Jul 2, 2026 · 59 min · 13 segments
In this powerful conversation, Sam and Laura sit down with Dr. Jen Gaudiani to explore the updated second edition of Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders and…
Jen GaudianiGuestSamantha DeCaroHostLaura McLainHostBut you shifted the title slightly and added the undernourishment component, which I think most people think about like malnourishment.
And I'm really curious to help folks understand like what that actually means for a human body and those in recovery.
And does anybody with an eating disorder experience this? Is it targeted to some over others? Just
Having, again, been a close reader of poetry, I think the subtleties of words matter.
And mal- as the prefix for malnutrition- implies bad and and i think i've actually never even thought about that until you asked me that question but i think under nutrition is a neutral that describes somebody who hasn't fueled themselves up to what their body needs whether it's in the service of an eating disorder or whether it's because every time you eat your stomach hurts so badly that you just can't get in the nutrients or um you are an athlete, and we may talk about that later, and are doing what you think your coach told you to do, but your body is under fueled.
Or increasingly, probably the folks who get on GLP-1s and don't take super careful care of their nutrition and end up undernourished.
And For people to understand what's happening in their bodies, I think reconnects them with that sense, that intuition that is often knocked out of them by a medical system that says, that's not really going on, or I can't measure that, so it's not real.
So the truth is, is that anyone in any body size with any eating disorder diagnosis or without an eating disorder diagnosis can become undernourished.
And very dispassionately, that just means the body's not getting what it needs.
And so some don't identify with having an eating disorder, but they do have the physiology and then sometimes the psychology of folks who are just undernourished.
So I think undernutrition feels like a welcoming neutral that says, come on in, your body also might be affected.
But you shifted the title slightly and added the undernourishment component, which I think most people think about like malnourishment.
And I'm really curious to help folks understand like what that actually means for a human body and those in recovery.
And does anybody with an eating disorder experience this? Is it targeted to some over others? Just
Having, again, been a close reader of poetry, I think the subtleties of words matter.
And mal- as the prefix for malnutrition- implies bad and and i think i've actually never even thought about that until you asked me that question but i think under nutrition is a neutral that describes somebody who hasn't fueled themselves up to what their body needs whether it's in the service of an eating disorder or whether it's because every time you eat your stomach hurts so badly that you just can't get in the nutrients or um you are an athlete, and we may talk about that later, and are doing what you think your coach told you to do, but your body is under fueled.
Or increasingly, probably the folks who get on GLP-1s and don't take super careful care of their nutrition and end up undernourished.
And For people to understand what's happening in their bodies, I think reconnects them with that sense, that intuition that is often knocked out of them by a medical system that says, that's not really going on, or I can't measure that, so it's not real.
So the truth is, is that anyone in any body size with any eating disorder diagnosis or without an eating disorder diagnosis can become undernourished.
And very dispassionately, that just means the body's not getting what it needs.
And so some don't identify with having an eating disorder, but they do have the physiology and then sometimes the psychology of folks who are just undernourished.
So I think undernutrition feels like a welcoming neutral that says, come on in, your body also might be affected.
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