To not understand how a fully grown adult..

[LifesLittleDeciders]

Doesn’t like any vegetables at all?
I was just watching a video about a man who wanted to find recipes he could eat that don’t contain vegetables as he doesn’t like any veg.

I mean come on.. there’s as many flavours in different vegetables as there are colours in the world.. yet he would proclaim to ‘hate all colours’

I just don’t get it. Kids I sort of understand; especially when they descend from fussy parents. But I just think ‘grow up’ when I read about adults not touching vegetables. I’m not talking about “I don’t like broccoli or carrots” - won’t eat vegetables at all.

And the “salad? Do I look like a rabbit?” Slur that comes from people

Who won’t eat anything remotely green or healthy, that saying really boils my piss. Just say no thank you?!

I know IABU as it’s none of my business but it just made me roll my eyes and would be interested to hear others opinions on it.

I'm confused, how can you be a vegan if you don't eat vegetables? What do you eat?

Pasta, cereal, biscuits, crisps, chips, vegan chocolate, nuts, seeds, rice, spaghetti hoops. I'm not saying it's healthy but you won't starve!

@Kendodd I eat cooked meat, typical day would be breakfast: bacon and egg, lunch:leftover roastbelly pork, supper: beef shin casserole

@NotACompleterFinis

Do you worry about the fact that meat is a risk factor for bowel cancer or do you not believe the research around that?

Lack of fibre is actually much bigger risk interestingly

Genuine question:are sensory issues around food a first world problem? Do people in countries where food is scarce have these issues? I dare say this question won't go down well, but does anyone actually know?

DH doesn't like vegetables. When we met 20 odd years ago he would only eat carrots and mushrooms. Now though he'll eat raw peas in a pod, mange tout, courgette and sugar snap peas. He'll eat salad but prefers not to.

When he was growing up his mum steamed all the veg together so everything tasted of cauliflower and was mushy. I think it's a texture thing with him as much as taste.

Thankfully our boys have always loved all vegetables so we never had battles over healthy eating. We keep getting DH to try new veg sometimes with success and sometimes not!

@Flatoutonsofa

Genuine question:are sensory issues around food a first world problem? Do people in countries where food is scarce have these issues? I dare say this question won't go down well, but does anyone actually know?

I don't actually know, but I imagine there would be 'failure to thrive', and higher likelihood of infant mortality.

[quote NotACompleterFinis]@Kendodd I eat cooked meat, typical day would be breakfast: bacon and egg, lunch:leftover roastbelly pork, supper: beef shin casserole[/quote]
Egg. That well known meat.

Genuine question:are sensory issues around food a first world problem? Do people in countries where food is scarce have these issues? I dare say this question won't go down well, but does anyone actually know?

From experience, DS will starve himself if there is nothing suitable available or if he has other reasons for not eating (e.g., following illness where he has then had fear of vomiting even after recovering) and has in the past gone days without eating. So I'd say @mbosnz post about failure to thrive is probably accurate.

[quote NotACompleterFinis]@Kendodd I eat cooked meat, typical day would be breakfast: bacon and egg, lunch:leftover roastbelly pork, supper: beef shin casserole[/quote]
Whatever floats your boat, but this sounds disgusting to me. I really enjoy a big salad for lunch, veg with my dinner, fruit at breakfast. Actually I will eat practically anything, but I do enjoy balance in my diet.

Agree @Flatoutonsofa. I start feeling grim and sluggish if I haven’t eaten veg for a few days. Maybe it’s psychological but it feels real to me!

Like the saying goes,
eat to live,
not live to eat.

My dad had an allotment when we were young. Those days you got what had been made, you ate it or you went hungry. I dont remember turning my nose up.

The WHO says that it's perfectly possible to have a healthy vegan diet at any age, but I think I'll listen to @PussGirl who knows better

I don’t make any judgement on an adult I don’t know who doesn’t want to eat vegetables. Life is to short.

[quote waterlego]@NotACompleterFinis

Do you worry about the fact that meat is a risk factor for bowel cancer or do you not believe the research around that?[/quote]
There isn't any research for cancer on an animal fat/protein diet. Where meat comes up as a risk factor is when it's part of the 'meat with unhealthy carbs and fats' diet.

@Flatoutonsofa

Genuine question:are sensory issues around food a first world problem? Do people in countries where food is scarce have these issues? I dare say this question won't go down well, but does anyone actually know?

There's some real interesting stuff in Bee Wilson's book 'First Bite' about this - there's a peanut-based high calorie paste thing that was developed to give to severely malnourished children, but they found that it was brilliant in the African countries that they first tried it in (where peanut was quite a common part of the normal diet) but that in India (I think - I'm remembering this off the top of my head) because it seemed much less familiar both adults and children really struggled to eat it, parents reported having to force feed it to children - and these were children who were literally starving. So no, lack of food doesn't make 'fussiness' disappear - obviously the adults could rationalise that it had to be forced down, but the children were still upset at eating such an unfamiliar and (to them) unappetising taste and texture.

This is so sad to read. I don’t eat vegetables. I do have fruits albeit not loads of different types.

I’ve been a bad eater since I can remember, I have improved in very small doses over the years but trying something new is just not possible for me. I strongly suspect I have ARFID, I’ve not had a diagnosis but it just describes me to a T. I had horrific anxiety growing up going to places when food would be involved, and reading about how people judge for people who are picky for being pain in the arses is horrible. I absolutely hate myself for being this way. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t sit there going ‘ewww’ ‘yuck’ because when I was a child I would sit there avoiding foods like pizzas, hot dogs. Not particularly healthy and I wouldn’t eat them. I’d just sit there waiting for the embarrassment to end.

I think it’s important for people to realise that some of us despise this way of living. I’m waiting for a referral from the doctor to investigate this further before people jump on me for not doing anything.

I feel that I have learned a lot from this thread, and it has taught me to be less judgy of other people’s eating habits. I want to understand how you draw the line between someone who is just fussy and someone who has genuine eating issues?

I eat most things and am easy to please, but even I don’t like everything. The difference is that if I am really hungry, I will eat something that doesn’t completely rock my boat. I don’t have to absolutely love something to be able to eat it. Let’s face it, I am a food lover, and am quite greedy

I think that’s the big difference @RampantIvy. I have genuine sensory issues around lots of food as well as the odd thing that I’m not keen on. If it’s something I don’t particularly enjoy then i would avoid it, but oculd eat it if I really had no other option. Foods that I have problems with due to my autism, I don’t think I could ever force down no matter what the situation, no matter how hungry I got

@RampantIvy

I feel that I have learned a lot from this thread, and it has taught me to be less judgy of other people’s eating habits. I want to understand how you draw the line between someone who is just fussy and someone who has genuine eating issues?

I eat most things and am easy to please, but even I don’t like everything. The difference is that if I am really hungry, I will eat something that doesn’t completely rock my boat. I don’t have to absolutely love something to be able to eat it. Let’s face it, I am a food lover, and am quite greedy

As one of the 'fussy' ones who suspect like a PP that I possible have ARFID or at least significant sensory issues around food I would say that you can't really draw that line. Because no one except my closest family have any inkling about the issues I have. I am a grown adult I don't tend to discuss food issues with other people. Others would just assume 'fussy/picky/immature' and some of the other delightful things I've read on this thread. I certainly don't do the 'yuck' thing about what anyone else eats, that's rude bad manners regardless of issues or not and as an adult I don't order food that I can't eat or I leave things on my plate if I don't like them, quietly without fuss.

You don't need to comment on what anyone is or isn't eating - so I don't think you need to be able to draw a line to decide if they're 'just' fussy or not.

As a wide generalisation though I would probably say those that make a point publicly and loudly about how they hate certain foods/can't possibly eat that, ewwwwww etc etc are fussy and make a performance out of it. The ones who quietly get on with it, without drawing attention to themselves are the ones that can't help it, probably despise being that way and just want to get on and eat what they can without a fuss from anyone.

Thank you @EssexLioness and @tuliprosedaffodil.

However, I am curious about people with eating issues who then decide to further restrict their diet for other reasons - ethical/moral/religious/other. This must be pretty detrimental to their health.

My (now mid 20s) nephew is like this, and it wouldn't bother me apart from his performance eating and ewwwing over other people eating veg or anything more interesting than beige food

If you won't or can't eat veg that's fine. Commenting on what others eat as they are eating though is something that really pisses me off.

It’s really embarrassing to be sat at the dinner table with friends and witness a grown adult picking through their dish like a child and carefully placing whatever bits of veg they can find on the side 🤢 I admit my instant gut reaction is to think that they must have gotten stuck developmentally at the age of a toddler. Even worse are the people who revel in their pickiness like it’s a badge of honour: um, no. It just makes you look like you’re mentally two years old

My ethos with my kids is that I choose what and when to feed them, they choose if and how much. No battles. No persuasion. I’m relaxed either way. But I don’t stand for someone turning their nose up at a meal I’ve spent time cooking and serving and demanding something else, I’m not a chef. The appropriate response (from an adult or child) is gratitude that you’ve spent time cooking for them.

@BluntlySpoken

My ex wouldn't touch veg Anything like bolognese, chilli or anything No fruit No salad

It was like dating a child... I can't eat an onion it's like a slug.!
I can't eat peas it's like bogies

He ate, sausages, eggs, bacon, joints of meat, mash and roast potatoes, paxo, Yorkshire, burgers, processed chicken products. Bread

1 meal would be 8 sausages, and a whole 2kg bag of spuds mashed with a jug of gravy

He was very un healthy and massively over Weight
I feel sick when I think of the sheer quantity of food he would eat.
Bacon sarnies, half aoaf of bread minimum!

Won’t eat peas but will eat eggs, which literally smell like farts.