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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:
jay55 · 15/12/2023 09:34

No. Unless I'm served it by someone else then I make an effort.

Sholkedabemus · 15/12/2023 09:38

There’s food I can tolerate, mainly to be polite, and there’s food I refuse to eat. The latter includes trifle, mussels, egg custard, rice pudding or any milk pudding. I’m lactose intolerant but I’ve never liked milk puddings.

Give0fecks · 15/12/2023 09:45

@christmaspaws i totally get what you are saying. My husband is like your dad. Unless he actively gets pleasure out of the taste, he doesn’t eat it. He doesn’t eat ‘sensible things’. Or most of the time he eats like a child would.

for example if he is peckish and wants a snack he would have several cookies rather than an apple/banana whatever. I find this attitude baffling, as for me the health and nutrition aspects of food are entwined with my meal choices. For example if I know I’m going out all day I’ll make sure I have eggs for breakfast. He would say he “doesn’t feel like it”, get hangry and then ruin the morning.

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General food
Elphame · 15/12/2023 09:47

I eat a lot of things I don’t really like because I aim for a healthy balanced diet but not things I actively dislike.

Luckily the things I do tend to dislike ( ice cream for example) are mostly food stuffs that have little nutritional value. Except for kale. I hate kale and it’s always in my veg box.

Chilicabbage · 15/12/2023 10:08

I would take your kale @Elphame 🙈

Original poster
christmaspaws · 15/12/2023 10:16

Elphame · 15/12/2023 09:47

I eat a lot of things I don’t really like because I aim for a healthy balanced diet but not things I actively dislike.

Luckily the things I do tend to dislike ( ice cream for example) are mostly food stuffs that have little nutritional value. Except for kale. I hate kale and it’s always in my veg box.

See kale I do like!
I shred it, put it on a tray with a spray of oil and in the oven. When it comes out I put peri peri salt on it and it's like seaweed from the chinese takeaway Grin

OP posts:
ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 15/12/2023 10:19

Dh is gf, dd is veggie and ASd.

I hate meals with tomatoes in. But l seem to end up bloody eating them all the time.

MyBigFatGreekSalad · 15/12/2023 10:20

Nope.

But I'm very lucky because I genuinely love most fruit and veg so can easily eat healthy without it feeling "forced"

Sparklfairy · 15/12/2023 10:24

There's a difference between 'don't like' (that much) and actively dislike.

Some people genuinely think they should eat their favourite foods only, all the time. I find that so weird.

savemytimezone · 15/12/2023 10:27

I try to eat healthy these days. I kind of have to GERD, medications, all sorts.

But I won't eat food I dislike either. I feel short-changed enough without that. Plus, I want to enjoy every calorie I eat. I have to watch my weight and I'm damn well going to enjoy every calorie that goes down!

At the same time, by "enjoy" I mean things I like but am not crazy addicted to, not sweets and choc. I am not even sure how much I enjoy chocolate, but I'm like an addict. Once open, I'll guzzle the lot until it's gone and I feel sick. It's easier for me to not have it at all.

CeciledeVolangesdeNouveau · 15/12/2023 10:27

I was brought up to eat what I was served, so with the possible exception of offal etc I generally eat up even if it makes me feel sick.

I’m lucky in that I really love salad (in my work canteen I was known as the salad fiend because I would have extra helpings after they’d finished serving) and everyone always thinks I’m so good because I like eating it. I’m not. I also hate potatoes. Neither of these makes me an angel.

So basically I eat what I’m served but given choice will go for what I like. It’s probably not even what’s good for me but I eat it anyway.

Catsmere · 15/12/2023 10:30

@Sparklfairy yes, I don't particularly care for vegetables (except potatoes), but I don't actively dislike them and don't avoid them (except, as I mentioned above, pumpkin, which gets served in massive boiled chunks at the village I live in, presumably because it's cheap).

Ohthatsfabulousdarling · 15/12/2023 10:30

Yes, there are foods I will tolerate that I dint necessarily like, however there are foods that I don't like in a sensory sense, those foods I can't eat, because I will be sick. Its definitely a texture or smell thing.

suki1964 · 15/12/2023 10:31

I dont eat mash potato, cant abide the texture and its easy to say to whoever is cooking, no mash for me

But generally Ill eat most things, even if I dont like them if someone else has cooked for me, its good manners after all

I do buy and eat food I dont particularly like else our diets would be very restricted. I remember when the kids were young practically forcing myself to swallow broccoli as I never wanted them to become picky, they both love their veg now - I still hate broccoli - still eat it though :)

Chilicabbage · 15/12/2023 10:33

Sparklfairy · 15/12/2023 10:24

There's a difference between 'don't like' (that much) and actively dislike.

Some people genuinely think they should eat their favourite foods only, all the time. I find that so weird.

To be fair lots of us saying we don't eat foods we don't like (not just hate but are pretty meh about them) eat the food others here force themselves into. If you actually like healthy stuff, there is no reason to eat foods you are not actually happy about.

Says person who considers whole carrot a nice snack....

Bearlet · 15/12/2023 10:33

I really like veg, so there are plenty of options on my 'love' list (aubergine, fennel, green beans, brussels sprouts) and my 'actively like' list (spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower). When I'm catering for myself, I rarely feel the need to work down to my 'neutral' list (courgette, peas, cucumber, carrots) unless I'm trying to use something up. The only vegetables I actively dislike are swede and kale. Bleurgh.

As for other food, there are things on my 'love' list that I eat less of than I would like, either for health or eco reasons (red meat being a big one – I would have it every day if I didn't keep a firm grip on myself). And things on my 'neutral' list that I mainly eat for health reasons (pulses). I don't eat anything I actively dislike (sardines, liver, mayo, oysters).

But I'm lucky in that I love a wide range of foods, including plenty of healthy options, so I can maintain a decent diet without too many sacrifices (with the exception of meat, which I love but only allow myself once a week or so).

AlltheFs · 15/12/2023 10:35

Yes I do. Because otherwise I would eat only chips, steak, cake and biscuits and I’d be dead.

I have some things I can’t touch, bananas, cooked spinach, coconut but other things like fruit and veg I don’t hate but I don’t like either.

NotFastButFurious · 15/12/2023 10:44

Not really. There's foods that I wouldn't particularly choose myself but if someone served me them I would eat them. But there's nothing I eat just because I think I should! That said, I'm not fussy, my list of things I'd never eat is about 3 items!

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 15/12/2023 11:37

jay55 · 15/12/2023 09:34

No. Unless I'm served it by someone else then I make an effort.

Even then I'd leave something I don't like.

TinkerTiger · 15/12/2023 12:14

No. I won't touch aubergine, papaya or egg yolk.

And I absolutely cannot eat sandwiches made from sliced bread, you know like the kind you'd find in the ready meal section of the supermarket. I'd be starving and if it's the only food on offer I won't eat it. I cannot bear the texture.

5PurpleDinosaurs · 15/12/2023 12:23

The only foods I really don’t like are aubergine and parsnips. Easy to avoid. I don’t eat them unless I am at someone else’s house. I don’t much like things like broccoli and peas but will eat them often as they are about the only green veg my son eats. I won’t eat some offal or brawn (bad childhood memories) or brains but other than that ear most things. My DS has sensory issues around food and strong aversions and has autism and his dietician said that for him trying to eat food he has a serious aversion to would be like me trying to eat a worm sandwich. So I am more tolerant of it now and more relaxed where before it really worried me.

caringcarer · 15/12/2023 12:27

No, plenty of food I do like.

gano · 15/12/2023 12:51

It depends. I really don't like many vegetables or salad, but I do eat them regularly because I know that they're good for me and I don't enjoy being constipated. There's certain things I won't touch - avocado, cucumber, very fishy fish - because I find them truly awful.

yikesanotherbooboo · 15/12/2023 12:53

I would give anything a few goes. The only food I won't try again is chitterlings which I really struggled to swallow. There are things that I would only eat to be polite eg oysters and a few things that I would put in the 'not my favourite' category. I do the meal planning , shopping and cooking here so we probably do have more things from my favourites list than the other family members but I do my best to take everyone's choices into account. As a result beetroot and cauli have both moved from my 'not my favourite' list to regular inclusions in the menu

yikesanotherbooboo · 15/12/2023 12:59

As the planner there are lots of factors to take into account including provenance of the food. I hate the idea of food coming by plane and try to eat seasonally but have to make some exceptions for special occasions or in the early spring when one could get very stuck with aging root vegetables and frozen veg.