Published on 12, July, 2020
I've had several food related discussions recently with a few autistic friends of mine, both on and off the forum and I can't help but be intrigued by how autism affects our taste in food. I have a couple of friends who are very hypersensitive to a lot of different tastes and textures and can only eat very bland tasting food of certain specific consistencies and yet there are other friends and also myself that seem to like lots of strong tastes; spices, etc. Food seems to be important to autistic people in one way or another! So I wondered where everyone else is with food. Do you prefer strong tastes and flavours or do you have a lot of food sensitivities that limit what you can eat? I'd like to know other people's opinions and thoughts on this?
worcester sauce is good, I haven't had any for a while! I like strong flavours but I wouldn't go as far as drinking the above straight from the bottle/jar! Are there any foods that you don't like? Anchovies are good to add flavour to potato gratin.
We've still got Easter Eggs sitting in the kitchen cupboard. Nothing to do with stomach bugs, they just haven't been eaten yet! Good thing that you didn't generalise your aversion to all chocolate!!
Thanks. I'm quite interested in the science behind the food allergies. I'll have a look at this later.
I put gravy on my gravy. Just to make sure!
I has gastroenteritis as a kid at Easter. The eggs just sat there, and I didn't want them when I was well. Never ate an Easter Egg since.
Breakfast is the meal that I hate, I have the same problem!
Noodles are heaven. Mama Tom Yum with prawns, peas, and pickled carrots are mushy, wet, and so good.
Pickles are a big love of mine too. I eat a pickled egg everyday at least.
I sniff vinegar, and Worcestershire Sauce as a stim. I find that the sensation it gives me in my tongue, a slight pain of sorts, quite soothing.
OK so there is 'some' vinegar in ketchup but it's not neat!
Also don't forget the half a jar of English mustard with my roast.... but its still not vinegar.
Tomato Ketchup dear?
So that's where the drowning your fish and chips in vinegar comes from.
Ewww.. Thats not good lol. I do love anchovies though.
OMG - my Maternal Grandmother's one sister was like that - The family story was never send her shopping for vinegar as it would be drunk before she got home.
I'll eat practically anything - I even tried canned dog food once (not nice, had a gritty texture) and as a kid was told dog biscuits were made from chicken poop to try to stop me eating them... it didn't.
I'll also eat raw meat if I'm chopping it up to cook - usually bacon or steak, not chicken or pork.
Strong flavours... I'll drink these straight from the bottle/jar:
I also love anchovies, coriander, chilli, curry etc.
Reading through those the foods correalate to Bu Xi, and the Ch'ang Ming diet. They are very old Chinese concepts, but those foods are there! Many of the grain products there and vegetables are not encouraged.
http://orb.uk.net/mediawiki/index.php/Ch%27ang_Ming#Foods_that_are_NOT_to_be_eaten
I used to love sweet and sour balls from the Chinese takeaway, until one time when they made me horrendously sick. It was definitely dodgy chicken! The association has stuck with me, I won't have it again!
It's the same with port! I got drunk on it before I was 18 and was really ill (serves me right!!) but to this day I cannot even stand the smell of it, yet alone try a taste.
What about homemade pot noodles? Egg noodles cooked in vegetable stock with peas and sweetcorn or other vegetables of your choice added plus a bit of soy sauce. It's really easy to make and there's enough for lunch for a few days. I haven't made them up in while actually, I might have to do so again soon!
It's interesting how we make these associations in our head and can't undo them in our heads even though we know they're not rational! Are you able to drink fizzy drinks now?
That can be common enough. I once caught some noro bug and had spectacular gastritis the whole night and well into the next day, until the doctor gave me a little blue pill to stop it. The day before I was at a school event and there were drinks to be had, fizzy lime juice and pepsi; I definitely did not want to go near either after that