Food and You

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I'm currently on a first read-through of The complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome, Tony Attwood's 'AS-Bible'. (I'm still new to this stuff).

It mentions early on about eating disorders, and how they relate to AS.
Most of this section identifies AS with being underweight or, in extreme cases, anorexic... all because of hypersensitivity to food textures/smells/tastes.

But then it says something else entirely.
Specifically, this quote:
"There can also be unusual food preferences and routines regarding meals and food presentation."

This is me. This has always been me. I never realized why I did this. I've had tastes for food that others find strange... Excessively hot and spicy things. Esoteric or unusual foods, which in the past, have made people think I'm being pretentious or trying to impress them with my gourmet styles.

I'm not, I just find certain foods interesting and immensely pleasing. Most of it comes down to sensory experience. Rather than shy away from foods which exacerbate sensitivities, I tend to gravitate towards foods which excite, inflame, or even overwhelm the senses when it comes to eating. Almost as if I am seeking to gain emotional experience through foods instead of, oh I don't know... other people. Just a theory.

On top of this, the "routines and presentation" are extremely strong traits I demonstrate. I can't make a sandwich unless it has been it is toasted, with melted cheese, mushrooms, has one specific kind of mustard, with sliced fresh tomatoes, sprouts, and one specific kind of lunchmeat, and is layered in exactly one kind of order. It's always the same. And then I slice it and arrange it with a side dish as if I am serving it at a restaurant. And it is just me by myself. Regardless of the meal I am fixing, I cook, arrange, and present food in a way that suggests formality and occasion... but there is none.

The person I live with calls me out on this all the time. She constantly wonders, "Who are you trying to impress?!? Do you think you're cool?! You're not some gourmet chef!!" And I am always taken aback and a little offended. Here I was just trying to make lunch. Not for anyone but me.

Can anyone relate to this specific trait?

Beyond that, do you have any other problems/peculiarities with food due to AS?

Umm... sorta, I'm not real picky with what I eat, but if it doesn't excite me, it isn't worth my time. I love exotic foods, lychees are amazing. I also like things to be presentable, though I often don't bother, as I just don't have time to even be eating.

i can't stand eating fast food or any cheap, processed whatever. i tried eating a reeses pieces recently and the taste was horrible. hydrogenated oils and preservatives don't belong in chocolate. i can taste the corny flavor in the mass marketed pancake syrups. it's just corn syup, high fructose corn syrup, water and 2% of some preservatives.

i like my food to have a nice pure taste. i take a while to make a meal.

I may actually be allergic to milk and/or wheat. :/

But yeah, anything with a sweet/different taste to it...but it has to be strong, since I don't really have a good sense of taste...

How about disgusting hershey's chocolate that now uses vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter?

I'm allergic to oranges.

I have very low tolerance for spicy food.

I like apples but not stewed apples. I like pineapple but not on pizza. I can't stand the taste of onion, chickpeas, rye bread. etc.

I really like my food to have flavour.

I only drink water.

I did have anorexia, but now I'm just at a healthy weight.

When I was younger, for a good time, me and my cousin would grab our fishing poles and head into the woods. We would search around for something to use for bait, and then catch a couple native trout. We'd then build a fire and cook them using some sticks with a sharpened fork tip. Then for dessert, we'd catch a handful of crawfish, and find some old beer can, or similar, to boil them in. The tails are really tasty, but I will admit that they'd be much better with some butter and spices. Frog legs too. I miss those days.

So, I suppose I could say that I'm not very particular, when it comes to gourmet food. I do appreciate a well prepared meal though, and find meal-time one of my favorite parts of the day.

Having been through several eating disorder programs, my mind keeps going back to the info that I learned in them. When I fix dinner for my family, I have the nutrition info going through my head and the points. "75 calories= 1 point." "must have 3 servings of dairy, 5 servings of fruit or veggies. 3 oz of meat, 5 min. servings of bread.". I used to have very stict ways that food or drink had to be sersved. Milk was served in a certain glass. juice had its own glass. If that glass wasn't there, then your world fell apart. Your control, the order of your world fell apart. When you are anorexic, people treat you like you brought it upon yourself, when in fact, I highly believe that the AS is a big part of it.
I first started to restrict what I ate and drank, because i didn't like how my clothes felt on me. Even now, if I gain 2 pounds, and there are some of my clothes that don't fit just right. If I drink too much water, my pants don't fit just right. It is definately a sensory thing.

When I was a child, I would only eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the only sandwich I would eat under any circumstances) if the bread had also been buttered with regular butter and the sandwich was precisely cut into fourths, diagonally.

I sometimes would be late for school, because the BROWN sugar that I put in my cream of wheat had to sink entirely on its own before I would stir it in and eat.

I would only eat apples cut into quarters, with a cherry sitting in the divot at the top (where the seeds had been removed).

These all were related to my special interest at the time: Volcanos. (sandwiches and apples cut to look like volcanos, 'islands' of sugar sinking).

Also, like many people here, I could, and for the most part, cannot have food on my plate touch.

I still cannot be in the house when mushrooms are being fried, due to my sensitivity to the smell.

I cannot eat raw carrots, due to the texture.

I buy the exact same things every time I go to Wegman's: Two boxes of Wegman's brand granola cereal, two or three large bags of Uncle Ben's brown rice, two boxes of organic pasta, one box of Strawberry-Pomigrain organic pop-tarts. Anything else, such as cooking oil, spices or toiletries, has to be on a list. Otherwise, I will just run through the store and grab the above-mentioned items in order, then leave. Now that I think of it, I really should add some variety to my diet, for health reasons.

I can't eat spicy foods. I don't like greasy foods. Greasy stuff makes me physically ill. I hate carrots(they are too sweet). I don't like corn for the very same reason. And I hate the texture of corn.

I am sensitive to sweetness. I don't like sweets at all. Sugar, ice cream, chocolate, cake, etc.

I can't eat if there is too much noise. I drink mostly water and it has to be room temperature. If it's too cold I can't drink it. I rarely drink soft drinks. When I do they have to be the right temperature. And I am sensitive to caffeine. If I drink even a cup of coffee I can feel my heart rate increasing.

I can relate to both of those things.

The super-spicy flavor is a stimulant. I prefer it too because plain food is boring. Cheese especially has to be spicy - if it isn't, my gag-reflex kicks in. I don't like sweet stuff much, although I eat a lot of raw fruit. The only chocolate I eat is dark. I hate syrupy things like caromel.

All the food I prepare has to be done in exactly the same way as the previous time I had it. I think this has something to do with preference for patterns. I have an NT stepbrother who critiques my food preperation preferences the same as your roommate does with you. It's not food for him so, why the hell should he have anything to say about it? NTs just don't like to see that other people have orderly processes.

I used to eat ONLY ziti or rigatoni or similar round shaped pasta, although I preferred the large round ones to the smaller ridged ones. Butter and salt only. I still eat this a lot, but it was my diet nearly every night for over 10 years I'd say. I still get nauseous at the smell of canned tuna which I vomited after smelling more than once. I have interestingly enough acquired a taste for sushi, and I love raw tuna and tuna sashimi. Now Sushi is my favorite food. I was always allergic to milk and had a wheat gluten allergy and lived on rice cakes until In was 15 months old. I might have grown out of this, but I realize my allergy might still be around slightly and I might be affected by the time I am in my 40s- It might catch up with me.

Yeh, I love very spicy and sour foods. Plus - I eat very selectively. I can eat only one or two types of foods for weeks; and then I just can't take them anymore, and stick to another foods. For example - I recently was only eating yoghurts and cereals (all the time, even for dinner!); but then milk started just making me sick; and now I stick to cheese sandwiches and rice with broccoli... I know it's not very healthy, but it's just how I am.