In this episode of The Life of Flow Podcast, hosts Miguel and Lucas sit down with Jillian Acosta, a registered dietitian and founder of the Root Cause Method. Jillian shares her unique approach to nutrition, which integrates trauma-informed care, emotional healing, and innovative modalities like psychedelics. The conversation covers the intersection of diet, emotional well-being, and systemic challenges in healthcare. Topics include the emotional triggers behind eating habits, the complexities of food addiction, and how Jillian uses ketamine therapy to guide clients through transformative journeys.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. Food as More Than Nutrition: Jillian explains how food often represents comfort, safety, or dissociation for people with unresolved emotional experiences.

2. Physical vs. Emotional Hunger: Insightful distinctions between physiological needs and emotional cravings for food.

3. Ketamine Therapy for Healing: How psychedelics are used in Jillian’s practice to help clients confront emotional blocks and rebuild healthier relationships with food.

4. Challenges in Nutrition Education: The societal and systemic barriers to promoting better dietary habits, particularly in underserved communities.

5. The Role of Compassion: How deep empathy can transform patient care and why understanding the “why” behind behaviors is key to sustainable change.

6. Cultural and Systemic Factors: Exploring how food standards in the U.S. differ from other countries and the impact of lobbying and capitalism on public health.

Memorable Quotes:

• “It’s not about the food. There’s no string cheese addiction; it’s an unwillingness to feel discomfort.” – Jillian Acosta

• “We must heal in relationships, as we were wounded in relationships.” – Jillian Acosta

“The one thing getting someone through their day—their coping mechanism—we tell them to take it away. That’s why we fail.” – Lucas