I eat more now than I used to, but hate onions (I love the flavour but can’t stand the texture – it doesn’t matter how microscopically they are chopped in something, I will find them!), most veg, all fruit, most meats and seafood etc etc.

It is something that is really starting to upset me as we are currently trying to start a family and I know that it is REALLY important for me to eat a more balanced diet to make sure I get the right nutrients whilst pregnant and I wouldn’t want any child of mine to be as “picky” as I am – how would I explain why I’m not eating the same food as them?!

I was considering hypnosis but I’m not sure it would work. I really really don’t know what to do about it – if only it was as easy as just getting on with it and trying food.

It’s good to know I’m not alone, but I wish there was something we could do!

I’m fascinated to read all about this. I’m writing an article for a monthly magazine about Selective Eating Disorder and wondered if anyone would care to participate? Don’t worry, it’s a serious health report, not sensationalist rubbish. If you’d like to know more please contact me on kate_corr@tiscali.co.uk
Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I have read all of your stories with sympathy and interest. I am a TV director working on a strand for a new eating/health TV show for Channel 4, looking at people who only eat one or very few types of food. We are working with an eminent CBT therapist.

I am looking for a couple more people to appear on the programme. If you are interested in hearing more about the series, please email me at kim_boursnell@yahoo.co.uk.

Thanks.

And for the record, I’m American. Picky eating is not a British phenomenon.

Good job of “not being down on us”. No, really.

Good luck and keep up the dynamic thinking:)

However, I reject most of your vegetarian comparisons. Surely some vegetarians hate meat or are grossed out by it. Most of the ones that I know, including my husband and me, are vegetarians for ethical reasons. I know filet mignon is delicious, and ate it joyfully before I became a vegetarian. However, I find the concept of murdering another living, breathing , intelligent creature for me to eat recreationally when I can easily get all of my nutrition without killing to be morally repugnant. It’s a choice for me because I choose not to have an animal die for me. I also choose not to support factory farms and slaughterhouses. There is nothing humane about the way those poor animals live. It’s not a choice made because bacon isn’t delicious.

Also, I realize you’re in the UK where vegetarianism is much more prevalent, but here in the US, we endure MANY Facebook groups about how eating meat is superior and vegetarians are idiots.

Onions and tomatoes are my biggest issues, mainly because I come from an Italian-American family, so they’re impossible to completely avoid. I’ve gotten better at scraping off the pulpy/seedy/skin bits where I can and just coping with the rest, but it took 25 years for me to do that.

Some things I just haven’t been able to do. When I was a kid, one of my best friends loves strawberries so much, she couldn’t believe I’d never had one. After years of pressure, I tried one. It took me ten minutes to work up the nerve to put it in my mouth and bite down. Then I had to spit it right back out. I love the smell of cooking bell peppers but I have yet to bring myself to be able to put a piece of pepper in my mouth.

It’s frustrating and so often dismissed as being no big deal, so I’m thrilled to find I’m not alone.

Good luck.

Elisa