Food Aversions

33gail33
33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
edited April 2022 in Food and Nutrition
Anyone have specific food aversions? I have a long standing aversion to coffee and breakfast cereal (rooted in childhood - long story). I developed an aversion to beef 20+ years ago, which contributed to my going vegetarian. Now suddenly I can't eat almonds - which was a go-to snack until recently. They just feel gross in my mouth and I can't stand it (think like nails on a chalkboard type feeling). Anyone else care to share theirs (so I know I'm not alone in this)?
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Replies

  • Cluelessmama1979
    Cluelessmama1979 Posts: 129 Member
    I can't eat fish at all, due to horror stories from childhood.

    I have texture issues due to autism. Can't eat mushrooms. Also can't eat ham salad or egg salad.

    I grew up on canned fruit and veg on the rare occasions when I was able to eat them at all. So real, fresh fruit, and properly cooked veggies, they taste *wrong* to me, and make me gag.

    I love nuts... mostly... but certain types of them taste like chalk... just dry, weird texture... gross.

    I can't eat onions if I can feel them in my mouth at all.

    I can't eat the whole piece of chicken... and I can only eat white meat chicken. There's discolored parts near the bones. If theres any purpleishness, or ... anything really.
    With *any* meat, the tiniest bit of pink gives me so much anxiety, I can't even eat around it.

    Salt and vinegar chips are gross.

    Oil and vinegar as a salad dressing is gross.

    I can't handle anything even remotely sour. Or tart. It feels like it's gone bad.

    I genuinely cannot eat unsweetened cereal... hot or cold... without drowning it in sugar.

    Bread or burger buns with seeds on it makes me gag.

    I used to hate caramel.

    I can't eat beans at all, they taste like paste.

    I can't eat hot dogs or drink premade chocolate milk, because when I was 3, my mother explained to me in excruciating detail (with sound effects) how they were made.

    There's a lot more, but those are my big ones.

    ... I am working on the fruit/veg thing, because I know they're important. I now enjoy certain types of apples, mandarine oranges, and I loooove bananas.. but only frozen. I can tolerate strawberries, broccoli, and spinach if I hide it really well. And some peppers, in small doses. I like tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots.

    The rest of my food hangups bother me... but not enough to work on them.

    It's hard finding low-cal recipes I can eat. Everything has fish or mushrooms. But I usually manage.

    I wouldn't say it's normal... but it's common. More so as you get older. Human beings ... our tastes change over time, and negative experiences around food can have a dramatic effect.
  • LazyBlondeChef
    LazyBlondeChef Posts: 2,809 Member
    Liver. It literally makes me 🤮

    It’s partly the texture and partly the flavor. I was forced to eat it growing up which probably didn’t help since I dreaded it so much I let it get cold which only made it worse.

    Okra is another thing I dislike. Seems slimy.
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member

    I wouldn't say it's normal... but it's common. More so as you get older. Human beings ... our tastes change over time, and negative experiences around food can have a dramatic effect.

    Negative experiences for sure - I grew up in a family of smokers and as a kid had to get up and eat my breakfast at a table overflowing with dirty ashtrays, and my mother smoking and drinking coffee. Thus my aversion to smoke, breakfast cereal and coffee - they are all viscerally linked to me. And I think meat/fish is a big one, because it can be pretty gross.

    Not sure what triggered the almond thing ...
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    edited April 2022
    Liver. It literally makes me 🤮

    It’s partly the texture and partly the flavor. I was forced to eat it growing up which probably didn’t help since I dreaded it so much I let it get cold which only made it worse.

    Okra is another thing I dislike. Seems slimy.

    Oh yeah liver is gross. Never was forced to eat it though (and I don't eat any meat anyway.) Now that I think of it I don't recall if I have ever actually eaten it, the smell was enough to know I would hate it! Never tried okra.

    Really trying to wrap my head around developing a sudden (physical) aversion to something I ate regularly.
  • paints5555
    paints5555 Posts: 1,228 Member
    Liver. It literally makes me 🤮

    It’s partly the texture and partly the flavor. I was forced to eat it growing up which probably didn’t help since I dreaded it so much I let it get cold which only made it worse.

    Okra is another thing I dislike. Seems slimy.

    Liver is definitely on my list. And my list is short. I have tried it several times to give it a chance and finally gave up. Can't eat raw seafood or meat as I know too much about the stuff that can grow in it.
  • Cluelessmama1979
    Cluelessmama1979 Posts: 129 Member
    33gail33 wrote: »

    Not sure what triggered the almond thing ...

    It can literally just be that whole "tastes changing" thing.

    Our tastes are constantly changing, but we (as a species) actually go through several specific stages in life where things can change *drastically* without any apparent cause.

    Once around 4-5 years old, once during puberty, again in our early-mid 20s, again during menopause, and once again in our late 60s or so...

    Our bodies go through changes during these phases which affect brain chemicals and hormone balances. The chemistry inside our bodies changes. That affects tastes and smells. Often we don't even notice in an obvious way.

    I have had a decades long addiction to Reese's peanut butter cups. And... I still like them. I still get cravings. But a couple years ago, with no obvious cause, and no warning at all... they just stopped hitting the same notes. It took a long time to realize I like them... just... not as much. And they have a weird aftertaste. Lately when I eat them, I find myself wishing I had grabbed a Snickers bar instead.

    Disliking the snack you used to use as a go-to is a bit more dramatic, but only in that it's so noticeable, lol.

    If you're actually concerned about it, there's no harm in bringing it up with your doctor.

    But I don't think it's odd at all... not even that uncommon.
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,039 Member
    edited April 2022
    Toast and runny egg yolks: Yum! Bread and runny egg yolks: Disgusting! I also get creeped out watching people dip pancakes in egg yolks. Eeeew!
  • Mise_enPlace
    Mise_enPlace Posts: 61 Member
    Cooked celery and eggs. I'll only eat them scrambled. Just the sight of runny eggs turns my stomach.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    edited April 2022
    I don't have any current aversions/dislikes that are linked to childhood experiences, but my husband has a weird one.

    He can't handle even the suggestion of peanut butter and chocolate together.

    He likes peanut butter, and he likes chocolate, but not combined.

    When he was a kid, he and a friend ate an entire case of Reese's peanut butter cups, and they spent a whole day vomiting peanut butter and chocolate.

    I think that's definitely a trigger for a lot of people...something that made you very sick. I couldn't eat red licorice for a LONG time after I ate some as a kid, and then got car-sick. It was very colorful vomit, but put me off from the Twizzlers for a while. I'm okay with it now.
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    MsCzar wrote: »
    Toast and runny egg yolks: Yum! Bread and runny egg yolks: Disgusting! I also get creeped out watching people dip pancakes in egg yolks. Eeeew!

    I get creeped out watching people dip cookies in milk (or coffee, or hot chocolate) Really dipping anything in any beverage grosses me out.
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    I don't have any current aversions/dislikes that are linked to childhood experiences, but my husband has a weird one.

    He can't handle even the suggestion of peanut butter and chocolate together.

    He likes peanut butter, and he likes chocolate, but not combined.

    When he was a kid, he and a friend ate an entire case of Reese's peanut butter cups, and they spent a whole day vomiting peanut butter and chocolate.

    I think that's definitely a trigger for a lot of people...something that made you very sick. I couldn't eat red licorice for a LONG time after I ate some as a kid, and then got car-sick. It was very colorful vomit, but put me off from the Twizzlers for a while. I'm okay with it now.

    Yeah getting really sick off something makes sense - I got really drunk off rum and coke as a teenager and I couldn't stomach coke for a really long time (still don't like rum.)

    As for chocolate and peanut butter, it would probably be good for me if I didn't like them. Husband brought home a bunch of peanut butter chocolate eggs and I have eaten more than I care to admit .... :)
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    Ok, all the egg talk reminded me...

    I like real eggs, even runny eggs...but the look of Cadbury creme eggs completely grosses me out. Maybe it's the suggestion of egg and chocolate together? (I know it's not real egg, but looks too realistic).

    Every time I see that commercial around Easter with the close-up of breaking open the Cadbury egg....
    gag-inducing.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    Organ meat...that's about it.
  • papercut2k
    papercut2k Posts: 83 Member
    Sweet Potatoes. No. Just No. Chitlin - brined pig intestines. Never it but it smells so awful that I never will. Pig's feet, cow tongues. Again, never tried them on their own put the names creep me out.

    The irony of it all is that there was brand of sausage that I used to like that had feet and tongues and hearts mushed up into pig intestines. I read the ingredients list as a kid and wished I hadn't.
  • fatty2begone
    fatty2begone Posts: 249 Member
    @SuzySunshine99 Quote: the look of Cadbury creme eggs completely grosses me out. Maybe it's the suggestion of egg and chocolate together? (I know it's not real egg, but looks too realistic).
    Every time I see that commercial around Easter with the close-up of breaking open the Cadbury egg....
    gag-inducing.


    I 100% agree on Cadbury eggs. I have never had one, but my husband loves them and I can not be around when he is indulging. Gag reflex...

    Under cooked scrambled eggs (Mom-Inlaw cooked) makes my skin crawl and stomach turn. Over hard and boiled eggs are the best.

    Ewww liver. Never tasted but the smell is what I can only imagine the taste to be.

    Raw fish sushi ... not ever ever gonna happen.

    Hot dogs just plain gross. I don't want to know how they are made.

    Any pasta thing from a can.. The texture and smell induces vomit.

    Never going to try escargot, caviar, raw oysters, or anything insect like.

    Jello.. After I read what is actually the jell part. Never ever again.
  • Cluelessmama1979
    Cluelessmama1979 Posts: 129 Member
    I can't eat hot dogs or drink premade chocolate milk, because when I was 3, my mother explained to me in excruciating detail (with sound effects) how they were made.


    Hot dogs just plain gross. I don't want to know how they are made.


    *evil grin*

    You sure? 😇
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,329 Member
    Peanut butter, the smell makes me feel green
    Mushrooms. Mushroom phobia, and taste and texture. Nuff said
    Chocolate bars like Mars, etc. Just sugar and fat, and no taste. Same for Oreos and the likes.

  • Walkywalkerson
    Walkywalkerson Posts: 453 Member
    [/quote]

    I get creeped out watching people dip cookies in milk (or coffee, or hot chocolate) Really dipping anything in any beverage grosses me out.[/quote]

    Ewwwww dipping things in drinks is disgusting 🤢
    Dipping biscuits in tea and then drinking the tea really makes me want to gag
    Also juice with pulp 🤢
    I'm not a fan of soup either unless it's blended - liquid with bits in grosses me out!
  • 88AViva
    88AViva Posts: 499 Member
    Organs of anything, gross. Cucumbers are gross too. Hated them since childhood.
  • ilariadm1
    ilariadm1 Posts: 13 Member
    Seafood. I almost never ate it as a child, then when I was 14 I read a book about an elf refusing to eat anything that could breathe or think and I was so shook, I can't have seafood since then. I don't know why this worked just for seafood, maybe because it's served whole, like I can see that tiny shrimp's eyes and legs and stuff and just makes me cry. But in reality I'm also grossed out by raw meat and whole fish, I love the taste of fish but if I'm served a whole roasted seabass, I feel so bad I need someone else to fillet it for me. Same happens with meat, I reduced my meat intake in the last years for ethical choices and I gag every time I have to handle raw meat to cook it. Crazy!