, frustration, and starting over more times than can be counted, Paige Alexander holds this space to speak honestly about what it takes to heal. Each episode opens the door to the real, raw, and often messy journey of recovery—offering compassion, lived experience, and the practical tools that helped rebuild a life grounded in peace instead of chaos.

Don’t miss this opportunity to fall in love with Michelle.  Michelle Petties is a TEDx speaker, Food Story coach, and author of the award-winning memoir Leaving Large: The Stories of a Food Addict. She reveals how emotional wounds, cultural expectations, and personal history—not hunger—often shape how we manage food. After battling emotional overeating for over four decades and gaining and losing over 700 pounds, Michelle discovered that the key to lasting weight loss wasn’t another diet—it was rewriting the stories behind her eating.

Through workshops, retreats, and her ebook Mind Over Meals, she helps others uncover their food truths, rewire their thinking, and create lasting change from the inside out.

Links:
1.       Download your free copy of Mind Over Meals: 7 Secrets to Rewire Your Brain for Healthy Eating. https://go.michellepetties.com/mindovermeals
2.       Book Michelle to speak or conduct a workshop for your organization. https://go.michellepetties.com/letstalk
3.       Watch Michelle’s TEDx Talk, A Food Addict's Lesson: Confusion. Clarity. Recovery. Please comment, like, and share it with your network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLr53XlIV4
4. Book a Personal Visualization Consultation, https://go.michellepetties.com/pvc
5. Get your signed copy of Leaving Large: The Stories of a Food Addict, https://Leavinglarge.com
6. Here is the link to my portfolio, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bwxhm8KbbjtfsjEc1w8qD7Qqe8LJ4EEj/view
7. Yes, I’m Social:
Subscribe to My YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIbMxXOSCNH--MCNru4WuLw

Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/iambrandnewnow

Follow me on Facebook: https://facebook.com/iambrandnewnow

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-petties/

Read my essays:https://vocal.media/humans/loving-your-self

Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@iambrandnewnow?lang=en

Every conversation is an invitation to feel less alone. Alongside personal stories, Paige takes time to share listener questions about addiction, recovery, mindset, and the emotional work that makes lasting change possible. If you’re searching for hope, understanding, or simply someone who “gets it,” this podcast is here to walk with you.

Questions, stories, or thoughts can be shared anytime at realfoodrecovery4u@gmail.com, and more resources can be found at www.realfoodrecovery4u.com.

© 2026 Paige Alexander — Real Food Recovery. All rights reserved.

Real Food Recovery™ is an original educational podcast focused on sustainable nutrition, self‑trust, and recovery‑aligned living.
Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is prohibited.
This podcast feed and all episodes are original works created and owned by Paige Alexander under Real Food Recovery™

Real Food Recovery Podcast developed from a society wrestling with processed food addiction and the deep ache that comes with feeling trapped in destructive patterns. After decades of obsession, frustration, and starting over more times than can be counted, Paige Alexander holds this space to speak honestly about what it takes to heal. Each episode opens the door to the real, raw, and often messy journey of recovery—offering compassion, lived experience, and the practical tools that helped rebuild a life grounded in peace instead of chaos.

This Episode is not to be missed, join us as we dive deep with Dr Teitelbaum.  Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. is one of the most frequently quoted post viral CFS, fibromyalgia, energy, sleep and pain medical authorities in the world. He is the author of 12 books including You Can Heal from Long Covid, the best-selling From Fatigued to Fantastic!, Pain Free 1-2-3, The Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction, Real Cause Real Cure, The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution, and the popular free Smart Phone app Cures A-Z. He is the lead author of eight research studies and three medical textbook chapters on effective treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr. Teitelbaum appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide, including past appearances on Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and FoxNewsHealth. www.EndFatigue.com www.Vitality101.com Facebook Support Group: Recovering from Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, and Long COVID
Facebook Page | Instagram

Every conversation is an invitation to feel less alone. Alongside personal stories, Paige takes time to share listener questions about addiction, recovery, mindset, and the emotional work that makes lasting change possible. If you’re searching for hope, understanding, or simply someone who “gets it,” this podcast is here to walk with you.

Questions, stories, or thoughts can be shared anytime at realfoodrecovery4u@gmail.com, and more resources can be found at www.realfoodrecovery4u.com.

© 2026 Paige Alexander — Real Food Recovery. All rights reserved.

Real Food Recovery™ is an original educational podcast focused on sustainable nutrition, self‑trust, and recovery‑aligned living.

Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is prohibited.

This podcast feed and all episodes are original works created and owned by Paige Alexander under Real Food Recovery™

Real Food Recovery Podcast developed from a society wrestling with processed food addiction and the deep ache that comes with feeling trapped in destructive patterns. After decades of obsession, frustration, and starting over more times than can be counted, Paige Alexander holds this space to speak honestly about what it takes to heal. Each episode opens the door to the real, raw, and often messy journey of recovery; offering compassion, lived experience, and the practical tools that helped rebuild a life grounded in peace instead of chaos.

Welcome back to Real Food Recovery. We took a short, intentional pause over the past month, and today we’re stepping into a new season of the podcast, one that’s more deeply aligned, more focused, and grounded in the full picture of healing. Moving forward, you can expect conversations that go beyond food to include grief, trauma, nervous system regulation, and motivational, real-life stories that offer a roadmap for sustainable recovery. This time away strengthened the direction of this work, and we’re excited to be back and moving ahead with greater clarity and purpose. During this brief pause, Paige was able to complete additional training in trauma- and grief-informed support, which has helped further shape the direction of the conversations you’ll be hearing here. It’s deepened our focus on the nervous system and the root causes behind our relationship with food.

With that being said we have the honor of being here w Shae today, our resident certified functional nutrition counselor and certified health and life coach, with trauma-informed and nervous system training; here to help us make sense of our bodies, minds, and stories, while aiming to keep us grounded in real, honest, and raw ways, all while staying totally human along the way. Today we wanted to talk about a topic that’s been heavy on our minds, and that isVerbal Grounding: Say It to Stay Safe: Using Verbal Grounding in Recovery and Grief!!!

Every conversation is an invitation to feel less alone. Alongside personal stories, Paige takes time to share listener questions about addiction, recovery, mindset, and the emotional work that makes lasting change possible. If you’re searching for hope, understanding, or simply someone who “gets it,” this podcast is here to walk with you.

Questions, stories, or thoughts can be shared anytime at realfoodrecovery4u@gmail.com, and more resources can be found at www.realfoodrecovery4u.com.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 "Verbal Grounding for Healing"

07:20 "Verbal Grounding: Biology and Control"

10:54 "Articulating Feelings Reduces Fear"

14:33 "Silence and Emotional Struggles"

17:51 "Abandonment, Suppression, and Self-Soothing"

22:56 "Verbal Grounding and Self-Reassurance"

31:15 "Pain Signals Presence and Regulation"

38:11 "Escaping Stress, Finding Presence"

43:30 "Facing Cravings with Self-Trust"

49:00 "Daily Grounding Practices Explained"

53:19 "Silence Isn't Brokenness"

58:22 "Real Food Recovery Insights"

© 2026 Paige Alexander — Real Food Recovery. All rights reserved.
Real Food Recovery™ is an original educational podcast focused on sustainable nutrition, self‑trust, and recovery‑aligned living.
Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is prohibited.
This podcast feed and all episodes are original works created and owned by Paige Alexander under Real Food Recovery™

Real Food Recovery Podcast developed from a society wrestling with processed food addiction and the deep ache that comes with feeling trapped in destructive patterns. After decades of obsession, frustration, and starting over more times than can be counted, Paige Alexander holds this space to speak honestly about what it takes to heal. Each episode opens the door to the real, raw, and often messy journey of recovery; offering compassion, lived experience, and the practical tools that helped rebuild a life grounded in peace instead of chaos.

If you have ever wondered, what has been done to my nervous system? Why does it feel like my body is betraying me?  Then you are in the right place!  Welcome to the Real Food Recovery Podcast.  I'm Paige Alexander, host and creator, and this podcast exists to help people understand one powerful truth:  When we reconnect with real food, we don't just change our diet.  We change our brain.  We change our nervous system. And often… we change the entire trajectory of our lives.  And I know this because it was me.  So buckle up and listen in as we take a deep look into the world of ultra processed food use disorder, and all of its many effects.

Every conversation is an invitation to feel less alone. Alongside personal stories, Paige takes time to share listener questions about addiction, recovery, mindset, and the emotional work that makes lasting change possible. If you’re searching for hope, understanding, or simply someone who “gets it,” this podcast is here to walk with you.

Questions, stories, or thoughts can be shared anytime at realfoodrecovery4u@gmail.com, and more resources can be found at www.realfoodrecovery4u.com.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 "Real Food Recovery Podcast"

03:46 "Sugar: Comfort or Misery?"

09:26 "Survival Mode and Food Cycle"

12:04 "Restoring Balance Through Biology"

13:41 "Real Food, Real Recovery"

© 2026 Paige Alexander — Real Food Recovery. All rights reserved.
Real Food Recovery™ is an original educational podcast focused on sustainable nutrition, self‑trust, and recovery‑aligned living.
Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is prohibited. This podcast feed and all episodes are original works created and owned by Paige Alexander under Real Food Recovery™.