Freaky Eaters – Addicted To Cheese February 28, 2007

I just watched the third episode of BBC3’s “Freaky Eaters”.  I missed the first two, so this was my first chance to see what it was all about. 

I cried when I saw Dave trying to eat things, because I felt like I knew what he was feeling, and the two “experts” didn’t seem to have much of an inkling.  Obviously Dave was not “addicted” to cheese – I think that was a stupid, sensationalist way to describe his problem – it was just that he couldn’t manage to eat anything else.

I cried too when they talked to his parents, and they began to realise what their son had been through.  I’d never heard a non-picky eater acknowledge some understanding of how difficult it must be to be like this. 

I still can’t imagine what it would be like for someone in my own life to express some kind of sympathy for my experiences.  I thought I was lucky just to have some tolerance.

Picky Eating, Baby February 27, 2007

Fussy Eating on LBC 97.3 February 24, 2007

Chris Hawkins, radio presenter on LBC 97.3 is talking about fussy eating today – and it turns out he is one of us! 

While some of the people calling in to the show have been predictably judgemental and unsympathetic, quite a few have phoned and emailed in to say that they are fussy too, and, like most of us, have spent their lives thinking they were the only one.

I am very pleased that all the recent publicity surrounding fussy eating gives more fussy eaters the relief of the revelation that they are not alone, and can put us in contact with others in the same boat. 

By making fussy eating more visible, and raising awareness of it, it also makes it easier for us to explain ourselves to non-picky eaters, if they are more likely to have heard of it too.  Who knows, someone somewhere may even decide to conduct some proper research on the subject…

Straight From The Horse’s Mouth February 21, 2007

Today I received this via email from Dr Nadia Micali of the Institute of Psychiatry:

“Unfortunately picky or fussy eating is not recognised as a disorder as such in adults yet, therefore no services are available for it. I am afraid I don’t know who might be able to help.

As you might know journalists quoting an odd sentence can be quite misleading, as I didn’t exactly say what lucy wrote in her article. I am sure that there might be voluntary sector organisations that might be able to help. I read from the article that you are trying to overcome it and I would encourage you to continue as you are doing.” (Emphasis added)

I wish Lucy McDonald had made that first point clear in her article, instead of getting our hopes up and blaming silly old us for not seeking help.  I think I’ve gone off journalists.  I don’t know why they bother talking to anyone, because they write whatever they want to write anyway, and to hell with the facts.

Out of The Frying Pan February 20, 2007

It’s a common experience of picky eaters to find eating in restaraunts tricky.  One of the main reasons for this is the frequent difficulty in finding something on the menu that we can eat.

But as I improve, I am beginning to find that I am now beset by a new problem.  In the past, I’d be lucky if there was one single thing on the menu that I could eat.  So the drill would be, when ordering, to scan the menu and find that thing, then order it.  Or, as my brother used to say, “find the thing you hate the least”.  Fairly simple, even if I needed to make an alteration to the advertised dish when I ordered.

Imagine my confusion and bewilderment then, when I find that there is more than one thing on the menu that I can eat.  This must be par for the course for non-picky eaters, but I have no idea how they handle this situation – how do they choose?  More and more these days, I find myself paralysed with indecision at the point of ordering, because I am simply not used to there being, effectively, a choice of things on offer that I can eat.  Other people don’t seem to agonise over the decision, or dither in painful uncertainty between different options for very long.  How do they manage it?

I have discovered (by asking friends) three strategies so far that non-picky eaters use when ordering in restaurants.  One is based on what they’ve had for dinner in the immediate past, or what they’re planning in the immediate future - eg if you had fish last night, have something different tonight.  The second is based on ordering something that you probably wouldn’t cook for yourself, or that you aren’t good at cooking for yourself.  And the third is to choose something you’ve never tried before.  I have to say that last one really wouldn’t work for me, at this stage. 

It must be a good thing that I am starting to have this problem though.  Next stop, fruit and veg.

Picky Eating is Not Orthorexia February 19, 2007

Today I discovered the term “orthorexia nervosa“, coined by a Dr Steven Bratman in 1997, which apparently refers to an obsession with healthy eating, and accordingly a restricted diet.  In fact, I was told, by a certain person, that there is a medical term for picky eating, and that orthorexia is it.

Now, I don’t know about you, but we Picky Eaters seem to tend towards the unhealthy in terms of what foods we can eat; it seems to be the “healthy” foods that we cannot stomach (fruits & vegetables seeming to be a common denominator). 

In addition, people with orthorexia choose not to eat certain things, because of their obsession with “pure” or “healthy” foods.  Picky eaters do not choose not to eat stuff.  We simply can’t do it.

Also, I don’t know about you, but I do not believe I have any kind of obsession with food, whether it be about calorific or nutritional content.  I only think about food when I’m shopping for it, or when I’m hungry. 

So I feel a bit annoyed to be called orthorexic, and I do wish journalists would listen properly to what people tell them.  At this rate, I shall have to start writing my own articles for newspapers and magazines, and I really don’t have the time for that, quite frankly.

More on That Times Article February 19, 2007

According to Lucy McDonald, we picky eaters are “a growing legion”.  Again, I’m not sure this is really true.  I don’t know about you lot, but I haven’t just suddenly become picky in the last few months, I’ve been like it since 1974, if not since birth.  And in fact, I’ve got quite a bit less picky since then.  It’s not that there are more of us necessarily, just that we are coming out of the woodwork and making more noise.

It’s especially hard to see how Lucy McD, or her sources could justify the interpretation that pickiness is on the increase, when by their own admission, no-one knows how many of us there are at present, or how many of us there used to be at any comparison point in the past.  Ever.

It’s a bit naughty of her really to call us a growing legion, if you ask me.

Today’s Fussy Eating Article In The Times February 17, 2007

I read Lucy McDonald’s article on picky eating in today’s Times with great interest, having spoken to Lucy myself when she was researching the article.

While I’m glad that the topic is getting broader coverage, I find I am ever so slightly disappointed with the article for a couple of reasons.

I don’t really mind if the whole country now thinks I subsist on “meat and potatoes” and nothing else, even though that isn’t true, as anyone who reads this blog will know. 

But I was a bit bothered by the view of Dr Nadia Micali, from the Institute of Psychiatry.  Apparently she reckons that the reason why the medical profession don’t know how many picky eaters there are is “because rarely is it so bad that sufferers see a doctor”.  I’m afraid I have to take issue with this, I simply don’t think that it is true.  On the one occasion I told my doctor about it, in my twenties, the response was to the effect of “What do you expect me to do about it? Get over it”.  I don’t believe I am the only picky eater to have found the medical profession less than helpful either.

If picky eating really is as damaging to our health as the British Dietetic Association would have us believe, then why has the medical profession been so unconcerned for the last thirty years?  Do you see what I’m saying?  It kind of doesn’t make sense.

Anyway, if you’ve read the article, I’d be interested in what you thought of it.

Fussy Eaters February 15, 2007

Check out this site, fussy-eaters.com.  It’s broadly UK-based, and it’s got message boards for adults and for parents of fussy eating children.  I also think the name fits better into the British idiom than “picky eating” does.  I wish I’d had the courage of my culture to use “fussy” not “picky”.

Anyway, it’s a great forum and community – check it out, if you haven’t done so already.

Liking New Things – How It Starts February 10, 2007

As I’ve stated elsewhere, my picky eating has improved slightly over the years, and I can now eat and enjoy some things that I truly did not count as food for twenty or thirty years, and which I would rather have died or cried than go near.

In thinking about this, I notice that it tends to happen one of three ways:

The first is that it is a food or food substance that is served in, with or on one of my few staples and which, despite one’s best efforts, is difficult or impossible to remove entirely.  In this situation, I found I got used to the homeopathic amount of said foodstuff remaining post-excavation.  Being picky, I could probably have detected ketchup in a concentration of one part in a hundred billion.  But you get used to it, because inevitably (or not, depending on one’s sensitivity to peer pressure) there will be social situations where one can’t avoid it entirely.  And then I started to find that I missed it when it wasn’t there, and that I wished there was more when it was there.  Ditto for mayonnaise.  Ditto for fresh cream.

I suspect this route to liking hasn’t worked for HP Sauce or Branston Pickle (still never tried either), because they are far less ubiquitous and very easy to avoid.  Raisins in scones haven’t yielded success for me either, for the same reasons.

The second way I’ve found I’ve started liking things is in a revelation, when people who know my pickiness recommend something to me, and this has given me the confidence to try.  Foods in this category include bagels and candy floss, both of which I loved instantly, and couldn’t believe I’d needlessly avoided them for so long.  Both of those however, do fall into broader food groups (breads and confectionery) of which I could already eat other items.  I’m not sure how it could ever happen with a fruit or vegtable.

And finally, there are other foods which I’ve forced myself to eat on one or two occasions because of social pressure.  A minority of these I’ve found myself not feeling too repulsed by to ever go near again.  What I find with these types of experiences, is that the first thing I learn is that I did manage to eat it once, and from this I then know, if ever I have to eat it again, that I am actually capable, even if only just.  Your feeling as to how likely it is to make you gag is then informed by actual experience, rather than instinct.  And as I try the food again in my own time, in small amounts, I start to get the feeling that even though I don’t like it myself, I can begin to understand how other people could like them.  In this category, I would place smoked salmon.  In that instance, the understanding how other people could like it then developed into an actual liking of my own. 

I am hoping this is now going to happen with spicy foods, of which I have only four experiences.  The first was entirely accidental and unexpected, with some sort of treacherous sauce in a restaurant, at 14, on a “date”.  I decided from that experience “Never again. Never ever again”.  But then when the second encounter arose three years ago, which was an authentic curry cooked by some lovely Indian friends, I did know from experience that I could manage it.  And so I was able to weigh up the equation between the unpleasantness of the experience for me, and my desire to fit in and share and not offend them.  And I did manage it.

And then I was in a restaurant and the only thing I could order from the menu was jerk chicken.  How spicy could it be? I asked myself.  At the end of the day, it’s just chicken.  And that’s what I convinced myself, and actually, it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.  In fact, I think I’d order it again, just to see.  I wouldn’t say I actually like it, but I’m beginning to get a feeling of how other people do like it, and I’m thinking that is probably a good sign.

So this is just a few thoughts on how I’ve managed to improve.  If you’ve got experiences you’d like to share, I’d love to hear them.