I'm a moderately picky eater these days. In my childhood and other younger years, I was a very picky eater.
I am guessing my very-picky status came from being autistic. I'm not sure, though, how much of it was due to sensory issues. I think a lot of it was due to faulty conclusions and associations.
Here are the things I was picky about in the bygone days.
1. I refused to eat soup. This came from not liking tomato based soups and concluding that ANY food with the name soup in it was off limits.
2. I would eat only mozzarella cheese and it had to be cooked. I refused any cold cheeses and any other cooked cheeses.
3. I refused to eat cheese pizza. I think this is because one time we had a Kosher brand cheese pizza at my grandmother's house, and it was disgusting. So I concluded that all cheese pizza was a no. Usually I'd be happy with pepperoni pizza. The exception was Tombstone frozen pizza. I didn't like their pepperoni. But I was not okay eating their cheese pizza. So I'd insist on being served pepperoni pizza, and I'd take off the pepperoni. Years later we went to a wedding and saw people I hadn't seen since childhood. This woman who hadn't seen me in about twenty years brought up the Tombstone pizza issue. To her, that was like my signature...move.
4. I hated/hate mayonnaise. I have no idea where this came from. My earliest memory of the issue comes from being at a restaurant with family. One of my aunts (cousin by marriage, actually) revealed to me that there was mayonnaise on the bread I was eating. I was horrified.
5. When we ate at McDonald's...I would order a plain burger with just pickles. I didn't want the tomato and ketchup.
6. I was picky with meat. I liked some...like the meat in my mom's spaghetti sauce, taco meat, ribs, pepperoni sticks. I wasn't fond of white meat chicken. If I remember correctly, I didn't like meat in sauces besides the ones my mom made. Or maybe it was with only Italian and Mexican food.
I didn't eat Turkey at Thanksgiving.
I didn't like any deli meats except for corned beef.
I was so picky about meat that in order to not be rude, Tim and I started lying and telling people, who cooked for us, that I was vegetarian. This wasn't great, because I don't like lying and also there was the worry that what if we were in a situation with these same people where I DID want to eat the meat.
Well...all that was solved eventually by me becoming truly vegetarian.
I think actually becoming vegetarian is what moved me from the very picky eater category to the moderately picky eater category. Because the food I was probably most often picky about was meat.
So...now instead of being known as a picky eater, I'm more often known as a vegetarian.
I've also grown out of some of my other issues, though.
The soup one happened in college. I went to a Seder at the local synagogue. I didn't like any of the foods being served. I guess I was hungry. Or something gave me the motivation to try the matzah ball soup. A miracle happened, and I finally realized that not all soup is like the tomato based one I used to not like.
It seems especially ridiculous to me now that I even refused to eat those sweet-fruit soups they serve on cruise ships.
Yeah. Now I like a lot of soups. I even liked tomato based ones.
With the cheese issue. I think one day I was finally brave enough to try nacho cheese. And my memory is lacking in terms of my growth in this issue. But I eat most cheese these days...cold or warm...various types.
I also eventually learned that not all cheese pizza tastes like the Kosher one we ate at my Grandma's.
As for the present....I still have a fair amount of dislikes.
1. Though I like most cheeses, I don't like sweet cream cheese and stay away from cheesecakes and frosting that's made of cream cheese. For a time, I was able to eat cream cheese on bagels. But now I can't stomach it.
2. I have a phobia of mayonnaise. There are some foods I might not be a fan of, but I'll simply pick them off of my food and be fine with it. Or if it's a hidden ingredient, I'm cool with it. That is NOT the case with mayonnaise. If I eat something and later am told it had mayonnaise, I feel very contaminated. A lot of times I will check food packaging for ingredients. When I do this, it's usually about looking to make sure there's no mayonnaise.
3. I don't like ketchup. For some strange reason, Tim continues to forget this...even though we've been together 26 years. Every so often, he'll offer me ketchup. But on balance, he's quite good at remembering I don't like mayonnaise.
4. I don't like sandwiches with soft bread. I usually need my bread to be toasted. I especially don't like peanut butter on soft bread. I don't like peanut butter on sandwiches. Though I do like peanut butter in candy or dessert sauces. I'm more okay with the natural peanut butter than the very sticky overly processed peanut butter.
5. I don't like water chestnuts (for vomit memory reasons). Though if they are big enough to take out of the food, I'm fine with it. It's just usually annoying, because when people put water chestnuts in something, they tend to put a lot of water chestnuts in. Or maybe it just feels that way?
6. For the last fifteen years or so, I've had this issue where I randomly get nauseated in the midst of eating. I'm not sure the cause. I don't think it's related to being full. I think it has to do with texture and temperature. The foods that seem to be bring it on the most are foods that mix soft bread, mushy sauces, and cold vegetables.
So...I shy away from most vegetarian sandwiches.
Leftover pizza has given me the feeling a few times, so I've avoided that the past several years. But recently I've started to eat it without any ill effects.
The last time we were at Disney World, I got the feeling when eating at one of the Galaxy Edge restaurants. It was annoying, because I liked what I was eating. But...I think the soft pitas caused the issue.
I think autistic people are known for not liking foods touching each other. But...As long as the food doesn't include soft bread, I'm usually fine with foods touching each other. I actually like clumping everything together.
7. I like dried scrambled eggs and omelettes but stay clear of sunny side up eggs and hard boiled eggs.
8. Besides the cream cheese issue, I love most desserts. I'm not always keen on pineapple, though. I like fresh pineapple and pineapple upside down cake. I resisted Dole Whips at first but now am okay with it (but prefer the other flavors). I don't like canned pineapple...especially the very strong smell. I also am not too pleased with pineapple flavored candy. It's not a strong enough aversion that I'd spit it out. But once I know what color equals pineapple, I'll usually avoid that.
9. I like frozen yogurt but do not like regular yogurt. I wish I did, because the flavors look so fun sometimes. But the smell is yuck to me.
I've sometimes reluctantly tolerated yogurt mixed in with foods. Or maybe once I did this. I think at one of the Disney World food fairs.
I've also been okay with it in small quantities in smoothies/mango lassi.
I also shy away from sour cream.
I think I might just be weary of any creamy white food. Well...savory. Because I do liked whip cream and love white ice-cream. White soft serve ice-cream might be one of my favorite foods.
10. Until about four months ago, I labeled myself as a non-coffee drinker. I did like coffee candy...especially dark chocolate espresso beans. And, at one point, I even started eating regular espresso beans that Tim had in the house. But it was a big no to coffee-drinking and coffee ice-cream.
Then one day I had this idea that maybe I didn't like coffee mixed with milk. I decided to try black coffee. And now I'm a coffee drinker. I drink it daily. Fortunately for me, Tim is really big on making coffee and during our life together has bought all kinds of fun coffee gadgets that, until recently, I pretty much ignored. We have an espresso machine, a cold press, and a French press.
What I think is that I have an aversion to creamy coffee because I associate it with a specific feeling/memory/idea. It's like a mug on a desk of a GROWN UP filled with remnants of the drink. And next to that drink is probably an ashtray filled with cigarette butts....maybe a bottle of Scotch? I think it represents my childhood aversion to the adult world.
I could probably slowly get over that aversion and bring myself to like white coffee, but since black coffee is SO much healthier, I'm going to embrace my aversion and try to never get over it.
Anyway....I've been thinking about picky eating in relation to autism. I think autistic picky eating is associated with sensory issues, so I question whether most of my issues qualify as autistic picky eating.
I do wonder, though....
Why are autistic people sensitive about certain things and not others? Why are some sounds okay and other sounds not? Why are some food textures fine but others are offensive? Why are some fabrics a yes and others are a big no?
Could it be related to having strong memory associations? And maybe autistic people have stronger associations than what's typical? Or is it mostly a physical difference? Like a difference in sense receptors?
I did a quick (lazy) Google to see if there are any answers out there. Nothing really jumps out at me. If you are an expert on this subject and know of any good research...please recommend! And by expert, I don't mean you need to have a degree in it. It could be one of your special interests....
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| "Mac" and Cheese is another food I avoided during my childhood. Later I grew to like it, but I much prefer homemade styles to the boxed kind. Though I'm okay with the boxed kinds if it's not yellow and not the Kraft tubular shaped ones. Tim made me the ones I don't like the other day. I talked myself into eating it, saying it's really not different from the ones I do like. I forced myself to eat it, did not enjoy the experience, and regretted not listening to my picky self. The other thing about "mac" and cheese is I'm now weary of it in restaurants since learning that some people use recipes involving mayonnaise!! |
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