Hello. I'm new here. I'm 31 & have SPD. Food is really the only area that it gets in my way. My latest blood test results put me in pre-diabetic range, with very very low protein, low platelets, & cholesterol nearing high enough levels to warrant medication. I don't currently see any of that as anything I have any control over.

My reaction to food odors can include symptoms such as nausea, a closing of my throat (interrupting my ability to breathe), and a burning of my throat. The worst offenders for these symptoms are seafood, beans, peppers, onions (during cooking), fresh garlic (during cooking, garlic powder seems to be fine), and black pepper (during cooking).

The only flavors I actually like are chocolate, coffee (as a flavor, not the drink, unless it's watered down with plenty of milk & sugar), and blood (human, long story).

I'm able to tolerate a small amount of foods that are bland enough in both taste & smell with a consistent & smooth enough texture. Attempts to eat things outside my range are always very difficult. My throat seems to have trouble swallowing them. The full list of these is below, sorted.

What I can make:
- Pasta with Prego traditional sauce & mozzarella
- Pasta with a 50/50 Velveeta & medium cheddar mix & a dash of 1% milk
- White rice, instant, with a dash of olive oil & half an herb ox chicken bouillon cube per cup
- Yellow popcorn, butter & salt are optional
- Peanut butter & jelly sandwich (smooth sugar based PB, like Jif, Welches grape jelly, white or honey wheat bread)

What my wife can make that I can eat:
- PB&J smoothie (Blended together: non-sugar peanut butter, frozen grape concentrate, soft tofu, soy milk, vanilla, frozen blueberries)
- Cheese pizza (I have a pizza stone, so I can make it well: Premade Boboli crust, olive oil, leftover marinara dipping sauce from Little Caesars, Pizza Hut, or Papa Johns or Prego traditional sauce, italian seasoning and powdered garlic, mozzarella)
- Chocolate chocolate chip pancakes (50/50 almond flour/pancake flour mix, good quality chocolate, other ingredients I'm unfamiliar with)

What I can eat out:
- McDonald's double cheeseburger (only cheese & ketchup on it), with medium fries & soda
- Cheese pizza (Major chains only unless visiting New York)
- Pizza Hut cheesesticks & marinara
- Little Caesars italian cheese bread & crazy sauce (spiciest food I can handle, requires drinking a lot of water to get through)
- Diner: Grilled cheese & fries, adding salt to fries
- Diner: Chocolate chocolate chip pancakes (this is really a dessert)
- Red Robin cheeseburger, with only ketchup on it, with fries
- Olive Garden cheese ravioli with 5 cheese marinara sauce
- Plain toasted buttered bagel

Random non-meal bits:
- V8
- Mozzarella cheese stick (goes well with V8)
- Yogurt (vanilla or orange creamsicle)
- Various dessert items, usually chocolate and/or coffee flavored, ice cream being the most common. (Not an everyday thing.)

Beverages:
- 1% Milk (My zero-taste; This has no taste to me, and water does have a taste to me. This is also my primary source of protein.)
- Soda (Pepsi > root beer > Coke. I drink this either when I need the caffeine (rare) or when having a meal that includes sauce (except Crazy sauce) or McDonald's)
- Water (With almost anything I eat out)
- Mocha or Mocha frappuccino (depending on the weather, only if in high need of caffeine, rare)

If I'm doing particularly well (lower stress level, get enough sleep, etc...), a few things are added to these lists, as seen below.

What I can make:
- Gordon's frozen fishsticks + Mrs T's frozen pierogies + either frozen peas, frozen cut green beans, or vegetarian baked beans.

What my wife can make that I can eat:
- Chicken breast sliced thin, soaked in egg, covered in bread crumbs, fan fried in a little oil + whatever I prepare to add to the side.
- Scrambled egg sandwich on dark white toast or toasted plain bagel, no butter

What I can eat out:
- Eggs, fried, with dark toast or toasted plain bagel, no butter
- Steakhouse: Steak, medium rare, with fries

Random non-meal bits:
- Baby carrots
- Yogurt (various fruit flavors that have a little bit of fruit in them)
- Orange slices
- Some types of apple, easier if pre-sliced by wife in the mandolin
- Walnuts, peanuts, cashews

You may notice certain themes through all that. I've been wanting to figure out how one goes about expanding on their list. I've been trying to for years and have added very little, though I've made significant progress towards being around others who have foods that are difficult for me. I figure others here may have run into similar issues and would like to know what's worked for them.

Hi, welcome to the site. Yeah, SPD can have a huge impact on a person's diet, that is for sure. I can really relate to how everything must be just right. Thanks for posting, and sorry for the long delay here. Hope to hear back from you.

Thanks for the welcome!

I was hoping to find out if it's possible to go from hating the very concept of food to liking food, even if it's just a small amount of enjoyment. I've been tolerating, but hating food my whole life (nearly 32 years). I can work on tolerating more, and my wife, being in speech pathology, actually has expertise that allows her to help me to tolerate more, but that won't make me like any of it, and it would be so much easier if I did.

Sean, I'm very interested in your progress and even what you've done to expand your repertoire to this point. How have you or your wife introduced new things?

Matt

(12-13-2014, 10:34 PM)MTiemeyer Wrote: Sean, I'm very interested in your progress and even what you've done to expand your repertoire to this point. How have you or your wife introduced new things?

Matt

Progress is slow, unfortunately. I wish I could've figured out how to like food, but that's unfortunately not the case.

We introduce things one sense at a time. Smell first, as it's unavoidable. If I can handle the smell, but it's still difficult, she'll have me just touch the food item to my lip, to introduce the texture. It's easier to add things that are similar to what's already in my diet, but she really wants to add more vegetables, which are harder.

I still think this would go faster if I could learn to enjoy eating.

Wow, I also have SPD. This sounds almost exactly like the diet I am able to eat as well. Food is also mostly where I struggle. How have you managed to add things to your diet? I find it very hard if not almost impossible.

Wow! This was a long time ago!

My diet is still restricted, but the contents have completely changed. The tastes and textures are similar, but the food is a lot healthier now, despite most of it tasting like chocolate.

I'm on keto. Here's a sample recipe:

Cereal:
* Bake the cookies below
* Break 7-10 cookies into pieces in a bowl
* Add heavy whipping cream and soy milk
* Eat with a spoon

Chocolate chip cookies:
* Oven: 350 F
* 2 Sticks of butter (melted)
* 2 eggs
* 3/4 cups whey protein powder
* 1.5 cups almond flour
* 1 cup granulated erythritol
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1 bag Lily's chocolate chips

* Mix
* Put silicon liners on baking trays
* Put 1/2" balls of dough onto tray
* Bake for 8-10 minutes
* Cool for 10 minutes

I also have my own recipes for healthy chocolate cake, chocolate pancakes, cheese pizza, tomato sauce, macaroni & cheese, chocolate shakes, & bread.

The biggest problem is that cooking all my own food takes so much time...