To be fed up with and confused by food?

[WeirdArchitecture]

I have always eaten 'healthy' food, incorporating a good variety of veg, fruit and lean protein, although have not eaten red meat since early teens. I don't eat much sugar and don't like pasta, cakes or crisps. I have always been a stable weight. slim, and have no known health issues.

Great.

But, I kind of don't like food all that much, and my tastes are a lot more simple. I feel that there are too many varieties of everything to chose from and so many continuously changing 'facts' regarding nutritional health (form carbs to wheat to fats and so on).

I have IBS. and often suffer some mild discomfort after meals, although have no significant intolerances. My gut is happiest, and so am I, just eating toast, a bit of cheese and a small amount of salad.
In reality I eat good fish with stuff like peppers, asparagus, tomato, spinach, with maybe a fresh blended greek you with berries for breakfast. Sometime I eat eggs.
And I don't enjoy any of this, I just want to live on toasties and feel ashamed of it

How can I get the nutrients I need as well as simplifying my diet? Which particular veggies pack the most nutrients? Is the iron in cress and spinach actually being absorbed? I just don't know wtf.

If I can narrow it down I can maybe find a good balance, but right now I'm confused and not convinced my spring onion, asparagus and whatever is actually even doing me any good. I have always eaten healthily, as did my family, but in an ideal world I would live on wholegrain toast with peanut butter, or cheese, eggs, etc.

I know my diet is 'good' and will likely get advice to stay as I am, and I know I am already fucking lucky to not live in a food desert or experience food poverty. I know. But I don't seem to have much taste for food in general, and am tired of it all.

I think the real question is what are you trying to address with your nutritional balance?

If you feel OK and your health is good, then what's driving the change?

I want to be healthy but I don't like eating wide varieties. My gut doesn't, and I don't want to. I do it because I know it is healthy. I want to narrow things down, to simplify and truly enjoy what I eat instead of having about 8 different types of veg in rotation all the time.

I think for most people, even a very non-varied (but still healthy) diet still contains more than enough nutritional value to not have to worry about micro-nutrition.

I'm not a big proponent of forced eating of things "because it's good for you." I think that mindset is less healthy than eating a slightly less nutritionally balanced diet in the right portions.

I'd look into 2 things one, actually seeing where you might need to supplement if your diet was simplified down to just what you wanted to eat. That would involve making the change to your diet and then having some bloodwork done. And then after that, I'd look into how to supplement that without consuming masses of things I didn't like smoothies, vitamins, etc.

Some micronutrients are REALLY hard to eat for and if you're deficient, supplementing is easier. But I'd want to see where the deficiency really is, first.

What's the difference for you between the cheese toastie and the fish with veg? Is it the taste or how your gut feels? If it is taste, maybe you aren't adventurous enough with your recipes - plain broccoli is never going to taste as good as a cheese toastie, but you can make amazingly tasty veg dishes.
On the value of fruit/ veg in terms of health, ideally you want a variety, but berries are particularly good, as are leafy greens, nuts and seeds. Yoghurt, berries and a sprinkle of chopped nuts will go a long way

Or is it the cooking element that you are fed up with? Plenty of pre prepared salads etc that you can go for if that is the case?

Have you done an exclusion diet where you go back to nothing and then add back items every few days.

Many/most IBS can't cope with seeds, so tomatoes and peppers are a total no no. Are they for you?

I have really severe IBS, which may actually be colitis, and I find the beiger the food the happier my guts. So I could eat toast all day and my guts would be really happy, but I could eat salad and they'd be in a state the next day.

Ideally my guts would like me to eat lean chicken or fish, potatoes, and yoghurts 24/7, but I would be bored to tears eating that.

Oh and little tip for tomatoes, buy big beef ones and scoop out the seeds. Just eat the flesh.

Keep a food diary and get a book on IBS diet
Stick to the recipes you enjoy most and don't flare up your IBS

Viola.

Engevita is good, yeat cheese sprinkle food, might help

@hocusspocuss

Oh and little tip for tomatoes, buy big beef ones and scoop out the seeds. Just eat the flesh.

Genius thank you!

Listen to your body! There's strong evidence that high starch diets are the best diets we can be on, of course coupled with some veg. Look at what some of the healthiest people like the Japanese eat. Rice. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Italians- pasta, bread etc. Plant-based, high card diets are perfectly healthy.

Have a look on Amazon under "greens powder". You could get what you need without having to eat large quantities of fruit and veg.

Thank you, this is some great info!
I have one exclusions previously, mainly bread and spices but noticed no difference.
I love to cook and enjoy flavours, this is why it's weird I think, I am very adventurous but my body is just fed up with it.

The best I ever felt was over a two week period when I ate mostly nibble foods such as babble with nuts and fruit, a few boiled eggs and a very small amount of salad/veg. Almost like I was living in a forest, haha, although I did eat ryvita with my nibbles along with olives.

Perhaps I don't like large, cooked meals much, no matter how tasty or healthy. As far as I am aware I have no deficiencies.

christ apologies for typos:
babbles is BABYBEL
although I might have to try babble with nuts;)