Picky Eating

[BadOctopus]

Many children go through a picky eating phase, but there are some who don't grow out of it, and carry their picky eating habits into adulthood. In most cases, these adult picky eaters will only eat bland, white foods, like bread, chicken, plain noodles, cheese sandwiches, etc. They will almost never eat fruits or vegetables. As a result, they tend to be underweight, although sometimes they can appear completely healthy.

I personally know two people who have what is now being called Selective Eating Disorder. The number of foods they will eat can be counted on two hands, and they will reject everything else without trying it. (One of them is in his '40s and had never eaten a strawberry until last year.) Social situations where food is involved fill them with anxiety, because they know they will likely be asked why they're not eating anything. But the thought of trying something new literally terrifies them. Actually attempting to try a new food makes them gag, or sometimes even vomit.

Studies have suggested a link between extreme picky eating and OCD, autism, and/or Sensory Processing Disorder. In some cases, a person might be a "super taster", for whom strong flavors are intensified and can be overwhelming.

I wish I knew how to help my friends who have this problem, because not only are they physically unhealthy, but they recognize that it severely limits their social lives. But how do you help someone who is terrified of food?

 

[ceecee]

Many children go through a picky eating phase, but there are some who don't grow out of it, and carry their picky eating habits into adulthood. In most cases, these adult picky eaters will only eat bland, white foods, like bread, chicken, plain noodles, cheese sandwiches, etc. They will almost never eat fruits or vegetables. As a result, they tend to be underweight, although sometimes they can appear completely healthy.

I personally know two people who have what is now being called Selective Eating Disorder. The number of foods they will eat can be counted on two hands, and they will reject everything else without trying it. (One of them is in his '40s and had never eaten a strawberry until last year.) Social situations where food is involved fill them with anxiety, because they know they will likely be asked why they're not eating anything. But the thought of trying something new literally terrifies them. Actually attempting to try a new food makes them gag, or sometimes even vomit.

Studies have suggested a link between extreme picky eating and OCD, autism, and/or Sensory Processing Disorder. In some cases, a person might be a "super taster", for whom strong flavors are intensified and can be overwhelming.

I wish I knew how to help my friends who have this problem, because not only are they physically unhealthy, but they recognize that it severely limits their social lives. But how do you help someone who is terrified of food?

I don't know. I have a friend like this although, I don't think she is quite this bad. From all the information she has given me, I think this started in childhood (as muck of it does) but in her case, it was selection and preparation of food, plus being forced to eat things (clean your plate). She is trying to branch out, it's not due to fear, in my opinion. More of just thinking she won't like it. But the things she has never tried blows my mind. To me, they're not exotic but very common foods. Poached eggs, fennel, butter lettuce, kalamata olives....this list goes on forever.

I try to make her one new food item when she visits us, nothing strange. The last one was roasted rainbow carrots. She had a bit of a hard time with the purple ones but once she tried them, she liked them.

 

[Passacaglia]

I try to make her one new food item when she visits us, nothing strange. The last one was roasted rainbow carrots. She had a bit of a hard time with the purple ones but once she tried them, she liked them.

I had to google this one, and I'm still not convinced that I'm not simply looking at photoshopped pics of regular carrots.

On topic: I think ceecee's approach is the way to go. Whenever you eat with a picky eater, make sure they have access to one of their old stand-byes, plus one or more new foods. Try to be energetic about the new ones without being pushy. "I used this great new pesto recipe today, you should try it!" Or maybe even just say that to a different friend in the picky one's presence.

 

[BadOctopus]

I just read this article, written by a self-confessed picky eater.

Is Picky Eating an Eating Disorder? Living With Selective Eating Disorder and No Vegetables | Bustle

There are a few foods I dislike and will generally avoid them. (Mushrooms, green beans, and shrimp are not my friends.) But even then, I'll eat them if I have to. I know they won't kill me. For the most part, I love food, and I love cooking. It's like art and science combined. And I love trying new things and experiencing new flavors. It's one of life's simple pleasures.

The idea of someone living with constant anxiety over food just... makes me sad.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

i refuse to eat processed food. It causes me to shit blood. Other than that...I'm not that picky.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

i refuse to eat processed food. It causes me to shit blood. Other than that...I'm not that picky.

Dude. If you are having bloody stool, you need to take these every day to prevent colon cancer:

Longevity | Young Living Essential Oils

 

[93JC]

I just read this article, written by a self-confessed picky eater.

Is Picky Eating an Eating Disorder? Living With Selective Eating Disorder and No Vegetables*|*Bustle

There are a few foods I dislike and will generally avoid them. (Mushrooms, green beans, and shrimp are not my friends.) But even then, I'll eat them if I have to. I know they won't kill me. For the most part, I love food, and I love cooking. It's like art and science combined. And I love trying new things and experiencing new flavors. It's one of life's simple pleasures.

The idea of someone living with constant anxiety over food just... makes me sad.

I need to meet this woman, we're made for each other.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

Dude. If you are having bloody stool, you need to take these every day to prevent colon cancer:

Longevity | Young Living Essential Oils

I'm not having them except for after eating synthetic foods...but thanks I will book mark those and see about them.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

I'm not having them except for after eating synthetic foods...but thanks I will book mark those and see about them.

That is good, and I understand. However, when blood is present it means that your bowels are friable, and that usually means they are inflamed. Kind of like when gums bleed because they are inflamed. Inflammation is a state suggestive of disease, or unhealth, and almost always precedes cancer. Most of us have inflammation of some sort going on inside our bodies somewhere.

Your synthetic foods might irritate that swollen bowel enough to make it bleed, but it is likely still inflamed when not bleeding. Restoring health is what those essential oils can do for you, along with killing germs and, I believe, prohibiting the growth of cancer cells (just for prevention).

 

[kyuuei]

I was reading an article unrelated about how to get over a food you hate.. and another on spicy foods. Both articles said there's no way around it--exposure is best. For spicy foods, you work your way up slowly, using increasingly hotter things and trying it again and again until you're just okay with the heat. I tried this and while it works to an extent, it isn't fool proof, and I can't eat a whole pickled jalapeno from ye old mexican restaurant... but I CAN eat jalapenos overall with just a bit of crying and hydration therapy. I used to think banana peppers were spicy. now they're no problem at all.

I think that same principle can be applied to picky eating. OCD is treated with controlled exposure.. people washing their hands constantly are taught to stop, and think, and actively make effort to not wash their hands until it is necessary. Controlled exposure.. Looking at the foods they already like, and getting them to regularly integrate foods similar to those into their diet. And then similar to those. Making foods that look like the foods they like. Etc.

People who 'hate' water generally just don't have a taste for it.. your body is designed to crave water. It's really impossible to hate most foods physiologically. Some foods, sure, everyone does.. but not most foods by any means. While there are SOME physiological things (allergies, being born with those weird taste buds that taste broccoli and cilantro and think it tastes like ass, intolerance to dairy/gluten/PKU), those are anomalies and pretty easy to diagnose. Picky eating? It's a mental thing, not a physiological one.. So mental style treatments are best.

 

[Chthonic]

I used to have a massive aversion to celery, the smell of it was hideous and if even a small quantity of it could be tasted I would gag. But last year I decided I was going to eat it. I hate cooked celery but crunchy, fresh celery is delicious and I eat tonnes of it now. It was pretty much all psychsomatic.

 

[danseen]

Not really....but i do have well defined food tastes on both health and taste grounds.

 

[birdseye]

I also hate celery. But since I eat all other vegetables, I don't feel bad for not liking one.

My mother is middle aged and she is still a picky eater. She is still very picky about fruit and vegetables, there are many that she refuses to eat. I wish I knew what to do for her. She says that it is all because her mother forced her to eat certain foods when she was young. That's always the excuse.

 

[ceecee]

I also hate celery. But since I eat all other vegetables, I don't feel bad for not liking one.

My mother is middle aged and she is still a picky eater. She is still very picky about fruit and vegetables, there are many that she refuses to eat. I wish I knew what to do for her. She says that it is all because her mother forced her to eat certain foods when she was young. That's always the excuse.

The only time I ever buy that is from my 91 year old grandmother. They had to take cod liver oil as children so she doesn't like tuna in oil. In fact it nearly makes her gag. But, she loves tuna that comes in a pouch with very little liquid. So it never had anything to do with the tuna, just the oil (which I can't blame her for hating, that had to be horrible every day.).

 

[prplchknz]

my room mate is one of the pickiest eaters i have ever met. I'm not picky but I can't eat a lot in a day without pain later on. and i don't mean engorging myself but, like if i eat the normal amount for most people i'll probably throw it up later or be in pain til I do. So I try to eat, I find that if i eat small amounts through out the day I'm less likely to feel sick. But if I try to eat a full meal at once it's bad. Also I dislike carrots and celery raw. can't stand brussel sprouts, or salmon, grits (worst food ever) anything with artificial sweetner is gross. Don't like eggplant, canned tuna (fresh tuna seared is delicious but expensive) pate. chopped liver. Asparagus. Milk. But generally I like most things or am at least willing to try it.

 

[Hitoshi-San]

My brother eats/drinks like ten things. I don't know how he doesn't get tired of eating the same things over and over again. I mean, if I ate pancakes five days a week, I would probably throw up every time I heard the word "pancake" after like two weeks.

I don't like fruit at all though, or most condiments. I really like most vegetables on the other hand.

 

[Ivy]

I've always suspected I was a supertaster, for a few reasons, not the least of which is that I don't really like the taste of water. People tend to say "But it doesn't taste like anything!" when I tell them that, and I say that it does to me, because it does. Some water tastes better than other water- bottled or filtered water is acceptable but I can barely choke down municipal water, no matter where I am. I usually need to add something to water to make it palatable- even just lemon makes it okay.

So I got a testing kit and tested my whole family- my kids are supertasters, my husband is a normal taster, and I may be a supertaster but I'm not sure because my reaction was a lot less dramatic than the kids' but it did taste immediately and very bad to me. My husband couldn't taste it at all at first but then he was like "Wait, there's something.. I think it's kind of bitter?" LOL. Both the kids squealed and demanded something to drink. I didn't squeal but I did need to drink something to wash the taste of the test strip out of my mouth. It was pretty foul.

The kids are both pretty picky, but not to the degree in the articles posted in this thread. They eat fruits and vegetables, but they have a pretty firm list of "acceptable" ones. Neither one likes dressings or sauces. They eat most foods plain and not mixed-together, though my daughter is slightly more adventurous than my son. My son is on the autism spectrum and my daughter, while definitely not autistic, has some sensory processing issues, so I do think that's also related.

I'm less picky than they are, but if I don't like something, trying to eat it will make me gaggy. I'm different in that I like dressings and sauces, and sometimes I can sufficiently disguise the taste of something I don't love by pairing it with a dip or something.

 

[grey_beard]

That is good, and I understand. However, when blood is present it means that your bowels are friable, and that usually means they are inflamed. Kind of like when gums bleed because they are inflamed. Inflammation is a state suggestive of disease, or unhealth, and almost always precedes cancer. Most of us have inflammation of some sort going on inside our bodies somewhere.

Your synthetic foods might irritate that swollen bowel enough to make it bleed, but it is likely still inflamed when not bleeding. Restoring health is what those essential oils can do for you, along with killing germs and, I believe, prohibiting the growth of cancer cells (just for prevention).

[MENTION=6336]AphroditeGoneAwry[/MENTION] [MENTION=23213]GarrotTheThief[/MENTION] --
one other point about inflammation. Inflammation of the gums (gum disease, say, from not flossing) is often a marker for heart disease. Chronic inflammation is a bad thing systemically.
(Goes into carnival barker/ fanatic mode) Be sure to take your fish oil.

(Yes, [MENTION=6336]AphroditeGoneAwry[/MENTION], I *do* realize that YoungLiving has a fish oil, OmegaGize³...but other brands work as well. And it isn't the most prominent link on the site.)

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

[MENTION=6336]AphroditeGoneAwry[/MENTION] [MENTION=23213]GarrotTheThief[/MENTION] --
one other point about inflammation. Inflammation of the gums (gum disease, say, from not flossing) is often a marker for heart disease. Chronic inflammation is a bad thing systemically.
(Goes into carnival barker/ fanatic mode) Be sure to take your fish oil.

(Yes, [MENTION=6336]AphroditeGoneAwry[/MENTION], I *do* realize that YoungLiving has a fish oil, OmegaGize³...but other brands work as well. And it isn't the most prominent link on the site.)

Oh, I am sure. Young Living is the best essential oil you can buy but I don't necessarily tout their supplements. I do take OmegaGize sometimes. It has CoQ10 in it.

Fish oil is tricky because your source is so important.

Interesting link on gum disease and heart disease.

 

[Passacaglia]

I've always suspected I was a supertaster, for a few reasons, not the least of which is that I don't really like the taste of water. People tend to say "But it doesn't taste like anything!" when I tell them that, and I say that it does to me, because it does. Some water tastes better than other water- bottled or filtered water is acceptable but I can barely choke down municipal water, no matter where I am. I usually need to add something to water to make it palatable- even just lemon makes it okay.

I'm definitely not a supertaster -- I've eaten moldy food without realizing it until I'm throwing up hours later! -- but water definitely has a taste, and it can vary quite a bit. I remember being at a friend's house as a kid, and being given 'soft' water; the friend's mother said something about extra minerals. Anyhow, if that water was soft, it was soft like a mealy apple is soft.

I've also been told that waters from different regions have slightly different tastes, and I think they're on to something.