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The MindHealth360 Show

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  2. 91: Luis Mojica: Why Trauma Changes What You Want to Eat

91: Luis Mojica: Why Trauma Changes What You Want to Eat

Jun 30, 2026

In this episode of the MindHealth360 Show, I speak with Luis Mojica, somatic therapist, trauma expert, nutritionist, founder of Holistic Life Navigation, and author of Food Therapy: Conscious Eating to Navigate Anxiety, Stress and Trauma. Luis brings together nutrition, somatic experiencing and trauma healing in a way that beautifully captures the MindHealth360 approach: that mental health cannot be separated from physical health, and that the biochemical, psychospiritual and lifestyle-behavioural roots of our symptoms are deeply interconnected.

Together, we explore how food affects not only our metabolism and blood sugar, but also the nervous system, emotional regulation and trauma responses. Luis explains how many of us turn to food for regulation when connection, safety or co-regulation are unavailable elsewhere and how cravings, bingeing, restriction and even ‘healthy eating’ can often be understood as nervous system adaptations rather than matters of shame or willpower.

Luis also shares his framework of stimulating, depressing and balancing foods, showing how different foods can push us into fight-or-flight, numb us out, or help us stabilise. We discuss why trauma can make the body more sensitive to caffeine, sugar, fasting and processed foods; why embodiment is essential for understanding how food affects us; and how learning to pause, listen to cravings and sense into the body can help us use food more consciously to support regulation, resilience and healing.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Why food is about far more than nutrition, influencing emotions, safety and nervous system regulation.
  • How trauma can drive cravings, bingeing, restriction and other eating behaviours.
  • How different foods, through their biochemical effects on the body and brain, can stimulate, numb or help regulate the nervous system.
  • What cravings may reveal about unmet emotional, relational or nutritional needs.
  • How conscious eating and embodiment practices can support healing and resilience.
  • Why Luis sees food as both biochemical and relational – something that can affect our body, emotions and sense of safety.

Join Luis Mojica at IMMH 2026

As understanding of the brain-body connection continues to evolve, practitioners are increasingly recognising the role that nutrition, trauma and nervous system regulation play in mental health.

At the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health (IMMH) conference, October 8–11, 2026, Luis Mojica will join more than 50 world-renowned clinicians, researchers and thought leaders exploring the emerging science and clinical applications shaping the future of integrative mental health..

In his session, Food Therapy: The Missing Piece for Nervous System Regulation, Luis will share practical frameworks for understanding the relationship between food, trauma and nervous system function, helping practitioners recognise patterns of dysregulation, and integrate nutrition more effectively into mental health treatment and recovery.

Luis will also join an expert panel on Eating Disorders alongside Dr. James Greenblatt, Dr. Jeanne Catanzaro, and Dr. Christina Bjorndal, examining integrative root-cause approaches to understanding and treating disordered eating.

Early Bird tickets are now available.

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