autism and food

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I read somewhere that 40 percent of people with ASD suffer from eating disoders or problems with food.

(such as rituals , obseessions with, or aversions to certin types of food or just being a very fussy eater)

I had anoxrexia in my late teens and bulimia in my early20s. (it wasn't so much an issue with my weight as a desire to be "perfect" always thought something "bad" would happen if I ate to much )
And as a child I only ever ate marmite sandwich's,, hovis bread, minimal butter ( and only if my mum made them , would never eat at other peoples houses and still don't really like eating in front of other people )

what is your relationship like with food? did it change as you grew up?

rox x

I tend to overeat because I enjoy food. I've got to start eating more produce and less meat and carbohydrates and than I can lose about 50 lbs.

I used to be extremely fussy about silverware, dishes, and unexpected things in my food. I remember I wouldn't eat chicken noodle soup once when I watched my dad opening the can and saw all that gunk on top. I'm not sure if that's unusual, though, because that stuff seems genuinely uncomfortable to look at.

These days I'll eat pretty much anything except warm, gooey food with cool, crispy food (either cheese on my burrito or veggies on it), but am still fussy about silverware and dishes. Blemishes make me highly uncomfortable even if it's purely aesthetic. I'll use it if I have to, but I might avoid eating anything that touches that particular spot.

Mostly comfort eating and stress eating...might have finally broken myself of the habit, though.

Good question. I think my palate is more sensitive than most people. Both to taste and temperature. When something is good I really enjoy it and I'm very good at identifying spices by taste. But I can't eat something that's hot until it cools down. I also have to be careful eating rough food, like potato chips or toast. Food like that will literally cut up the inside of my mouth if I don't eat them very cautiously.
I was a picky eater as a child but I'm not as picky now other than I need clean utensils, etc. and I still can be put off by certain meats. I also don't like eating fat or anything other than the lean meat part so I tend to leave more scraps on my plate than most people.

My digestive system seems to be sensitive too. I get indigestion and other issues frequently but I've been hard pressed to figure out if it's particular foods causing me issues. I suspected gluten at one point and cut it out of my diet for 6 months and it didn't seem to make a difference. I also tried eliminating nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers) and that didn't seem to make a difference either. I probably need to try going off dairy.

My problem with food is that I eat very irregularly. I don't have any fixed time for meals. I could be eating at any time of the day and night (and also I could be sleeping at any time of the day and night). If I'm at home and not sleeping, I don't stop eating. I am eating something all the time. Luckily I haven't had any health problem caused by my eating habit, but I really should start worrying about my health. I have become less fussy compared with when I was a child. I enjoy many different kinds of food.

Those also ring true for me, I hate the texture of fat chunks, just the thought makes my stomach turn. I also can't stand processed meat like bologna, some ham, pepperoni, etc.

I know I am unusually territorial about my food in public, and I have had experiences with eating disorders when I was in grade school. I like eating the same thing over and over again for a long time, which makes grocery shopping easy.

I've never thought of myself as a picky eater, but my husband has pointed out that I have very strong opinions about food. I eat very slowly and pick out my foods one by one, starting with the food I like least and finishing with the one I like most. I prefer to use certain plates and bowls, even though they're not the nicest ones we own. I'm a supertaster, so most vegetables are very bitter to me, which isn't ideal since I'm a vegetarian. Raw carrots are really the only vegetables I actually like. I try to eat a wide variety of foods because I know I should, but if I had total freedom, I would only eat pizza, noodles, pasta with tomato sauce, carrots, potato products, cheese, cake, fruit, and chocolate. (My husband does the cooking, so I eat all of those foods when he's away!). I also tend to get really strong cravings for particular foods and I'm very grumpy until I have the food that I feel I need. I used to have disordered eating as a teenager, but now my only problem is comfort eating.

I eat when I'm bored. If I'm occupied enough, I forget about food entirely.

I also eat very slowly - firstly because I really enjoy food and like to savour it, and secondly because I'm very conscious about making noise. If I were to eat in a quiet environment with other people, I would lose my appetite entirely no matter how hungry I was, because I can't stand the sound of eating or drinking. That's a down side of having hypersensitive hearing. I hear EVERYTHING. >_<

But yeah, I don't have much control over my eating when I'm bored.

I have an awful lot of food issues. I'm diagnosed as having a "severe and enduring ED" which is labelled as bulimia but in truth it's a real mixture of AS related issues, OCD and a little AN/BN thrown in. I cannot tell if I am hungry, full or thirsty so that has led to lifelong difficulties in those areas and makes the ED very complicated. In truth, I suspect I will always have to eat by clock and portion controlled, I also suspect I will always be an incredibly selective eater and will probably eat the same things every day. The professionals involved in my care agree and are fine with that so whilst not 'normal' it will have to be good enough.

"Hi, I am known as a fussy eater. Otherwise known as a big pain in the ass" - George Carlin

I can't taste much so food isn't that important to me. Also, my body doesn't inform me when it's time to eat so I easily skip meals. Sometimes food is highly obnoxious to me and I wish we just had food pellets.

I was never able to drink soda when I was young because the fizz hurt my mouth so much. I can tolerate it now and I even kind of like the painful sensation now, but I don't drink it anyway because it is not healthy.

Oh, my special interest is food right now, ha ha- (well, low carb and Paleo type diets, to be exact). I think because this type of diet has really helped me.

But, yeah, I've gone through all kinds of things with food. When I was a child, my mother always complained that I was a very picky eater. I always disliked the food that most "normal" children liked, and really liked things that most children in their right mind wouldn't touch.

As an adult, I discovered that I'm a celiac, so I can't eat gluten.....in fact, I have problems with many foods. I find my digestion works best when I eat no grains of any kind, and when I limit carbohydrate. I eat no processed food of any kind, limit carbohydrates, and can't eat gluten (I also have problems with cruciferous vegetables and raw onions), so I'm probably not easy to feed, and I'm probably not fun for certain people to be around!

I also have certain routines about dishes. When I eat dinner at home, I like to serve everything on a series of small plates and tapas dishes.....basically, 1 small plate for each type of food, so the foods don't blend into each other, but maintain their specific tastes.

It changed one time when I was invited over for dinner and was served goat meat and rice. It was good till I found numerous pieces of white hair on the plate. It almost puked and couldn't finish the food. I made up a good excuse about how my stomach hurts and I can't eat anymore. Ever since then, I always check anything that enters my mouth for hair.

I am very sensitive to spicy foods unlike most people so I stay away from that too.

i dont have a lot of variety in food , have some basic stuff that i eat. i do have problems gaining weight (lost 10kg) but my psychologist said it's bc of depression.