looking for food suggestions

[AngieW in Texas]

My 16yo has a lot of problems with food. She desperately wants more foods to eat. She has the same problem that I had as a kid. When I was a kid, most foods turned my stomach when I just looked at them or smelled them. I had a very limited diet because of this. I don't know what happened to change this. Once day, about one month into college, food just didn't look or smell repulsive any more. It was a real issue that I did not make up for attention. I desperately wanted to eat more foods, but it is impossible to make yourself eat something when all you can think about is how much it looks like cat barf or smells like poop. 

 

In my dd's case, she also has some food reactions that we have not been able to figure out despite repeated allergy testing. Some foods she loves cause her throat to start closing up. The allergy testing has repeatedly shown nothing except a very mild allergy to cinnamon. The doctor suggested that she might be having reactions to food additives or preservatives and there aren't tests for those and they often aren't labelled either.

 

She has a lot of issues with textures as well. She won't do anything that is saucy or appears wet.

 

While she likes the taste of meat (particularly sausage and chicken), her stomach feels very bad after eating pork or beef and the only way that she will eat chicken is fried.

 

She can't tolerate citrus at all. When anybody is eating oranges or other citrus around her, she has to stand farther away because she has a hard time breathing around it. 

 

Apples are the only fruit she actually likes. She will only eat fruits that have the same texture throughout. She finds cantaloupe and honeydew melon marginally acceptable and doesn't like pears at all. Are there any other fruits that have a consistent texture throughout that are not citrus?

 

I am trying to find a vegetable that she will tolerate. I think raw is going to be more likely to work for her than cooked. Again, I need something that has the same texture throughout. She has tried carrots repeatedly, but she just can't stand them. Any suggestions? It would be easier if she would dip them in something, but she won't do dips. She can't even look at dips of any kind. She has tried bell pepper strips, but they are too strong to eat alone and she has had a hard time trying to combine them with other things because of her issue of needing the same texture all the way through. She can rarely even force herself to eat french fries.

 

[kewb]

That sounds very challenging. I am sorry. How does she feel about baked potatoes?

Berries tend to be consistent in texture.

Perhaps string beans, celery, kohlrabi, jicama. spring turnips have a delicate flavor but are limited to spring.

[Kerileanne99]

Hugs, that sounds rough:(

 

I don't have a lot of suggestions, but I have a very picky eater who has serious issues with textures. I have recently found that if I dehydrate the fruits and veggies into very thin dry chips she will eat some. It isn't perfect, but at least I am getting for nutrients into her. I also think that the exposure helps her develop a taste for them in hopes that she will later be able to tolerate the textures better.

Also, we are vegetarian. Our young neighbor also has sensory food issues, and we shared a meat substitute product called Quorn with him. It is NOT your typical meat substitute (and is not soy-based), and the texture throughout is homogenous. I think this makes a big difference, as well as the fact that they actually taste good. You can get them with a breading or without, and cook the unbreaded ones any way you like.

 

My dd won't do anything with a sauce, nothing 'complex'. She has never had pizza or tomato sauce or anything similar. This can be very challenging, and it means she eats plain rice or plain pasta a lot.

Good luck. I hope things get better for her...

[Cinder]

I don't know if this will help but my vegetable-hating ds has recently started enjoying smoothies. He has a Nutribullet 900. He usually puts in baby spinach and/or baby kale with frozen pineapple. Sometimes he'll add frozen blueberries, though if colors of food bother your dd then that might not work for her. Mango might be better as the smoothie will stay bright green rather than go brown as with berries. (BTW he says blackberries are a big NO because of the seeds.) He's branching out into baby carrots (which must be cut smaller and placed last so it will be near the blade for best results) and is even thinking of trying beets! This was the kid whose favorite vegetable for many years was french fries. lol. He has issues with food textures and some msg intolerance as well as a tree nut allergy. He's excited to find he can get some fruits and veggies that he would not otherwise eat.

 

Other fruits with consistent texture--seedless watermelon, diced mango, skinless peaches (if they're freestone I'd also trim out the part next to the stone)

[Tanaqui]

I don't know if this is an option for you, but have you consider occupational therapy? There are actually therapists and speech language pathologists who specialize in eating issues and pickiness. I tend to jump to saying that right away because many people don't even really realize that's something they can do.

[mamaraby]

Pull the strings out of celery and it's pretty consistent texture-wise. Apples without the peel? What about a frozen veg? The texture changes a bit when things are frozen so maybe that might even things out a bit?

 

I don't know that there's a huge amount that you could do without addressing the sensory piece of the pie. Have you looked into therapy options that might help address that bit?

[bettyandbob]

This does sound like a sensory integration issue. As suggested by PP, this is addressed through occupational therapy. You have to find an OT who is trained in this area. You might want to read up on sensory sensitivities and see if there are other things that apply.

[Slartibartfast]

Does she like sweet potatoes?

 

So she doesn't like soup? 

[Stacia]

Your post is really interesting to me. My mom has always been a very picky eater & eats few fruits &/or veggies. (We have always joked with her because she counts Corn Pops cereal as a serving of veggies. ;)  Would corn be considered a grain or a veggie in that one??? Anyway....) My mom has an extreme aversion to citrus (esp. lemon) anything. I wonder if my mom has had something similar going on for her whole life...?

 

Years ago, I read something about people who have a severe aversion to citrus may have a certain chemical in their body that reacts badly with the citrus, resulting in a horrid taste &, therefore, they avoid it. Can't remember details. Maybe google it?

 

Seconding the suggestion of jicama from above...

 

Will she eat bananas (maybe if they are still quite green & not mushy yet)?

Raw cauliflower &/or broccoflower?

Potatoes (raw or cooked, white or sweet)?

Corn? 

Lettuce? 

 

Would she try hummus or is the texture wrong?

 

A list of fruit & veggies: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/fruit-and-veggie-color-list 

[AngieW in Texas]

She is already in vision therapy and physical therapy and has been in counseling for several years for anxiety, depression, panic disorder, and OCD. I can't add another therapy in at this time and she would definitely be resistant to it right now since the physical therapy is just starting up again after two years. Right now she is in so much pain that she can't play guitar or do any sewing. She has really loose joints and PT helps strengthen the muscles to hold the joints in place better.

 

She has had smoothies made with apple juice and frozen cherries, but she is willing to have that maybe 1x/month. She will also eat frozen Sqlrps (HEB brand of Go-gurt), but I don't know that they have that much nutritional value.

 

I'm trying to find things that I can add to vanilla milkshake that won't make the texture weird or change the color or the flavor.

 

She eats tortillas with butter, bread with butter, buttermilk pancakes and crepes that I make, fried chicken strips, Os-trim peppered meat sticks (major staple), sweet and spicy turkey Perky Jerky, pepper jack cheese, and not a whole lot else. She has apple maybe 1x/week.

[bolt.]

With smaller children, what I have been told about eating related therapy is that "homework" involves eating a tiny smidgen of 2 or 3 foods, followed by a motivational (not food) reward -- once a day, the same 2 or 3 foods, for a significant duration. This sounds like strategic desensitization, which is something you can do at home.

[LostSurprise]

Is the chicken coated? Pre-processed? If it is, you can start by making your own coated chicken strips. 1 step removed from what she's used to eating at a time. If she doesn't like them, make them for dinner and ask for her to try one bite before she eats her usual. Keep repeating. 

 

Why not carrots? The taste (a certain kind of sweet/starch) or the crunch? How does she feel about mild leaf vegetables like lettuce (really well dried)? Will she eat dried fruit? Nuts? You can throw together a decent salad if she will eat some of these things and each time you can add a different veg. 

 

I have some texture issues, but they aren't that severe. I have trouble when things are between solid and liquid (so rubbery type things like eggs, beans, things with casings, etc.). I also have a child with these sensitivities but much greater than mine (he's a no fruit and veg boy, started with only chicken nuggets but we can get different meats in him now). 

 

You can try adding a little protein powder or texturized vegetable protein (TVP, a kind of powdered soy) to things. I made him a lot of banana bread (which he would eat) with TVP when he was little. Extra oat bran. Added bananas and applesauce. You couldn't tell. (I did make trial versions though until I found the one I thought was most nutritionally dense but most similar to the original). 

 

Is she okay with water? You could try juicing for tastes of different things without the different texture. Sometimes people with textural sensitivities don't get to the point where they connect with tastes because of the texture thing. This is a safe way to try different tastes until something sinks in as good. The texture remains at water/juice level (not like a shake or smoothie which is variable). Start with V-8 juices and if it works think about making your own. (If you make your own make sure you have a good machine and strain!)

 

 

Just a few ideas. I hope something in this thread works for you. My little guy is on a medical diet so he couldn't do behavioral therapy, but if you already see a psychologist for the counseling they can give you some steps to do at home for desensitization/behavior modification. 

[Tanaqui]

That's rough. Maybe you can find out some tactics you can use to gradually desensitize her at home (at least a little) without going to therapy. Like... like the sauce. You say she will occasionally eat a smoothie or a yogurt. Maybe you can work on increasing how often she is willing to eat those. When she can eat a smoothie at will, you can work on increasing the variety of smoothies she will eat, very slowly, and then from there mixing up the texture very gradually.

[almondbutterandjelly]

What about nectarines?  They are not citrus and they have a very consistent texture.

How about pickles?

What about raw cucumbers, peeled and with the middle seedy part removed?

((hugs)) op.