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Original poster

Do you eat food you don't like?

109 replies

christmaspaws · 14/12/2023 12:37

Following a random conversation with my dad!
I was making a tuna sandwich with chopped onion, cucumber etc and I put red pepper in it
Dad says "I don't like red peppers, or green"
Neither do I but they're good for you so I eat them

I guess I have a kind of hierarchy of food
Love - pizza, cake etc
Don't mind and will eat - veg, apples etc
Wouldn't touch if you paid me - offal, pistachios

I say I'm not a fussy eater because I will eat 99% of stuff but I don't actually enjoy it. Like cucumber, carrots, broccoli are neutral to me

OP posts:
Chilicabbage · 14/12/2023 12:55

Peppers are not really what I would call "neutral". They have flavour. Most veg does.

In mine they are firmly in like section not LOVE but also not "meh".

AtomicBlondeRose · 14/12/2023 12:59

Sort of, I don’t really like cooked carrots but a) everyone else in the house does, b) they’re cheap and easy to make and c) they’re good for you so I’ll eat them if they’re on my plate. They don’t make me gag or anything, they’re just supremely meh to me. Similarly with stir fry. It’s ok but not my first choice of meal, but it’s a perfectly acceptable and healthy meal so I’ll go along with it.

WhatInTheAcasIsGoingOn · 14/12/2023 13:01

A few things. I don't particularly like green peppers. But i don't actually dislike them either. If bags came with just red peppers at the same price as mixed I'd buy them but they don't and I won't waste food either if I can help it. My friend gave me a load of courgettes too and I don't particularly 'like' them. I still chuck them in stews for extra veg.
There's love, like, tolerate, dislike and hate. I only avoid hate and dislike. Mushrooms, funky cheeses and seafood belong in a bin and I won't eat things with them in no matter how good they would be for me.

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General food
DancingFerret · 14/12/2023 13:02

Lettuce and most ingredients in a traditional English salad, although I do manage cucumber and tomato. (Give me a pile of Brussels sprouts any day.😋)

As for eating for health, the abundance of food choices, certainly in developed countries, means there are any number of healthy alternatives available, so there's no need to force down anything you find unpalatable.

mindutopia · 14/12/2023 13:05

I like most foods. I wouldn't intentionally eat anything I didn't like. Like I don't love lettuce, but I like salads generally so will eat it as it's part of a salad and I don't hate it. I really don't like hot avocado - so think avocado that is baked with cheese or egg or whatever on top. I wouldn't make that for myself, ever. If served it by someone else, I would be polite enough to eat some, but not all of it. I don't think I'd ever tell someone that I don't eat something and not to serve it to me - unless they asked ('do you want some avocado in your toasted cheese sandwich?' and then I'd say no thanks, just cheese for me, please).

furtivetussling · 14/12/2023 13:05

No, I don't eat things I actively dislike. There's plenty else to choose from, so why bother.

RaininSummer · 14/12/2023 13:07

Other than all meat and shellfish there isn't regular food I don't really like though I avoid raw celery and olives as not keen. I do use celery in cooking though.

HeraSyndulla · 14/12/2023 13:08

Not since I left junior school.

heartofglass23 · 14/12/2023 13:12

Yes, the only food I like is high fat/ high calorie.

I'd love it if I never had to eat another vegetable again!

But I do eat some sometimes because I think I'd be ill otherwise.

Natsku · 14/12/2023 13:14

I sometimes cook curry because everyone else in my family likes it but I don't, but I eat it still because I'm not cooking two meals, but otherwise I don't make food for myself that I don't like.
But I have lunch at school every day and sometimes its food I don't like but I eat it anyway except for things which I utterly detest, like mushrooms, olives, gherkins. Mainly these things are in the salad options so I just don't pick them but when the main dish is something I don't like I just have to eat it (like the beetroot soup I had to force down) otherwise I go hungry.

I must admit to being a child and picking out the peppers when the steamed veg has peppers in Grin but otherwise I eat everything on my plate so as not to waste food.

Deathraystare · 14/12/2023 13:14

I don't particularly like butternut squash or sweet potatoes but as a pescatarian, eating out restaurants seem obsessed with these two items (often in same meal!) and sometimes my friends cooks something with them in.

I don't eat them at home.

OnlyCorrect · 14/12/2023 13:15

No, but fortunately I like most (real) food while I'm not fussed by most processed stuff. If the rules suddenly changed I'm not sure I woudl have the willpower to force myself to eat stuff I disliked to be healthy.

pastaandpesto · 14/12/2023 13:24

Yeah I completely understand what you are saying, OP, I'm the same when it comes to eating food that I know is good for me. I do actively enjoy some vegetables when they are smothered with butter or cream or cheese but more often than not I eat them because they are good for me. I neither like or dislike them. Same with fruit - there are some I actively enjoy, like strawberries and fresh pineapple - but others I will eat but feel neutral about, like apples.

I wouldn't normally eat anything I actively disliked, but not many things fall into that category for me.

NameChangeToday80 · 14/12/2023 13:29

I eat tolerable food because it's good for me, or because it requires eating.
I'll often add a bunch of vegetables to a meal that would be better as 'carbs and fat' (like macaroni cheese), because it's 'the right thing to do'.

There is some food I actively dislike, I avoid that stuff completely (offal, pearl barley, lamb chops, pork chops).

idontlikealdi · 14/12/2023 13:30

No. I will not eat fish, fatty meat, anything on a bone, chicken thigh meat.

There's stuff I don't particularly like that I can eat eg aubergine, cauliflower.

If I was served fish I wouldn't be able to eat it.

TooMuchRedMaybe · 14/12/2023 13:37

I eat food i love and like but I wouldn't buy things I don't like. There is a wide range of food that I like and love so I don't need to include the things I don't like in order to have a balanced diet.

Original poster
christmaspaws · 14/12/2023 13:39

NameChangeToday80 · 14/12/2023 13:29

I eat tolerable food because it's good for me, or because it requires eating.
I'll often add a bunch of vegetables to a meal that would be better as 'carbs and fat' (like macaroni cheese), because it's 'the right thing to do'.

There is some food I actively dislike, I avoid that stuff completely (offal, pearl barley, lamb chops, pork chops).

Yes! Like macaroni cheese I would prefer garlic bread with it only but I have veg or salad on the side

OP posts:
CatOnTheLap · 14/12/2023 13:45

Absolutely not. I have ARFID and if I don’t like it, I couldn’t even put it in my mouth, let alone swallow it. I hate eating at other people’s houses because I can’t eat something just to be polite.

For me it’s bland, beige and boring food all the way!

Giggorata · 14/12/2023 13:45

I don't eat anything that I actively dislike. Luckily, I love vegetables.
I’m indifferent to a lot of food, but will eat it if it's all there is. Things like plain white fish, sweetcorn, baked beans, etc.
I will never touch anything from a goat, unpasteurised milk, margarine, chilli or brains.

DelphiniumBlue · 14/12/2023 13:47

I'd eat something I didn't like so as not to offend a host.
But I don't understand forcing yourself to eat say, peppers, if you don't like them, when there are plenty of other vegetables you could eat instead. My Mum does this, and I think it's really odd. She doesn't like carrots ( I only found that out recently and she's in her 80s) but she eats them, even cooks them herself, because she thinks they are good for her.
I do like most fruit and vegetables, in fact most food if its fresh and cooked by someone who knows how to cook.

dontgobaconmyheart · 14/12/2023 13:52

Generally I don't. If it's about getting one's 5 a day or adding vitamins and minerals there are so many other options - other veg/fruit/seeds/nuts/supplements that I see absolutely no point in adding a sprinkling of something that will likely make no meaningful nutritional difference whatsoever, but will make me enjoy my food less.

There are things I am fairly neutral about that I'd eat if presented with but anything past that point I'd remove it.

I think because I do eat plenty of veg and fruit (I just happen to like it and am certainly not overly healthy in other ways - eg i have a very sweet tooth) I see no issue with avoiding the odd thing.

MintJulia · 14/12/2023 13:53

I eat most things because there's very little I don't enjoy.

Brandy, lager, whole chillies and tea. That's about all.

And jellied eels 😩

givemushypeasachance · 14/12/2023 13:54

I feel this is demonstrated with some kids. My friend's seven year old is going through an increasingly fussy phase and will claim "I don't like it" about loads of stuff he's previously eaten quite happily. I think he's got a mindset of he only wants to eat food he really loves e.g. chocolate, cake, the sausage of the hot dog and he leaves the bun, ignores the fruit in his lunchbox and just eats a few bites of sandwich and crisps. There is nothing objectionable to the hot dog bun, he's eaten strawberries for years, he just would prefer to eat the bits he really likes and leaves those unless he's really hungry.

bryceQ · 14/12/2023 14:01

I eat foods I'm neutral about for sure. For me that's squash, apple, banana

I would eat something i don't like if someone had made it for me and I wanted to be polite

Terfosaurus · 14/12/2023 14:05

Depends what it is and what other options there are.

Banana. Nope. No way. (Well I guess I might if I was starving as in about to pass out)

Sweet and sour chicken. I wouldn't choose it. But if I've gone to a friends house for dinner and they've made it then I would.

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