Eating as Stimming behavior?

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I realized I'm an Aspie, only as an adult, while working in various clinical settings. I have an older brother who is definitely AS and probably other close relatives as I remember their various behaviors, which are "classic" ones. Anyway, for years (age 20-50) I struggled with what was termed an "eating disorder" but didn't quite fit into any one specific one. When very stressed (anxiety or even loneliness), I would buy food like corn chips, cheese curls, potato chips or ice cream (dairy and carbs) and eat it to calm myself. It had to be something that took repetitive motions, (i.e. lots of chips) which is what makes me think it was stimming and not just binge eating.
Yesterday, I found a website (TACA) with Q & A about ASD children's behavior and kept thinking "wow, that was me as a kid." When I got to the food part I really thought that!
Q: "Why does my child only want to drink juice and eat fries, chips and cookies, milk, macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches?" Answer: "ASD children prefer these foods as they feed their addictions to gluten and casein. These are the foods that feed their opioid addiction, therefore they crave them, and only want those foods."
I know the brain’s pleasure/reward system is influenced by two main chemicals, dopamine and opioids. Recent studies have shown that eating foods made with large amounts of sugar, salt, and flour, also cause large increases in the amount of dopamine and opioid released in the brain.
I'd like to hear from others who may have or still do use foods as stimming.
I have other stimming I do like leg shaking and humming or singing lines from songs over and over, but those don't release the good old brain chemicals.

I have wondered about this myself. Some people with ASDs chew on things. All my pens, pencils, jacket drawstrings, etc. were chewed to bits. I think I was conditioned to exchange chewing on those things for the more acceptable habit of chewing on food--as long as it's crunchy.

thanks for the reply! It's nice to hear you also chewed on things....and yes they have to be crunchy for me too....like crunchy cheese curls I can eat one after another!
as a kid, I chewed on my hair which I would twist into a rope shape and bite...yuck, but it helped soothe me then.

There are a lot of things I eat that are only due to texture regardless of the taste. I know my eating habits are definitely affected by this. I don't taste things very well, and my olfactory sense is hit or miss on occasion. Texture is a huge thing. Grilled cheese is actually quite bland, but I love the texture. And that's how it goes with a lot of foods. I've become a pepper head because my pain doesn't quite work the same way as it does for others and I can tolerate food way higher on the scoville scale than others. I had the chance to taste capsaicin extract and I kept on going back for more as near everyone else in the room who tried it wanted to die.

What I have to watch out for is when I find a texture or food I really really like that's pleasurable through any of the senses used when eating, and then I eat that food over and over and over and over again, well beyond the calorie intake I actually need.

Also being an adult with a job, I can go out and buy whatever I want when I want and thus have to be careful.

well, at least those are "low calorie" but you do have to watch your teeth!

Oh yes, especially during stressful periods (as a consequence, I have gained about 15 kg during the last decade ).
I prefer things with a lot of texture/'bite'. Chewing gum is way too soft, but almonds, wheat kernels and the like are good stuff.
For some reason (my ADD? ) I ended up on a website with stuff for autistic and ADHD kids. I found something called Chewlery which is jewelry you can chew on. Gradually, I got more and more sure that I needed something like that. The Chewlery was bright yellow and very obviously made for kids, but then I found this, which might look more like something an adult would wear.

(This is from CrankyBunny.co.uk)

I've often heard that consistency (especially in texture) is also important. One of my aspie family members told me that processed foods like chips are usually the same, which makes him able to enjoy them without finding something "unexpected", like a hard spot in bread. I've seen him gag and nearly throw up while eating something like a hot dog that had an unexpected bit of onion on it.

Also, processed foods are engineered to have more taste in them, and to be addictive. Your taste buds actually get LESS able to taste regular food if you're used to the chemicals in processed foods.

I think this is probably the case for me. And when I was a kid, I CONSTANTLY chewed on my own hair, or when it wasn't long enough to chew on, my dolls' hair. I even had to have an emergency dentist visit once because I had braces and got my doll's hair stuck in the braces. :-/

I've definitely heard stories of people eating to handle stress. I haven't heard much of it on an autistic scale, but I can totally understand the scenario in which it'd make sense.

We've all used our teeth for stimming at some point in our lives though, be it fingernails, our cheek, etc. Do you think you do it for the chewing sensation or something related to nutrition/diet?

Come to think of it I started over eating about the time I stopped biting my nails. And I love salty foods. Something I learned in Hawaii was to crunch up a pack of ramen noodles, sprinkle the flavor packet over it and eat it dry. But usually I try to stick to sunflower and pumpkin seeds as they take a lot of work to eat.

I chewed ice. God forbid if I leave the house and leave the dog alone in it - he'll chew everything
that is chewable. Ever hear stories about animals chewing off a paw to get out of a trap??

The OP really gave me some insight. Now that I'm on Prozac, I've noticed that food doesn't make me feel the same way it used to. Eating has become a much more neutral event rather than something I do to feel better. In fact, just the other day, I bought a large Dairy Queen Blizzard, took a couple of bites and said to myself, "Huh? This isn't making me feel good" and I pitched it.

My therapist even says that sometimes depressed people will crave carbs. I think this is true of me until I get to major stage and then just shut down.

I picked at my food as a youngster and still have trouble eating. It's one of my biggest sensitivities. I also ate/chewed ice frequently as a toddler and did for many years.

I drink a ton of soda, like 8-12 cans a day. I used to think it was just a caffeine addiction, but since getting diagnosed I've started to suspect it may actually be stimming. I've tried switching to other caffeinated products, like coffee, in the past with no success. I also drink a lot more when I'm stressed or anxious, and I've started to notice other things that I do orally that are potentially connected with stimming. For example, I can't ever seem to finish a piece of hard candy without chewing it.