Are you a picky eater? Questions about food and AS

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I've recently read that being very selective with food and having a restricted diet is one of the symptoms of Aspergers. As I already knew that I have AS, I wasn't surprised, but I found it interesting. When I was younger I would only eat sausages, chicken nuggets, chips and the occasional packet of low-sugar sweets that weren't overly sickly and had a fruity rather than sweet taste- and that was it. I'm not exaggerating, I wouldn't eat anything else. I'm much better now, but my diet is still incredibly restricted and limited to a few meals, meaning that I often find it hard to eat in restaurants as they never have anything which I will eat. Does anyone else have this problem?
Some other interesting questions about food:
1. Does anyone else have "brand preferences"? I notice huge taste differences between different brands of tomato and basil pasta sauce, for example, and almost every other kind of food as well when the people around me notice nothing.
2. Has anyone ever experienced a random aversion to a type of food which they have never tried? I am sickened by the smells of cheese, milk and seafood even though I've never eaten them.

Thank you for reading.

Hehe yeah, I think lots of aspies are fussy. I get a bit better with age but still fussy and have lots of allergies too. Dont eat any fruit, have the tiniest drop of milk in my tea and very particular about cheeses. For me salad cream is the food that makes me want to vomit, it's the smell and colour, ugh, yoghurt makes me gag too although I can eat curry with yoghurt in the sauce.

I can easily tell the difference between brands too, I'm often surprised when people can't tell the difference between coke and diet coke butter and margarine and stuff like that, freaks!! !

Welcome to WP. Yes, I have a lot of food aversions too. Milk makes me physically sick, as does a lot of types of cheese and most sauces. Many times just the smell of some foods makes me sick. I have read that these reactions may be due to our having a personal allergy to these foods. This is most often stated WRT children, but it seems to apply to adults too. These are not cultural issues with me, but rather they are very real physical responses. There are some type of oils and non-sugar sweeteners that make me violently ill for several hours. I ran into the oil issue on vacation a few weeks ago and it ruined my whole day.

As for brands, I would have to say that yes, of course there are very great taste differences. I like to make my own pasta sauce when I have the time, especially since I like to add a lot of garlic and wine. And yes, I too notice tastes and smells that others seem not to notice at all. Welcome to the world of AS!

I've got that, it prevents me eating in restaurants, and it's one of the main reasons I get money from the government I can't stand most food touching, or most food in general, nor can I stand eating if other people are. I also have a cat named Shadow, she's asleep at the moment.

1) I cite chocolatines as an example, the only good ones are the ones I think of as fire chocolatines...
2) Almost everything; I can't understand, for instance, how people can eat curry that smells worse to me than poo

Thank you for the replies, everyone!

Eating in restaurants is always a challenge because you'll say something like "please could I have this dish, but without the cheese on top" and the waiter glares at you as if it's a massive, inconvenient request.

I also have very real physical reactions to the smells of foods- I think smell is my strongest sense, because I have a habit of smelling my own hands, and if something bad-smelling has gotten on them I feel sick and have to stop to wash my hands immediately (even though I still can't stop myself from smelling them, it's too compulsive!)

There should be special restaurants who make dishes tailored for picky eaters

I also have a few food aversions of my own. I can't get myself to eat anything that has a white cream sauce. I also can't get myself to eat chickpeas or legumes. I have a hard time eating canned mushrooms as well.

Does anyone else hold their hand over their mouth while they're chewing or prefer to eat away from the gaze of others so that they aren't observed when eating? I always have to tell people not to look at me when I'm eating or just eat alone. Luckily, my boyfriend has AS too, so when we eat together we don't speak to each other and look down at our plates until we've finished.

I used to and still am a very picky eater. There are a lot of fruits and vegetables that I cannot even bring within one meter of my nose and I want to vomit.

I do however have no problem trying new things. My dad has always given me the opportunity to try new things, food wise. I know I like the normal meats, beef pork chicken fish, but wild meat like antelope I cannot eat. I also try new things that seems interesting but I very quickly determine whether or not I like it. Works for me.

I like freshly prepared meals, dislike freezer meals and don't like leftovers. I'm not a fan of red meat like steak ( I'm not a vegetarian btw) , my mum used to get red meat on special (like one day before it got out of date) and left it in the fridge for months. Urgh. I get food cravings, right now I'm obbessed with fruit jelly cups, soups and mango juice. Sometimes that's all I eat

Im pretty picky, I always have been but I mostly don't have to much trouble in reasturants. I don't like seafood, chinese or most Mexican but most of the time I'm fine. Subway clerks find me weird because I never get veggies on mug sandwhich. I am starting to eat more stuff though

I am a very picky eater and always have been. Most of my issues are textural though and sometimes I will only be able to eat something in a certain way. For example, I can only eat carrots that are soft like in a soup or raw covered in something like ranch. Or I only can eat processed tomatoes, like tomato soup and non-chunky salsa. I also can't eat certain veggies and fruits unless they are super fresh or they taste disgusting to me.

I seem to have a very sensitive sense of smell so if something is a little off, like meat, I can smell it before others. And if a cup or something has had a beverage in it that I don't like I can't ever use it again as the smell is trapped in it for some reason.

I am better than I was as a child but I am still pretty limited in what I enjoy eating.

I'm about as picky as you can get with food. I like mainly very spicy food, and even then I need to add Tabasco sauce. I need to kill the taste of most foods, which offends gourmet chefs, so I steer clear of gourmet meals when possible. I despise oil or grease of any kind, in any food, and thus I don't like fried foods. If I eat meat, it must be well-done, dry, and must be fire-grilled and never pan grilled, as there will be goo and liquid in there if otherwise. On salad, I put tons of vinegar (no oil or dressing), and plenty of black pepper. I don't like candy or chocolate as a rule, but if I do feel like eating something along those lines, the I like Baker's unsweetened chocolate. For junk food, I'll eat plenty of chips with salsa and fresh habanero peppers.

NO fish (smell and texture makes me ill)

NO greens other than plain iceberg lettuce (induces gag reflex regardless of taste)

NO sausage (too oily)

NO sugary cake or pie... Desserts must be fruit or barely-sweetened baked goods.

Favorite cookies: Unsweetened oatmeal & raisin

I guess I should count blessings on this, as I'd have a much harder time being 44 years old and trying to maintain a teen athlete's body stats. That's hard enough as it is, without having to control food cravings. Thank goodness for small favors!

Charles

I didn't think I was picky, since I have no problem trying new foods and such. However, there are plenty of ways in which I am picky. I don't like red meat except ground. I don't like frozen or canned food. I can't stand anything sweet mixed in with my savory food (sweet salad dressings or sauces, cranberry sauce, sugary sweet potatoes, etc.) I can only drink certain coffee. Even my water has to have no flavor or I can't drink it.

I'll also get into phases where I want to eat one particular thing every day until I get sick of it. The last thing I did this with was tacos.

I'm an ethical vegan.

Due to paranoia about weight gain/maintenance, I also eat as low calorie/-fat/-carb as possible most days.

I have extreme hypo-sensitivity to food, which in my "better" phases as far as allowing myself food means it's usually doused in hot sauce so that I can taste it. It can be the exact same food every day (usually a bowl of steamed vegetables) and I won't mind. I don't need any variety whatsoever.

I don't like:
peanut butter
cheese cake
anything that resembles dairy or meat texturally

While there are a few foods that I find offensive (e.g. eggs and chicken), it can come down to how it's presented (fried or boiled eggs are ok, but not omelets or scrambled).

Far more important is who touches the food, where they sit in relation to me, and social aspects like talking around food. Where food is concerned, I'm fastidious with regards hygiene, order, and people talking with food in their mouths while sitting across from me. I'd get turned off by seeing someone else's fingerprints on chocolate.

My wife is exempt. She can do anything.

I have aversions to many foods. I find most meals cooked by my parents bland or unpalatable, except for a few favourite dishes. Many nights I refuse to eat what is being cooked and make my own dish. My most recent aversion is the new tomato sauce/ketchup introduced by McDonalds in Australia. For at least 14 years I have had a nugget meal with ketchup sauce when I eat at McDonalds, but they (or Heinz) have replaced it was some watery and foul-tasting alternative. The previous one had at least 60% tomato content; this one has only 20%. I bought a portable bottle of tomato sauce to take with me in my bag. Sometimes I'll annoy another store for some sauce packets.

I dislike the following things:

Sarsaparilla (smell makes me nauseous; taste makes me vomit)
Jelly beans (smell makes me nauseous)
Aniseed liquorice (smell makes me nauseous)
Dr. Pepper (smell makes me nauseous)
Coffee (smell makes me nauseous)
Chocolate (except for white if savoured)
Butter and its alternatives
Most vegetables
The thin parts of lettuce (I like the juicier part closer to the core)
Spinach
Non-cooked tomato
Most thick, savoury liquids
Any liquid with solids floating in it (soup, crunchy milkshakes)
Certain types of oils (makes me sick)
Cheese (I don't mind it when melted on top of something, but not when gooey or mixed in with sauces)
Mexican, Indian, and Asian (I know India is in Asia) foods
Sickly sweet foods (I don't mind moderately sugared foods)
Egg white
All alcoholic beverages
Diet (artificially sweetened) beverages

Etc.

I'll have periods where I eat the same meal for months on end until I move onto something new. My current meal of choice (to the detriment of my health) is chip (fries) sandwiches. My previous one was a fairly healthy pizza cooked on puff pastry.